Human Powered Northern Loop of the Earth: Katharina Kneip (Combining Art + Adventure )

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Katharina Kneip is two and a half years into a human-powered and wind-powered northern loop of the Earth — walking, skiing and hitchhiking on sailboats across some of the most remote regions on the planet. In this conversation, she speaks from Nova Scotia while continuing her multi-year art project Round Motion, a slow, honest look at how people live on the edge of wild landscapes. Her story stretches from Germany to Arctic Norway, Svalbard, Greenland, Iceland, Newfoundland and now mainland Canada — shaped by weather, chance encounters and the generosity of strangers. 

What You’ll Learn

• How Round Motion blends long-form travel with contemporary art.
• Life in the High North: polar night, sea ice, winter tenting and borderlands.
• The realities of sailing early-season sea ice, storms and remote crossings.
• How landscapes, politics and people shape the way she thinks about culture and nature.
• Why this journey has no fixed story, no race and no heroics — just honest field experience.

Guest Bio (short)

Katharina Kneipp is a German artist walking, skiing and sailing a northern loop around the Earth as part of her ongoing project Round Motion. Her work focuses on slowness, field experience, borderlands, and how people live with weather, terrain and history. 

Resources

• Katharina’s project: Round Motion
• Newsletter: KONTAKT - ROUND:MOTION

Chapters

• 0:00 Facing Fear on the High Seas
• 1:03 Welcome to The Adventure Diaries Podcast
• 1:29 Introducing Katharina Kneip and Round Motion
• 3:00 A Coincidental Connection: Glasgow to New Glasgow
• 3:31 Exploring New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
• 5:17 The Concept of Round Motion
• 5:45 Katharina's Early Life and Artistic Journey
• 7:57 Combining Art and Adventure
• 15:06 Planning the Northern Route
• 16:17 Navigating Norway and Beyond
• 18:40 Challenges and Cultural Insights
• 22:55 Winter Training and Polar Night Experience
• 28:49 Guiding in Norway and Sailing to Svalbard
• 34:00 Life in Svalbard and Encountering Polar Bears
• 38:14 Sailing to Greenland and Iceland
• 38:52 Experiencing Icelandic Culture and Cuisine
• 46:22 Health and Physical Challenges on the Journey
• 47:18 The Adventurous Sail from Iceland
• 48:04 Unexpected Challenges and New Opportunities
• 49:51 Facing Extreme Weather and Isolation
• 52:24 Journey to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia
• 58:36 Experiencing the Kindness of Strangers
• 1:01:44 Future Plans and Reflections
• 1:07:01 Navigating Bureaucracy and Planning Ahead
• 1:09:25 Closing Thoughts and Reflections

Transcript

Chris Watson (00:00.609)
That's us live now. So, Katharina Kneip, welcome to the Adventure Diaries. How are you?

Katharina (00:07.183)
Thank you so much for having me. I'm great.

Chris Watson (00:09.281)
Not excited. Yeah, I think it yeah excited for this it's taking a little bit as it does with many actually people on this show it takes a little while to to get this in the diary because you're actively in the field on an epic adventure at the moment and I find it quite spooky that you and I were exchanging messages yesterday. I'm sitting in Scotland Glasgow Scotland you're sitting in Nova Nova Scotia, which is New Scotland and you're in New Glasgow

Katharina (00:39.281)
Yes, that is right.

Chris Watson (00:39.937)
and I had never heard of that until you told me that yesterday and I've gone down the rabbit hole researching that and it is actually linked back to my hometown and was trade routes set up in 1809 or something like that so yeah that's quite an odd coincidence but what's New Glasgow like?

Katharina (00:53.919)
Hmm.

Katharina (01:06.405)
It's little town. I didn't see too many towns yet in Canada at all. So I cannot compare it, but it's pretty calm. Some cafe, like a heritage museum, of course, several churches, but not too much going on. Everything closed around five maybe.

Chris Watson (01:11.819)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:19.605)
Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:24.479)
Yeah. Yeah, you need to tell me if there's any actual Glasgow Scotland artifacts in the Heritage Centre before you depart. I would be quite interested in that.

Katharina (01:33.208)
yes, they're very proud of the heritage. In many churches you have this fabric and they're hanging it on the pillars in the church. All the heritage museum is actually the history very often when they tell it, starts only with the settlement, as if no one has been living here before basically.

Chris Watson (02:01.301)
Yeah.

Katharina (02:01.614)
There's a lot of Scottish history here and also in Cape Breton. They're even teaching in some schools, I've heard now Gaelic. Some street signs are in two languages. It's very present and they're having dancing competitions with these traditional Scottish dances. Also lot in the pubs, like fiddle music and very much alive.

Chris Watson (02:12.385)
Huh?

Chris Watson (02:26.4)
Yeah.

Katharina (02:30.829)
culture of all these things.

Chris Watson (02:31.037)
Yeah, that's crazy. I seen that they had a coat of arms and in the coat of arms it has the Scottish soul tire in it as well. yeah, excellent. Anyway, that is not the subject of the podcast. That's just a strange coincidence. you are on a kind of global circumnavigation, I think, of the earth and you have such an interesting concept.

Katharina (02:41.026)
Hmm.

Katharina (02:53.378)
Yes.

Chris Watson (02:57.323)
So the topic of today, Katerina, and for everyone that's listening, is your journey, your human-powered and wind-powered journey around that. And also your brand, if I want to call it that, round motion. I want to understand the concept around the art, the artistic side of what you're doing as well. And your mid-adventure at the moment, or you're within a multi-year part of your adventure. But before we step into that,

I'd like to bring things back. So you grew up in Germany in a place, was it Trier? So what was that like and how do you, what was your formative experience as far as the wild and adventure and art goes? How do we come from there to where you are today?

Katharina (03:27.629)
Yeah, yeah, Tria, that is right.

Katharina (03:45.165)
Well, I grew up pretty normal, classical, maybe a little bit old fashioned sometimes. My father was a church musician, so we grew up with a lot of classical music. We didn't have a TV. I was born in 1990, so of course it was before all the smartphone things going on, and we just went to the forest. Trier has about 100,000 people living there.

So it's pretty calm, like for German standards. And the forest is not too far and vineyards and yeah, but we never did like crazy stuff. Like it's just normal going maybe for small hikes or we paddled maybe on the river and some vacation to Sweden, but nothing too outdoor. Like, yeah, appreciating nature, but not too much going into it just for the day. But I always...

Chris Watson (04:43.317)
Yeah.

Katharina (04:45.324)
thought that I'm an artist. There was never a doubt about it that I would be an artist even as a child. Just then of course many things happen and at one point I might think, thought like, how do I become an artist? There was like this idea, okay I need to do a certain study. My family, no one really studied like in a university.

Chris Watson (04:54.454)
Yeah.

Katharina (05:14.61)
And so that was like a new thing to get into this infrastructure basically and yeah, and just do what at that time I thought was right to do. And then first I learned I'm also a stalemason. So I did an apprenticeship as a stalemason and then afterwards, but directly with the idea of afterwards studying fine arts and.

Chris Watson (05:27.774)
Yeah.

Katharina (05:41.627)
And then in the arts, course, I developed maybe from the beginning more painting before I studied art and just the things to do at home in the room inside. But then I got more more interested in really changing, like not painting what I feel or experience or think, but really doing.

Chris Watson (05:55.83)
Yeah.

