MEET OUR GUIDES: OUR FOUNDER, CHARLOTTE TALKS ABOUT HER LOVE FOR ARCTIC HOLIDAYS
We have a small dedicated team here at Arctic Direct, with all our guides and support staff passionate about providing great holidays and experiences in the Arctic. Here we meet Charlotte, our founder, who has been taking advantage of the Green Status of Iceland to explore more of what this unique environment has to offer.
Charlotte founded Arctic Direct in 2004 after she fell in love with the Arctic and Scandinavian regions after being a regular visitor to the area all her life. She wanted to open the region so that more people could have quality, experiences of a lifetime in this unique wilderness, and she’s spent the last 17 years making this a reality.
As managing director of Arctic Direct, Charlotte spends less time out in the field than she would like but acknowledges that her day job is incredibly important. Charlotte said;
“Whilst I’d love to be out there in my snow boots, this year I’ve been taking advantage of the time at home to forge and renew supplier and client relationships, look after customer’s money in the current tricky environment and ensuring our teams across the region are offering the best experiences for our clients.”
Charlotte’s role is still very hands-on. Although in the field less this past year, she often personally takes charge of customer’s more specialist requests such as Arctic scuba diving or individual requests to visit the North Pole or Greenland. Charlotte can also be found on the end of the phone, helping with customer service queries.
She says;
“Running a small company is not always the easiest of jobs (particularly through a pandemic!) but I have been very privileged to visit so many wonderful destinations and then be able to translate those to provide the best experiences for our customers.”
Charlotte also has many fond memories of her numerous trips to the region. She says;
“The one memory that springs to mind was a wild camping tour in Greenland and having a call of nature at 3am. I went to find the designated “spending” area and had the surreal experience of having a tinkle under a billion stars with the Northern Lights overhead. I then nearly fell into a lake on the 50 metre walk back to the tent because I was looking at the sky and not where I was going by starlight!”
Although largely desk-based this year, Charlotte still managed to take a holiday to Iceland, read all about her adventures in her blog coming soon!
