Leaving Eugene on December 20th and arriving in Iceland on the 21st, South Eugene High School AP Biology and Environmental Science teacher, Julia Harvey, began her week-long trip to experience the Icelandic Northern Lights. 

A few years ago, Harvey was diagnosed with Leukemia, a form of blood cancer with an approximate survival rate of 70 percent according to “BloodCancerUnited.” She thankfully beat her cancer and as one could imagine, the experience of going through treatment and spending her days in hospital rooms, was one that would need a lot of healing from.  “I felt like I was in a box. So when I woke up, I was going to travel the world. Quit my job, sell my house, and travel the world in my van.”

She fortunately did not quit her job, compromising with just occasionally traveling the world. 

Upon arriving in Iceland with little more than a few books, a clear picture of what she wanted, and a weather app, Harvey rented a camper van and headed north, “I mainly went to the north because I figured the closer to the 66 degree latitude, the more likely you would be to see them [the Northern Lights],” she occupied any campsite that her weather app told her would be optimal for viewing the lights. “I think renting the camper van is the best option, because if you try to stay somewhere and the weather sucks you either have to drive really far at night or get a tour bus or something.” 

Harvey spent two of the seven nights actually viewing the lights, the second was more successful than the first. All that could really be seen of the lights to the naked eye was a faint glow in the sky, however that changed with the aid of her camera, “I saw glowing but I didn’t see the colors unless I took a picture, then I could see them.”

According to Harvey, the reality of her time with the lights contrasted greatly with the image she’d had created in her head. “My vision was to go and have mountains looking at the northern lights. That wasn’t what happened.” You can probably imagine that classic idea of what the Northern Lights “should” look like, Snowy mountains, snow-covered trees, and shining green lights splayed across the night sky, unfortunately even in Iceland this was not the case. 

Harvey described the Northern Lights we’ve had here in Oregon to be “not real,” which was a contributing factor to her wanting to pursue them in Iceland along with that perfect snowy backdrop, “I just wanted a real winter!” Harvey said. 

To her disappointment, she did not find one. This was not Harvey’s first time in Iceland, but it was vastly different from the last time she was there. “I got a window into the effects of climate change. Iceland has never been this warm in the winter. One of the towns reached 20 degrees celsius (around 70 degrees Fahrenheit), which they don’t usually [in winter].”

According to Harvey, while we may be aware of the effects of climate change down here in Oregon, they are much more prominent up north. 

“I travel a lot because I need that big open space.”  Harvey has many more places on her checklist to go, she’s made it clear that staying stationary in the coming years is not part of her plans, she’s continuing on her personal journey and I wish her all the best. 

Article by Penny Deitz