Katharina (06:10.325)
doing it and trying to narrow it on what I found was important. For instance, that people meet in a certain situation and get another perspective maybe on something or just are interrupted in their daily life. And I started to big constructions, like installations. But at one point I also thought it's kind of repeating itself.

even though it might look different. in the very moment of building, of course, I always think, yeah, is something totally new. But then when looking back, it is in a way still just a continuation or maybe even a repetition. so, yeah, I got more and more into the performative field and combining it with some sort of travel. And I always like to be outside and doing sports and running.

stuff like this. so the first thing actually that I combined the outdoor, like an outdoor tour with my art was after Erasmus in Vienna. And then I walked back to Münster where I studied. that was, yeah, just through Austria and Germany, like a lot of culture, of course, but also beautiful nature, but very different to what I'm in now.

Chris Watson (07:26.625)
Mmm.

Katharina (07:38.091)
But that changed all my perspective on art, on meeting people, also not only staying in the art bubble, which can happen very easily, that you're just in the galleries and museums and some... So in the end only or mostly art people come that already kind of agree with you. And then by walking I suddenly met people that never...

set a foot in a museum or yeah, many think like this is not for them, this is like another world. so that was really great to, yeah, even if it's just for an evening camping in the garden. Yeah, since in Germany it's not allowed to wild camp, I'm always, yeah, usually asking for the garden or kind of hide in the forest. So then the people became very important and then I did some other outdoor related.

art project afterwards, but I could always oversee it. I could always see the end, always had a kind of result in mind. And so again, I started to repeat myself. when, yeah, after finishing Academy, I thought I somehow want something in my life or in my artwork that is so big that I don't see the end result, that I don't know who I will be, how the world will be.

The time must be that big and everything must be so big that I cannot oversee it and also don't plan a final end result and then shape everything around it but really go into it as open as possible. Yeah, that was now a short introduction.

Chris Watson (09:21.179)
Yeah, yeah, and that makes me think of two things, Katerina, which is a perfect bridge. so firstly, was it an accidental discovery in your behalf about nature and people connecting to your art? Or was it by design when you walked from Vienna back to Germany? Was that part of the plan or did it just happen?

Katharina (09:43.625)
Mmm.

Katharina (09:48.252)
On this trip it just happened, yeah, because I was close to the Danube River and there was like a big thunderstorm and I didn't feel safe being close to the water so I just went to the next farm and yeah, it was like raining and thunder and lightning and everything and they directly said, yeah, come in and they had like a birthday party going on of some grandfather or something and they directly invited me and yeah, that was just...

Yeah, I didn't expect it and it was so overwhelming and then afterwards I kind of tried to continue with this like always when there was not when I haven't been in a forest or yeah, especially in this in the countryside where it's like more single farms or like in villages, of course, it gets more difficult and especially also coming closer to cities but more in the countryside. I really like to do that.

Yeah, and if people say no, it's also all right. But just trying.

Chris Watson (10:48.703)
Yeah. So do you see yourself as an adventurer or an artist or a mix of both?

Katharina (10:55.945)
If there is a border, then a mix. But I would say the art or artist, it includes everything. You don't need to make an either or. You don't need to decide.

Chris Watson (10:59.893)
Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Watson (11:12.981)
Yeah, no, not to label necessarily, that's not the intent, or just to kind of understand where your head space was with that. yeah, so kind getting into the crux of the podcast about round motion and the adventure that you're on, but could you tell us and explain maybe what round motion actually is as a project?

Katharina (11:19.399)
Yeah, exactly.

Chris Watson (11:37.249)
Because and then I have it's a leading question because of a follow-on question at the back of it in terms of the journey So what is round motion for people that are watching and listening?

Katharina (11:46.747)
Yeah, round motion is divided into different parts, I would say, like one physical part, which I'm on now also is like walking around the earth on a northern route and skiing in the winter and sailing the sea passages and sailing, of course, since I don't have an own boat and no sailing license and stuff. I kind of hitchhike on the sailing boats and yeah, try it.

Chris Watson (12:11.349)
Yeah

Katharina (12:16.072)
to find somebody who is basically going in the direction that I need. then also ask them to take me on board. then the summer part, this is very much defined by the weather. I need to be in some place before the winter comes. And in Europe, then I first walked from Germany, basically in Münster, where I stayed in last years.

walked through Denmark, Sweden, up to North and East Norway. And then I spent the winter there and worked and just experienced the Polar Night in one place and got to know people. And then I planned also the next year. And then I skied from there to Tomsø, like across the West.

Chris Watson (13:04.257)
Yeah, so sorry to interject, just to put that into context for people, mean, Germany to Norway, you know, it's like 4000 kilometres or something, you just kind of, as if you had just went out for an afternoon stroll, I mean, so is it to Kirkland?

Katharina (13:08.06)
Yeah. Yeah, something like that. Yeah. No, I started in January and came there in September. So, yeah. I don't try, I try not to compare always too many kilometers and because it gets some this competition thing. Yeah.

Chris Watson (13:23.443)
Yeah. Ye- Yeah.

Chris Watson (13:30.143)
Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Watson (13:34.466)
Yeah, no, but it's an epic feat. mean, it's not like, not even Vienna to back to Munster. I mean, this is epic. yeah, because I mean, naturally on the show, we want to unpack the logistics, the experiences, the preparation and the cultural connections and all that good stuff. But can I just ask when you'd set out from Germany going to Norway,

Katharina (13:43.172)
No.

Katharina (13:54.119)
Mm.

Katharina (14:03.985)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (14:04.737)
How much planning and preparation went into that? Did you know the route that you were taking? Because it's human powered and you're trying to circumnavigate it on your own back when we get to the sea passages and stuff. So did you have all that planned out?

Katharina (14:12.519)
Katharina (14:18.673)
Yeah.

Katharina (14:22.631)
No, I had a rough plan and I tried to plan about a year in advance, like a little bit more in detail. Then for Norway I knew I wanted to be in Oslo because I had an exhibition there in cooperation with another artist. Then I knew I wanted to end up in Tjikanes in the North East. I have been there with a previous project and I really liked it there. I met some people and I have a great...

like an art organization, Pique in the Pavoon it's called. I thought I wanted to get to know more of this. It's very interesting, course, it's directly next to the Russian and the Finnish border. It's a really special place also in political terms. That's basically the rough frame.

Chris Watson (15:15.647)
Yet.

Katharina (15:18.479)
And then of course Norway makes it very easy with the they have an amazing hiking trail system. So almost everywhere you can you can find a hiking trail if you want to. then of course further north you can just walk anywhere because of yeah there's not so much forest on in the valley and further up then you have like this mountains or tundra like landscape. can just nothing nothing stops you. You can just walk.

Chris Watson (15:18.846)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (15:44.202)
Yeah. Yeah, so see, on the way, Catherine, you mentioned about getting there for an exhibition. Is that part of the journey? Are you doing exhibitions as you go around the world?

Katharina (15:53.796)
Mm.

Katharina (15:59.815)
Yeah, that is the second part of round motion. I just talked a bit about the practical part, like the walking part. And the other part of round motion is, which cannot be divided, is like trying to find maybe another way to think about adventure or like outdoor tours or however you call it. And very often this storytelling is either very

Chris Watson (16:02.303)
Yeah, sorry.

Katharina (16:28.294)
romantic or heroic or very dramatized. Depending also a little bit who's doing it. And very often also the countries have like a little bit more of maybe more drama in Germany compared to Norway, for example. And so that is very interesting to me to compare this and also not fall into this pattern maybe. And yeah, I'm not planning on

Chris Watson (16:32.193)
Okay.

Katharina (16:56.869)
on making a movie afterwards or something like that, but just really very slow and documented and also be honest about it. And I don't want to make more drama than I really experience. And even though it's, I know it has in other areas feels like when it comes to follower numbers or stuff like this, if this would be my goal, then it would help to make a bit more drama.

Chris Watson (17:21.309)
yeah i know yeah

Katharina (17:26.212)
But yeah, I just want to be honest there and just try to be honest.

