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A young passenger checks in with the Polarflug crew before embarking on a flight to the North Pole in May. Photo by Armin Wirth/Deutsche Polarflug |
Ever imagine going to a party and being able to say, “When we were at the North Pole…?” Two AAA members can.
On May 1, longtime friends Robert LaMoreaux of Lansing, MI, and Joanne Davie of Fort Pierce, FL, boarded a plane in Düsseldorf, Germany, and flew for five hours to Spitsbergen, Norway, where they began to circumnavigate the pole—a lifelong dream of Robert’s.
“We went twice around; once clockwise, then counterclockwise,” Robert explains. “That way people on both sides of the plane got a good view. They moved us up to a really good seat. We had a great view.”
And just how did they get to do this?
“I had a list of things I wanted to do in my life,” explains Robert. “The North Pole was at the top of that list for 25 years. Then I saw the movie The Bucket List. It inspired me to make the calls to make it happen.”
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AAA members Robert LaMoreaux and Joanne Davie find their dream flight. Photo courtesy of Robert LaMoreaux |
He ended up on the phone with Polarflug, a company in Germany that specializes in air tours of the Arctic. Then he called Kathi Roberts, a AAA Travel Manager in Leesburg, FL, who made all the arrangements. At first, he and Joanne were on a waitlist. Then they got the call that the trip was a go.
“Kathi really fought for us,” Robert shares. “She made it happen.”
So what was it like?
“The fjords (of Norway) were breathtaking,” Joanne recalls. “When we got to the Pole, the pilot brought us down from 30,000 feet to 6,000 feet. But it was gradual. It was when he roared up to 30,000 feet that we felt it. Flying back, we got to see the outpost villages of Greenland. The mountains were beautiful.”
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Photo by Armin Wirth/Deutsche Polarflug
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“There was a lot of ice,” Robert says. “But it was more solid than I thought. There were some cracks, but not as much as I thought there’d be.” He also was impressed by the sense of community on the plane. “The camaraderie is what I enjoyed. There were four Americans out of nearly 300 passengers. We ended up having dinner with a man from Düsseldorf who had been on the plane.”
Both Robert and Joanne received a certificate indicating that they have indeed “been around the world in five minutes,” which Polarflug claims is the shortest around-the-world flight to date. On May 1, 2009, to celebrate the anniversary of Robert Edwin Peary’s and Matthew Henson’s first polar ascent on April 6, 1909, Polarflug will host another Arctic flight.
Seats are still available, so make your call soon.
So where are the two friends going next?
“Whatever Kathi comes up with,” Robert answers. “Mongolia’s on my list.”
Better get busy, Kathi.