For my fourth Flash Pack trip, I wanted to head up to the Arctic Circle for a chance at seeing the Northern Lights, something that’s been at the top of my bucket list forever. It’s always a gamble whether they’ll show up… depends so much on the magnetic activity, whether there’s cloud cover, and the luck of the weather in general, and of course Flash Pack makes no guarantees. I liked the rest of the itinerary either way, so crossed all of my fingers (and stacked the deck as best as possible between 2025 being a high activity year, and the Spring Equinox being a high activity time for some magnetic reason) but knew that there was always a chance we wouldn’t get to see them.
I’m relieved and thrilled to say that not only did we get to see the Aurora, but we had three nights in a row of a really spectacular show of greens and pinks that lit up the whole sky. It was just as cool as I had hoped, and I consider that bucket list item fully achieved!
In addition to the Flash Pack itinerary up in Lapland, I got to Finland a couple of days early to explore the capital city of Helsinki and also visit Tallinn, Estonia, just a short 2-hour ferry ride across the Baltic and a pretty common day trip.
Overall, it was a fantastic trip with a great group of people (Flash Pack always delivers on their promise of like-minded new friends), and even though it felt like the week was over in a flash, our days were filled with some iconic Arctic activities like dog sledding, snowmobiling, ice fishing, meeting a herd of reindeer, and learning about the local Sámi culture, Europe’s only recognized indigenous group.
As always, photos are mine unless otherwise labeled, and you can click on any to enlarge or scroll through. Enjoy the recap of this beautiful winter wonderland!