Chris Watson (17:32.084)
Yeah, so yeah, that's an interesting point because we touched on this isn't about kilometers or winning or necessarily breaking records and stuff. So what's life like for Katherine? Are you time bound? Do you need to be in a certain place by a certain time? Do you have like...

responsibilities back in Germany that need to be back for by 2027 or whatever. What is the journey? Or is that part of the mystique in the art that it is day by day, month by month?

Katharina (18:07.268)
Yeah.

Katharina (18:10.726)
It's not exactly day by day because of course I need to plan a bit since I'm also since I'm so north and So I have like this rough frame for instance now. I need to be in Ottawa around December because afterwards it would be just too cold for the gear what I have now and so and then I I know somebody in Ottawa and I organized that my gear would get there and then from then on I will

go with my winter gear. Of course there will be this transition time of not really yet cold enough for skiing or enough snow, but also really annoying for walking. But that's how it is. And then the next bigger place will be Winnipeg and then it will be already after the winter. And then I change again to the summer gear. this is like the rough frame that I have. And of course then I cannot just

Chris Watson (18:51.775)
Yeah.

Katharina (19:09.571)
like, stangle around and many people invite me and say, you want to meet here and then of course it would be all great but I think I would still be in Denmark. yeah, I need to have a little bit of focus and keep a bit going and then of course here also in Canada, I was really lucky to get this two years permit to stay. But then also, this gives also a kind of frame.

Chris Watson (19:15.157)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (19:21.46)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (19:32.959)
Yeah.

Katharina (19:37.58)
And I'm also not allowed to work here, so this gives also a sort of frame.

Chris Watson (19:44.405)
Are you going to get into Russia and come right round?

Katharina (19:50.117)
It would be great, yeah. When I started planning, that was before the war in Ukraine. So at that time I even thought I would go directly east from Germany. when it turned out that it wouldn't stop so soon, then I just basically turned around the trip. But things change so fast, so I need to see a bit how that is going.

Chris Watson (19:57.761)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (20:12.097)
Mm-hmm.

Katharina (20:19.31)
but otherwise I take the next route that is possible and at the moment it could be for instance China and then Mongolia, Kazakhstan, something like this. but yeah, it doesn't matter too much because things can change in a day and so first need to get to Ottawa.

Chris Watson (20:19.36)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (20:27.955)
Okay. Yeah.

Chris Watson (20:34.845)
Yeah, well, yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, yeah, exactly. One leg at a time. Why the North and not maybe, you know, along the tropics or something? Why the North?

Katharina (20:53.239)
Different reasons. maybe the more like a personal is that I'm just really fascinated by it, but it's little bit vague maybe, but I'm also really interested in like this, that is a little bit what round motion is also about like this. Yeah, dualistic approach, at least I mean, I'm from Germany. very often there is this idea that people can conquer

nature and even though people might say like yeah human beings are also nature but in daily life people, yeah many people at least, kind of there's this like surviving and yeah that you can manage nature and in Germany if you're not exactly in the Alps or at the sea that is very much true also there of course we have sometimes like flood or something but everything else is very much controlled and

The weather is not too extreme or too crazy yet. And this is not the case in the north. And there's this kind of border where people live up to the north. And I would like to go basically more or less at this border. mean, in Canada, of course, people live all the way up to the sea. And that is not exactly possible for me, at least, to...

to especially not logistically. But yeah, to find the edge and walk there and get to know this border of culture, nature, and how people deal differently with nature in different places and approach it.

Chris Watson (22:38.977)
Had you had much winter training? Because I know the second leg obviously Arctic Norway but how much exposure had you had to the cold and the extreme cold before you got to tromso and places like that?

Katharina (22:53.026)
Well, in 2019 it was first time that I went to first to Russia and then like St. Petersburg and then with the train to Murmansk and then I kind of walked, snowshoes from also Tchikines to Tromsø and then with the train back and that was like an artistic research journey and

That was my first time actually skiing and also first time really tenting in the winter and also first time that far north. But yeah, I just thought it was amazing. I was very much overwhelmed as well, but it was just also amazing. And then I went for like a real kind of training on my own, I think in 21, just for short.

with the train through Finland up to northern Norway. And then I just did some skiing and unfortunately I and also everybody around me had COVID. it was a bit shorter. But yeah, that was quite a good training. And then also just being there the whole winter, like the whole Polar Night.

Chris Watson (24:19.627)
What was that experience? What was the Polar Knight experience? Yeah. Yeah.

Katharina (24:19.851)
Then the... was, yeah, was beautiful. Yeah, just beautiful. And also, of course, then in the Northeast or in general in Norway, many people are just very relaxed. It's not like a daily survival thing. It's just the life and people, especially in Norway, they're crazy about the outdoors and doing stuff outdoors and ice fishing and just continuing life in a very beautiful and calm way most of the time.

Chris Watson (24:35.349)
Yeah.

Katharina (24:48.958)
And so there I just learned a lot and I went for skiing just around town basically, but you're directly in the, or very soon in the national park. yeah, and then a lot comes also on the way. Yeah.

Chris Watson (24:59.637)
there.

Chris Watson (25:05.261)
See, Katarina, just coming back to Kirkanez for a minute, because I know that's had a lot of World War II history and things like that. Did you see much of that in terms of what was a much cultural or historical, whether it's museums or whatever?

Katharina (25:13.335)
Yeah.

Katharina (25:17.274)
yeah.

Katharina (25:21.962)
Yeah, it's very interesting there because they have so much space they don't remove it because it's not actually disturbing. whenever you go for hiking you will find like the fences or then also in town there is a bunker and as I was working as a guide I also was guiding through this in this bunker and yeah they have a quite special history because they have been

Chris Watson (25:29.088)
Yeah.

Katharina (25:49.665)
The Red Army actually came and not Norway and freed them. It's very different to the rest of Norway and that's also now so traumatic that with the war in Ukraine that actually the families living on both sides and of course there are people having different opinions there as well but actually they always had a very good relationship just with the people on the other side of the border.

Chris Watson (25:59.04)
Yeah.

Katharina (26:19.17)
And there's even a big stager in town of a soldier from the Red Army. So yeah, it's a special place. There are many sayings, for instance, you should not walk barefoot in the wetland because it is so sure that you will step into some NATO fence.

Chris Watson (26:25.865)
Yeah. Yeah.

Katharina (26:47.233)
some rusty something from the war. And that is true. It's very present.

Chris Watson (26:50.56)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (26:54.209)
How does that experience impact your art or your perspective if you're thinking about setting up installations and your humans connecting with nature and stuff? Does that have any sort of bearing or impact on your art, those types of experiences?

Katharina (27:14.593)
Yes, because it becomes very clear what is the human infrastructure or human-made laws that are put onto our world. especially there, coming back to Tegnes, you have the Pasvik River, which is the border between Russia and Norway. And it is really protected and it has...

always been protected also in the last years before the war. But you don't exactly see it. When you just look at it, it still looks beautiful and it's like in the national park for some parts and a lot of birds. But of course there are I don't know, almost 200 cameras or more on the Norwegian side and on the Russian side there's it's like a military area. But on Norwegian side people just live directly at the river.

but they're not allowed to cross and not allowed to greet even the people on the other side. And it's very much controlled. And there were always some exceptions, for instance, that the reindeer of the Sami, if they might go to the other side, they could just go and take them back. And now when a war started, these kind of regulations also changed.

Chris Watson (28:21.087)
Yeah.

Katharina (28:38.804)
So yeah, it makes me very much aware of what is put onto the world in very unnecessary, I would say, terms and what is actually maybe really needed.

Chris Watson (28:46.347)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Chris Watson (28:54.401)
I was in Finland two or three years ago in the winter and we were on a trip and I didn't appreciate at the time how close we were to the Russian border and how much of a hard border that actually was and he was explaining a lot of that and you just don't realise this until someone actually points it out.

Katharina (29:11.562)
Hmm.

Chris Watson (29:21.215)
the war obviously tragic as it is in the publicity that it gets but sometimes even in non when they're not in conflict you know there are still these hard demilitarised zones that are yeah anyway we digress you touched on being a guide there how do you get jobs and stuff being guides and crews on sailboats and stuff how are you going about securing that?

Katharina (29:48.35)
Well, the guiding part was quite lucky, especially when you speak German, and since Germans tend to travel almost everywhere. so, yeah, speaking German and just being interested in the region and knowing some things already was almost enough. so, yeah, I talked to them and I knew already that this

that they existed. This was for the Snow Hotel in Chechnya. They're like the biggest private company, basically, with at that time more than 90 people working there. And of course, very seasonal work. And it's not like really outdoor guiding or something, but yeah, a lot of history about town and about the border and these sort of things and just telling about life there. And then always...

Chris Watson (30:46.049)
It must be quite satisfying and fulfilling though coming to a place like that and then getting that opportunity and immersing yourself in it. Yeah.

Katharina (30:52.188)
Yeah, absolutely. And also, I really enjoyed the guiding because then this is like, most people just have a few hours that like this is like from Hurtigruten, for instance, from this ship, and also from Havilla from the other ship. So, so almost every day there, there is like a ship coming with a few people doing this short tour. And this is very often all they see or some people might have been there.

Chris Watson (31:09.344)
Yeah.

Katharina (31:22.27)
when they were younger with a motorbike or something and then they just want to see it again. And then having the opportunity to hear also their perspective on how they experience it and then especially in the winter, of course, then they think it's like crazy cold, but maybe actually this day was 10 minus or yeah, nothing so crazy for if you're there for a while. And yeah, so this is very, very beautiful and also, yeah, a great opportunity just to

Chris Watson (31:43.211)
Yeah.

Katharina (31:52.137)
to share the place and to... Yeah, since I'm also coming from Germany, of course I have this perspective as well, or I know this perspective of maybe people thinking that everything is extremely crazy, but yeah, but it's not in the end.

Chris Watson (32:10.099)
Yeah, excellent. So going from Norway to Svalbard and you know the sea crossings and stuff, you said yourself you don't have a boating license so how do you skip onto a sailboat? How does that come about?

Katharina (32:27.571)
Yeah.

That was very different, each sail actually. So to Svalbard I sailed with a company basically. Svalbard is now changed maybe little bit since they're having just new regulations. But there a lot of sailboats going there and almost no sailboat is leaving from north of Norway west. most of them either go south first and then west or...

going to Svalbard and then west. So I knew about it already in advance, but I thought, okay, I just give it a try. So, and I also already knew quite early that I would not be able to leave from Tjekenes, but I would need to go to the west coast. And so then I found them and yeah, this was like a boat with, I think to Svalbard, we were about 12 people and we made a stop in Björnøya because the weather was...

Chris Watson (33:12.982)
Yeah.

Katharina (33:28.059)
good to make a stop and yeah that was a five day beautiful sailing quite rough but still beautiful and in this big group you can make quite relaxed watches because yeah you have still time to sleep and it was the also first time for me sailing in ice like in the when you come close to Svalbard and this was just the beginning of May and yeah and then in Svalbard I worked on a sailboat

Chris Watson (33:49.899)
Yeah.

Katharina (33:58.201)
That was just a coincidence because somebody got sick and I was sitting next to somebody who was in the WhatsApp group of this boat and I said, they need somebody. And I said, I'm already here. I could work. And yeah, so that was very lucky. And I had already this Norwegian ID from Norway. So that was all very, very easy because that is something that usually takes a while. And yeah, so.

Chris Watson (34:06.955)
Yeah. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Chris Watson (34:24.875)
year.

Katharina (34:26.876)
It was just lucky circumstance and then just saying yes. That is also, yeah, just I didn't know what happened. was just saying yes and.

Chris Watson (34:30.111)
Yes, excellent, I love that. yeah. What kind of experience had you had on sailing or sailboats at all before that? Did you have much exposure, experience?

Katharina (34:42.205)
Not so much, maybe little bit on the Baltic Sea, since I didn't grow up next to the sea and my parents didn't have a boat or anything, if you don't really force it, it just doesn't happen. I wouldn't call it a big experience. More paddling, course, also sea kayaking and everything, but...

Chris Watson (34:51.925)
Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Watson (34:58.505)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (35:07.425)
Yes, I seen your videos. So I seen a lot of your reels when you were in Svalbard. You talk about the ice and it was fascinating. I seen you in swimming, seen you in kayaking and stuff like that. I mean, it just looks otherworldly. I've never been to Svalbard. It just looks like, it looks like a different planet. It's fantastic looking. Yeah. And also seen that you were wild, you were wild camping by the looks of it.

Katharina (35:13.724)
Hmm.

Katharina (35:18.119)
Yeah.

Katharina (35:22.749)
Yeah.

It's like another planet. Yeah, it does, yeah.

Chris Watson (35:35.361)
How is that on the nerves with the fact that there are many polar bears in the region?

Katharina (35:40.989)
Yeah, I didn't wild camp too much. There's a big difficulty in the housing situation, let's put it this way. But I knew in advance that it would be easy or it would be very expensive. So I asked on the campground and then they said, yeah, if you just help us maintaining the place.

Chris Watson (35:52.747)
Mm-hmm.

Katharina (36:08.924)
you can stay for free and then that sounded great to me. I stayed whenever I wasn't on the sailboat, I stayed on the campground and then I did some hikes of course and yeah and then of course it's good not to be alone with the polar bears and yeah as soon as you leave Longyearbyen you should have some sort of protection and if it's further away maybe a rifle would be good not only the signal.

And yeah, and then but the easy thing in the summer, of course, it's always bright. It's like sunshine at night and and you kind of weirdly don't get tired even though you're you feel you're you should be tired, but you can also just continue. So, yeah, you can just hike for 48 hours nonstop and and just you don't need to make a break basically. Yeah.

Chris Watson (36:45.471)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (37:02.165)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (37:06.017)
What's it like in Svalbard as far as like, what's the best way to phrase this, like food supplies, meals, drinks, groceries, things like that. Are there many shops? Are there ways to restock? Yeah.

Katharina (37:23.611)
Oh, yeah. It is. Yeah, that is, I would say a bit problematic, because, of course, they like to have this mystery around Svalbard in general, of course, in all of Svalbard, there's not a no road infrastructure or anything. But then you have Langebyen, like the Norwegian settlement. And there is like a super big supermarket with everything. Of course, everything is extremely expensive.

But yeah, you kind of get used to it. And if you work there, it also fits, based on more or less. You don't need to go too crazy, maybe, about what you buy. But yeah, you can find your way around. then, yeah, if you don't need to pay for housing, it's quite OK. But there's everything. There's bars. There's restaurants. There are several hotels in a really high standard. There's like a Redison hotel.

Chris Watson (37:58.22)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (38:12.277)
the

Yeah.

Chris Watson (38:21.515)
Really?

Katharina (38:22.681)
Yeah, it's a bit strange. That is something I don't really agree on. It's put even further now that they stopped the coal mining from Norwegian side. But of course they need to have some sort of reason to continue to be there. it's now the research, which wouldn't be enough people maybe, so it's the tourism now.

Chris Watson (38:43.989)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Katharina (38:51.342)
Yeah, it's a bit sketchy, let's say.

Chris Watson (38:54.537)
Yeah, I think is there a Russian side on Longbeirion as well, the settlement?

Katharina (39:00.122)
There is Bansburg, it's the Russian settlement. And that is basically a little bit around the corner in another fjord. so there are just a few people now living since the war in Ukraine started. And before they were always like the ships stopped there and there's like a ferry and they had their own shop and own hotel and everything. And now it's a little bit, yeah, of course there are still some people.

But it's a bit of a ghost town now. And there's Pyramiden, which is officially abandoned. are just a few guides living there to guide the people around to have a look. But there's nothing more anymore.

Chris Watson (39:48.329)
Yeah. What, did you have any polar bear sightings between you or your groups or anything like that when you were there? Yeah.

Katharina (39:54.906)
Yeah, from the boat, the sailboat, But not in town. I think in the winter they might come, but in the summer usually they are spotted quite early and then they are chasing them away or they coming with helicopter and shoot not on the bear but just that they run away.

Chris Watson (40:04.927)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (40:14.913)
Yeah, yeah. So when it came time to leave as foul barred, where was your next stop? Was it Greenland after that, I think?

Katharina (40:25.37)
Not a real stop, yeah. We sailed from Langebyen to basically just straight west. then along the coast there's like Skorsby Sound in East Greenland and little bit through the fjords and went for some small hikes. There's like a little town, Itte Tokomit, and we visited it. That was again like a group of several people. And then we went to Iserfjordur in...

Chris Watson (40:33.227)
Okay.

Katharina (40:55.244)
north west Iceland and yeah and there then I stayed again yeah.

Chris Watson (40:58.015)
Yeah.

Yeah, what was Iceland like when you went to that? Because it must be very different from Svalbard, it's quite volcanic isn't it? Yeah, very different terrain.

Katharina (41:10.146)
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And also I was really looking forward to be again in a place where with a history of people. Because Swarbad, of course, there is no indigenous history as far as we know. And so it all started with the whaling and all these like all exploitation of earth basically. And then later the coal and now it's political.

Chris Watson (41:26.281)
Yep. Yep.

Katharina (41:40.387)
place and yeah you don't see so much of the infrastructure of this political tension like it's not not exactly visible but you clearly feel that it's there and so I was really looking forward to be in a place where I felt like that it's okay to be there actually because that was something I felt is why I just thought like there just shouldn't be any humans even though it's amazing place yes but it's just not right that there's

so many people going there. then Iceland, of course, has this very long history and again, very different kaisha also. yeah, that was just, that was incredible. And it's also, there's no place where I've been that I could compare it with, like with the steam in some places. yeah, it was just also again, like another world.

Chris Watson (42:21.323)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (42:32.341)
Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Watson (42:38.365)
How much hiking and stuff did you do in Iceland, Katerina?

Katharina (42:41.848)
Well, first I walked from Iserfjordur to Aquieri, which I'm not quite sure, it's maybe 500 km, maybe a little bit more. And then I was lucky that I could stay there at a farm, which wasn't clear from the beginning, but when I came there and then they got to know me and said, yeah, that sounds good, I can stay. And then I crossed Iceland with the ski from there to the south.

Chris Watson (42:45.921)
Really.

Katharina (43:11.521)
right through the middle together with a friend and that was just because I thought it's yeah it's a great opportunity I'm there my gear is there and so yeah no flight needed or anything

Chris Watson (43:27.081)
What was it like you've been on the road or travelling for so long? Large swathes of that on your own solo but then crossing with a friend. How was that? Was it more comforting or what was your experience like?

Katharina (43:46.336)
It's just different. But on this trip in Dirk is his name and he's very much doing things on his own as well. So we were basically two solo travelers and sharing the tent and I knew him already from from Cheekness and yeah, he's outdoors all the time and he crossed Greenland the year before.

Chris Watson (43:55.072)
Yeah.

Katharina (44:16.008)
And so he's very fit and just has his routine. Of course, there are small differences in where you put your chocolate or stuff like this, but in the end, it is quite similar and you need to have a certain rhythm of getting up in the morning. And also when you make a break, we did this every 50 minutes, more or less. We made a short break.

Chris Watson (44:42.881)
Yeah.

Katharina (44:45.612)
Yeah, these sort of things and yeah, it worked quite well. yeah, but unfortunately, first he was a little bit sick when he still got there and then I kind of got it from him, I think. So yeah, was really, it was a bit hard on like, I was not getting enough oxygen while skiing and everything. But other than that, was, yeah, it was just amazing. And we were really lucky with the

Chris Watson (44:59.096)
Christ.

Chris Watson (45:06.336)
Yeah.

Katharina (45:15.019)
with the weather and yeah, extremely calm and sunshine and yeah, we would never have expected that. So that was really great.

Chris Watson (45:24.769)
How did you find the food in Iceland compared to other regions? you eating any sort of fermented fish? to stereotype Iceland but I know they have a very... not much grows in that island. How was your experiences there? And not to offend any Icelandic people that may be listening, I apologise. But what was your experience like?

Katharina (45:30.347)
The food and.

Yes. Yes. no, it was true.

Katharina (45:42.359)
No, I think so.

Katharina (45:48.535)
Yeah, I mean that was the great thing that I could stay in a farm because that was my hope in Iceland not to work as a guide or something because then you're very often also in this bubble of seasonal workers, foreign workers also very often and yeah, I knew already in Chechnya that was a different situation and in Longyearbyen there are no local people at all so...

Just a few people living there longer. But yeah, that's not such a history. But in Iceland, I was hoping to find a place like this where I could get to know all the local traditional food things and cultural things and the small Dennis Christmas and New Year. And yeah, they were like a little bit older couple. And she's...

Chris Watson (46:33.195)
Yeah.

Katharina (46:45.024)
She turned 75 and he's a little bit younger. They had also this farm which is, yeah, they are stopping it now, but not a big farm. So they were still milking kind of by hand, not with a robot. yeah, to get to know this structure, which in the end shaped our landscape. And now, of course, it's changing to having all these huge farms, like with several hundred cows and a robot.

It will change the landscape very much. Also Iceland unfortunately does the same, like Germany for instance, not supporting the small businesses or farms. About the food, then of course they did slaughter for themselves, like the sheep and their own sheep and also had their own beef. Maybe it sounds a bit drastic, but they were basically eating meat with meat.

Chris Watson (47:16.683)
Yeah.

Katharina (47:43.388)
and fat. So it was, yeah, so that was the thing that stayed very much with me. And sheep, of course, and then they also did the sour meat. And they smoke, of course, themselves also, but they smoke with the sheep shit. yeah, very particular. But yeah.

Chris Watson (47:51.605)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (48:05.353)
Yeah, yeah, was going to come to that.

Katharina (48:11.934)
Many things I thought about, like, okay, if I would have grown up and I had like this melancholic relation to this food, maybe I would like it. Except skata, which is this fish, like this flat fish. Yeah, and then it's like buried half a year and then fermented and then it is even cooked for very long and it was just horrible. there I, it's not even that I could say like, yeah, if I overcome my cultural

Chris Watson (48:26.229)
Ugh.

Chris Watson (48:36.502)
Yeah.

Katharina (48:42.197)
education or cultural growing up. And then it would be fine. I tried, of course, also the sheep eyes, for instance. Or in Norway I tried different reindeer parts that people offered. And once you free yourself from your cultural background, it's actually okay. But the skata, that was next level.

Chris Watson (49:10.168)
Yeah, I mean, I haven't even been to attempt it, but I've seen and heard and spoken to people that can't even bring it close to their mouth, let alone let the smell and the stench of it. yeah. Yeah, yeah. And let's say this isn't to offend any Icelandic people. I mean, this is coming from a Scot and we boil and eat haggis. So we are...

Katharina (49:20.885)
The whole house smells of all the clothes, everything. Yeah, it's incredible.

Chris Watson (49:35.356)
can be equally as revolting. And I say that actually, Haggis is lovely, he's not revolting. anyway. Rolling back a little bit, Catherine, something piqued my interest there. You talked about getting a little bit sickly. Over the duration, how's your body held up with, because there's a lot of strain on your body, a lot of kilometres, a lot of difficult terrain. Have you had many injuries or are you keeping well?

Katharina (50:04.917)
No, so far I'm actually quite good. Like in the winter, like in thickness also in the end. Then I, yeah, a little bit, I was a little bit stressed about when to start and then when this was over basically, then I got a bit sick and yeah, just running nose and heavy breathing and stuff like this, but never, yeah, of course, maybe tired feet, blisters, all these sort of things, but

Now I'm having a few mosquito bites that got a bit infected. But yeah, it's nothing too bad, luckily, so far.

Chris Watson (50:44.883)
Yeah good good good. So onward passage from Iceland to... how was that? What was that? Lake?

Katharina (50:55.754)
Yeah.

Katharina (50:59.881)
That was then maybe the most adventurous sailing, must say. Because I had another plan to sail with some people first along the coast of, or to, West Greenland and then stay there maybe a week or two and then join another boat to Newfoundland. then I crossed Iceland by foot in May, June.

Chris Watson (51:03.467)
Yeah.

Katharina (51:27.796)
from the farm towards Reykjavik to get to the boat. then I just finished crossing the highlands and thought like, that worked out quite well. I'm so very much in time and I still have time to see Reykjavik. Yeah, I was quite happy. then I just checked my mails and I got this mail like, hey, we're sorry. We have some technical issues. We will not make it. And yeah, and it was like, whoa.

crazy. And then I reached out to several people and luckily one person I knew in Iceland, has this sailboat in the harbor right next to Reykjavik and he was like, oh so how bad. There was just a French sailboat leaving the other day towards the northwest passage and they should be still in Iceland and then there is like this app

marine traffic app and then of course I directly checked in Iceland if I see a French sailboat and I saw a French sailboat again in the harbor where he has his boat and I asked like is it them? I said no but strange that there is again a French sailboat I will have a look and then like half an hour later he said you won't believe it this guy is sailing to Newfoundland and he's actually looking for somebody to join because his partner suddenly didn't want to join him anymore

Chris Watson (52:32.128)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (52:55.873)
Yeah.

Katharina (52:56.32)
And yeah, that was crazy. then I, yeah, it was still 100 something kilometers to go for me. And but then we had a, I talked to him on phone and the person I knew, kind of checked the boat a bit for me if that is like serious, but he sailed already alone from Norway to Iceland. And so I knew he wouldn't basically need me to do the sail. And

Chris Watson (53:17.203)
Okay

Chris Watson (53:21.961)
Yeah.

Katharina (53:26.043)
Yeah, and then I just got to know him and the boat looked good and I just thought, okay, it could work.

Chris Watson (53:32.917)
Yeah. It's a leap of faith. It's a big leap of faith that, yeah.

Katharina (53:38.917)
Yeah, but in the end it was just amazing. It was extremely exhausting because it was just the two of us. then of course the weather. I mean, there's a reason why most people don't want to sail in this direction. yeah, it was just the wind and the current against us. then in Greenland there was a lot of ice. We were also quite early. I think we left Iceland on 11th of June.

Chris Watson (53:45.973)
Yeah.

Katharina (54:08.899)
And so in Greenland there's a lot of ice, like sea ice and also the glacier ice. then there were like really stormy weather, like with more than 50 knots in the south of Greenland for a whole day. yeah, was just, and then things break on a boat, of course, like it's just normal. But yeah, you also need to deal with this. And there's nobody, I mean, it's not like sailing along Norway or

Chris Watson (54:30.707)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (54:35.723)
Bleh.

Katharina (54:37.875)
where you can always reach somebody with a VHS, but there's just nobody.

Chris Watson (54:41.661)
extreme yeah it's extreme did you ever fear did you ever fear for your life at any point with that did you ever think this just isn't gonna this isn't gonna end well

Katharina (54:49.267)
Yeah, well when we were in this whole day 50 knots then I was kind of thinking because if we would have kind of tipped which theoretically should not happen with the sailboat but if we would have flipped over then that would have been it but there's no one to come and in 50 knots there's nothing

Chris Watson (55:10.229)
Yeah. Exactly. Yep.

Katharina (55:15.538)
And you also don't have the chance to get them into the safety boat thingy. I think a lot about risk, of course, but there's always risk you agree on. And we agree on many risks in daily life, like using a car. And that is just accepted in society, that you just take the risk to get to work or something. And so that is something I agreed on.

Chris Watson (55:19.165)
Yeah, yeah, Christ.

Chris Watson (55:37.867)
Yeah.

Katharina (55:45.346)
And so that is... And the boat was in a good shape and everything. It wouldn't have been about starting in a bad condition or something like this. It's just something that happened. Yeah.

Chris Watson (55:46.049)
Yeah, it's part of the adventure, it's part of the adventure, part of the excitement.

Chris Watson (56:01.183)
Yeah. How far was the crossing that you done in terms of kilometres or can you recall?

Katharina (56:06.674)
I don't know the actual miles because we were really going pretty south to get around the ice and then we went again more than 200 kilometers north to get to a small harbor without ice and then of course you zigzag a lot against the wind. Yeah and then we repaired a little bit the boat in Greenland and then went to Lappador

Chris Watson (56:13.567)
else.

Chris Watson (56:26.208)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Katharina (56:37.458)
But I couldn't enter officially, so we continued to Newfoundland. And then again, lot of zigzag, and it's always much further than just a straight line with a cycle.

Chris Watson (56:51.263)
Yeah. Yeah. And how, what's the journey from then to, to, to where you are at the moment, Katarina? Because you're in Nova Scotia at the moment, aren't you?

Katharina (57:03.493)
Yeah, yeah, I am. yeah, then after I got the permit, so the procedure is that when you enter by sailboat, cannot apply online in advance. So the actual officers need to come to you and you need to show them your documents and all the preparation. And it's very unclear, like many countries do have the same, that they don't really say what they want to see. So they just say,

Chris Watson (57:28.277)
Yeah.

Katharina (57:29.669)
You need to have enough money, but they don't say what is enough, example. So I just tried to do everything as good as possible. yeah, in summer it worked. And then I just had a few days basically on the boat. They lifted the boat out of the water to be repaired during the winter. And yeah, helped a little bit and sent some winter gear.

Chris Watson (57:32.273)
huh. Yeah.

Katharina (57:59.025)
which I had on board to Ottawa. then I started walking. I walked pretty much on this old railway, which is now like a small gravel road. It was extremely hot and it was very often plus 30 something in the shadow. But there's basically not a lot of shadow because it's lot of marshland.

Chris Watson (58:28.107)
jeez.

Katharina (58:28.541)
So it was incredible and also the many streams and many, yeah, all the wetlands you can see from the plants that it's usually wet, the earth was open like in a desert, cracked. And yeah, it was incredible. Like from that point and also incredible from the people because that is, yeah, so much support and there are the people coming with the ATV and then, yeah.

Chris Watson (58:48.022)
Yeah.

Katharina (58:57.112)
They gave me water, gave me Pepsi, they told me where the key to the cabin is. It was incredible. So like this I walked about 300 something kilometers to Cornerbrook, to another town. And I was hoping to find somebody to sail with from there to Nova Scotia. Or if I wouldn't have found somebody I would have continued to Port-au-Basque, to another town.

Chris Watson (59:02.438)
wow.

Katharina (59:26.712)
and then if I still wouldn't have found somebody I could have taken the ferry from there just across to Nova Scotia. But luckily through social media and some people that we both knew I found this really wonderful couple from Belgium and they sailed around, they came from Belgium with their boat like in steps and now they were sailing around.

here in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. And they said, yeah, just come on board. And so we sailed together all along the coast and to small islands, Ile de Madeleine, on halfway more or less, in the middle, let's say, between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and then along the coast. And then now it is still that dry and hot.

So now here's also the fire ban so that like when I was in Newfoundland already it burned there from lightning and after I left it's still I think burning in several places and without control and also here it's really bad and several places with fire without control and they're used to this basically used to this already in other parts of Canada, but usually it's getting that hot here and

Chris Watson (01:00:51.062)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:00:54.371)
Yeah, and it's crazy dry, everything.

Chris Watson (01:00:57.857)
didn't appreciate that, I just automatically assumed it would not necessarily freezing but I thought it you were so north that it would have been cold at this time or crisp.

Katharina (01:01:06.639)
I'm not very... I'm very south right now. I'm the most south I've been in all the trip. But it's new. This is not nothing that usually happened. Of course it will happen more in the future. There was a hurricane I think two years ago which destroyed...

Chris Watson (01:01:15.361)
Yeah

Katharina (01:01:33.911)
large parts of the forest so there's lot of dry wood laying around which is like perfect for the fire and yeah so just a little bit of lightning of a little bit cigarette or whatever and everything we burn yeah so yeah and then yeah so now i'm only allowed to walk on the roads not to go through the woods and not on hiking trails not wild camping

Chris Watson (01:01:47.433)
Yeah, ticks off. Jeez. Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:01:57.395)
Okay.

Chris Watson (01:02:00.894)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:02:01.494)
and of course not doing any fire, so yeah.

Chris Watson (01:02:05.277)
Yeah, wow. So what is your journey looking like now from where you are? Are you still on the road? Have you got a walk ahead of you, like distance to go? how are you getting to Ottawa?

Katharina (01:02:18.254)
Alright.

Katharina (01:02:23.07)
Well, now that I'm on the mainland, it's really just walking. And to Quebec, will be now about 1000 kilometers, maybe a little bit more. But all of Nova Scotia and also New Prunes has the same fire ban going on. Although, for a very big part, I won't be able to go through the woods. And the fire ban is until October.

Chris Watson (01:02:26.579)
Yeah, so you're going to walk the distance, yeah.

Chris Watson (01:02:42.571)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:02:48.499)
Yeah, okay.

Yeah, jeez. How does that sit with you? Because you're probably more urban than nature in those types of environments that, yeah. that, where are you?

Katharina (01:02:52.364)
I will be already gone when it's... Yeah.

Katharina (01:03:05.646)
I'm a kind of positive person so I always find something where it's good for. So now of course I meet lot of many more people and since I'm not allowed to work here, mean work in Norway and also Iceland, I needed money of course but also it is great to get to know the culture and to get to know people.

Chris Watson (01:03:10.644)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:03:31.595)
And that is something I will definitely kind of miss in Canada because I'm not allowed to work. so now walking on the road is maybe like equalizing a bit. so also here in Newfoundland, for instance, yeah, just a small story. I was sitting in a diner and it was like extremely hot. And yeah, I was just a little bit dead from the heat and I'm not too good in this hot weather. And

Chris Watson (01:03:42.379)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:04:01.355)
Yeah, and was just sitting there and my backpack is pretty big. Also, I'm carrying already the, like, basically the autumn early winter gear with me. And then, everybody, there is nobody hiking here. Like, everybody's in the car or in the ATV. And maybe they hike to a lake to go fishing. But it's not like this, not like in Norway where all the time you meet people hiking. yeah, and so they were like, my gosh.

you're hiking and they got like super excited and then they posted on their insert like not not from the shop just from their private Instagram that they were so happy that they met me and yeah and they were like so kind and but then since there are not so many people living everybody knew them and so everybody afterwards on my way said like yeah

I saw it on Instagram. She did post that or they met them and they have been talking about me. And so this is really amazing. And now also here I camped in the garden a little bit further out of town, like, I don't know, maybe 15 kilometers or something. And then I came here and I met a lady and now she texted me that she actually found out that I camped in the garden of her friend.

So it's just very beautiful how the people connect and also write again through social media again and keep in touch.

Chris Watson (01:05:29.121)
Press.

Chris Watson (01:05:34.23)
Yeah, that's great side of social media, but just the kindness of strangers. These are things I love to hear on this show, because it's a recurring theme that there's a lot of bad in the world, let's not sugarcoat it, but when doing things like this, the kindness of strangers taking the time out to help. Even the mental boost of that, being on the road for so long and someone connecting like that, it's a wonderful thing.

Katharina (01:06:04.151)
Yeah, and I think I carry this very long with me, like when I'm working and somebody, yesterday I got like homemade cookies, like gingerbread cookies. yeah, and then I just, this is like so kind and yeah, just, this goes with me much longer than the cookies will last. And yeah, so many incredible, like one man, he,

Chris Watson (01:06:15.463)
yes.

Chris Watson (01:06:27.125)
Yeah. Yeah.

Katharina (01:06:32.598)
He gave me his binoculars in Newfoundland and his address and he said like, one day when I won't need it anymore, I should send them back because they were from his father. And there's so many incredible things happening and yeah, really grateful for this. But I'm also very aware that I'm very privileged to experience this because

Chris Watson (01:06:34.913)
Huh?

Chris Watson (01:06:44.659)
Yeah, wow. That was clear.

Chris Watson (01:07:02.677)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:07:02.771)
I know not everybody who would maybe knock on the door would experience the same. So that is of course unfortunate in our society, but for me now personally, of course it's great.

Chris Watson (01:07:16.511)
Yeah, and that actually is a perfect bridge into a question I was going to ask earlier. Is there an end to this adventure slash art project?

or are you just going to keep going?

Katharina (01:07:35.795)
Well, physically the end will be when I'm back in Münster where I started on the main square. But of course, I don't know if there can ever be an end to this. So yeah, I actually hope not. yeah, it would be great also to later on, yeah, really get into this reflection afterwards.

Chris Watson (01:07:43.329)
Mm-hmm.

Chris Watson (01:07:54.87)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:08:03.74)
I'm writing now almost every day something and sometimes something like a newsletter that everybody can get. I don't know if you get it.

Chris Watson (01:08:14.913)
I've seen it, I haven't signed up yet but I promise I will because I was looking around motion, the website as well, had translating it back into English but I think there was an English section as well so yeah, I was having a little look around that so.

Katharina (01:08:18.719)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Katharina (01:08:26.953)
Yeah, you can put it into English.

Because a lot of people don't have social media and I don't want to rely on having social media necessarily. I from time to time if it's possible with the internet and everything I have on my phone. So I write like a longer email with some photos and maybe writing a little bit more than I do on like more personal maybe than I do on Instagram.

Chris Watson (01:08:38.431)
Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:08:45.621)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:08:49.312)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:09:00.321)
Yeah, excellent. So we'll talk about that at the end. We'll get that linked to make sure that people go and have a look at that and sign up to the newsletter, myself included. Coming back to that question again, so is the intent to come back to Munster in Germany? And are you going to come round and travel back maybe through the Nordics or something back into Munster?

Katharina (01:09:18.144)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:09:23.657)
Yeah, this depends on the political situation. I mean, there are several... Like my original dream route basically would be now going to BC and then going up to Alaska, then crossing to Russia and going all the way through Russia. And then somehow either going through the north or through the east, like Poland and these countries, back to Germany, something like this, and then making maybe a long...

Chris Watson (01:09:27.318)
yeah.

Chris Watson (01:09:35.861)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:09:39.251)
Yeah. Yeah.

Katharina (01:09:52.159)
loop all the way through Germany until I'm back. Something like this. Yeah, but I need to...

Chris Watson (01:09:53.474)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So see on the whole journey, Katarik, because thinking about the geopolitical issues in Russia and stuff, if that became a stumbling block, have you got a human-powered route that gets you back into maybe China, like you say, Mongolia, through the stands and stuff? Yeah. Is that the backup?

Katharina (01:10:05.994)
Hmm.

Katharina (01:10:13.45)
I always try to take the most northern route that is possible. Also, instance, I would leave from Vancouver with a sailboat, again, I'm coming from the wrong side. Most sailboats sail

Chris Watson (01:10:28.566)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:10:43.784)
very much south, like to Australia and New Zealand. I need to figure out something there. But I have like a priority list and of course the sailing is the best for me. And in Europe I could have waited until I find a sailboat. But here I cannot wait because of the permit to stay. And so the next option would be maybe a cargo ship and there are cargo ships going.

Chris Watson (01:10:46.953)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:11:00.683)
Mm-hmm.

Chris Watson (01:11:07.531)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:11:13.256)
huh.

Yes.

Chris Watson (01:11:22.528)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:11:25.952)
Yes.

Chris Watson (01:11:29.855)
Yep.

Yeah.

Yeah. Do you need to be back in Germany by a certain date or are you quite flexible on your own date? No? Yeah. How long have you been on this journey? it two years or something? think we had to cross over there. Yeah, two and a half years. Do you miss Germany?

Katharina (01:11:41.769)
No, no, I'm basically freelance.

Two and a half years now, yeah. So then it's really two more years for... No, actually, no. But I've never been the person missing actually. I remember in school and my classmates might miss the parents. It's not that we have a bad relationship or anything, but it just never happened to me.

Chris Watson (01:12:01.087)
No? Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:12:18.335)
Yeah, that's it. Everyone's experience of life and whatever is their own lived experience. excellent. I mean, we've on for over an hour already. is incredible. you know, you are very much still in the journey at the moment. You've got a two year visa in Canada. Are you going to be there for two years, do you think? Or, yeah.

Katharina (01:12:20.553)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:12:27.239)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:12:38.845)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:12:44.327)
Yeah, I need the time definitely. If I would leave from BC, it could be that I exit earlier. But since I will probably end up there in later autumn next year something, if everything goes like I planned, then it's not exactly the time to leave by boat.

Chris Watson (01:13:10.293)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:13:10.793)
So I would need to stay in this area anyway longer or yeah, ideally I would continue to Alaska. And yes, and it's not a visa, so it's like a, it's called visitor's record. It's like an extension of the ETA, like, yeah. So I'm not allowed to leave. It's like single entry and not allowed to work. So that is the...

Chris Watson (01:13:19.616)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:13:40.168)
There's a difference, yeah.

Chris Watson (01:13:42.754)
You've just reminded me need to apply for an ESTA for the States of complete... It's been on my to-do list for ages. How were you forward planning your port of entry into Canada for example? Did you have to plan that in advance or when you arrived did you do the paperwork at the port?

Katharina (01:13:48.37)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:14:02.888)
No, the paperwork was... For me at least, I'm not very fond of these things. put it that way. It was like the whole winter actually. Because like I said, it's very unclear what they really want. So I of course wrote to this official Canada...

Chris Watson (01:14:13.323)
who is?

Katharina (01:14:28.809)
immigration pages, but I just got like this copy paste answers like nothing really helpful. And yeah, so I tried if I find if I find somebody who did basically the same, but then of course, many things changed since COVID. So if somebody has maybe done something like staying longer than six months or even a year, it was many years ago. And so now everything is different. And then also everything is very different if you come by boat.

because then you cannot apply online before or it doesn't help you if you do. So I wrote a motivational letter, I got family information, got letter of good conduct from all the countries where I have stayed longer than six months. Of course in Iceland it took like 10 minutes to get it, but in Germany I just...

They didn't make it even after almost half a year of waiting. So luckily I had an old one, but it was one of these things where I wasn't even sure if I would need it. But I knew that they would not say like, we still would like to see this and this. Please give it to us later. But then you might just not get the permit. And so I also got a medical exam. I went to a doctor in Reykjavik.

which is like working together with Canada. Like, yeah, just everything that I could think of that I might need. so the, and then the two officers came and they were really kind. But one of the first things they said like, oh, we are actually not quite sure if we actually can do it. We never did such a long stay. We don't know if it's actually possible. And yeah, but then they came back the next day and they had the visitors record for me. Yeah, it was just.

Chris Watson (01:15:59.938)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:16:24.065)
Yeah, excellent. Wonderful. So being on for a while, it's probably time to kind of move on into the closing traditions. But before I actually do that, just, you still got a long way to go on the journey. I I will be keeping up with it and stuff. But if you reflected on or reflect on where you are today and, know, the past two and half years or so, is there any standout moments in that that have really

Katharina (01:16:24.721)
Amazing.

Katharina (01:16:41.275)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:16:54.229)
brought home or validated what you're doing that's made you realise that this experience is worth it, anything that's been really moments of shock, awe, wonder, there's nothing that stands out for you.

Katharina (01:17:09.19)
There are different moments, I would say about the nature. It's many moments, in Iceland of course I was in a kind of constant shock because it was so incredible, like the highlands. But also Norway and Svalbard are just incredible.

Yeah, but then actually there are so many small, like one could say small things, like, yeah, like meeting the people and just experiencing all of this. And then again and again, and even with the hundreds coffee or Pepsi or whatever I get for like as a present, I'm again like blown away and it doesn't, I don't get used to this. Yeah, people being kind and.

Chris Watson (01:18:02.145)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:18:06.114)
supportive.

Chris Watson (01:18:07.457)
Yeah, it's a wonderful way, slow travel, the sustainability, know, the human connection, it's wonderful. And the contribution towards your art and stuff as well. yeah, so let's...

Katharina (01:18:17.732)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:18:24.568)
And I'm always in the speed of people. That is something I... Yeah, I do like walking, obviously, but of course, maybe many people find that bicycling is already quite slow. But for me, it would be too fast. And because with walking, I'm just not making the next step and you're already standing. And with the bike, you still would continue a little bit. And...

Chris Watson (01:18:42.975)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:18:53.72)
So now when somebody is watering the garden or whatever, I'm always in the same speed. There's no tool anymore in between me and the earth. So that's something I appreciate very much.

Chris Watson (01:18:59.179)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:19:08.544)
Yeah.

I can imagine you must have had some wonderful conversations with some great humans across the way. Right, so moving on into the closing traditions, Katerina, three pay it forward cult adventure and then I have some quick fire questions. starting with pay it forward first. So opportunity to raise awareness for a charity or a project or a worthy cause. So what would you say is a pay it forward?

Katharina (01:19:16.997)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Chris Watson (01:19:41.523)
recommendation.

Katharina (01:19:44.173)
Well, would say looking at the whole, like the local, in Germany for instance we have the Alpine Club or in Norway they have something similar, the D &T and maybe in some countries more the Scouts. But I think it's really important now, it's like a lot of financial cuts from the government also to maintain hiking trails or to continue having

educational programs for children and youth and or just group activities like hiking together because many people might not feel like hiking alone or going alone on outdoor tours. yeah, it has many possibilities to get involved like either donating just money if you don't have time or don't want to spend time but also getting involved really practically and volunteer or

And I think that is great and many clubs also they're lacking members and they're lacking financial support. But they're doing great work which is very often taken for granted because we just use the hiking trails as if they're a natural thing. But there people actually taking care, removing old trails.

trees, putting benches maybe, all these sort of things. yeah, I think it's very important to maintain this access to nature, especially when we're in this, yeah, let's say Germany, also Scotland, yeah, it's quite populated places and it's great when they're hiking trails and the rest of nature is maybe by this then a little bit more protected and not people walking everywhere around.

Chris Watson (01:21:24.449)
Yep. Yep.

Chris Watson (01:21:37.258)
Yeah, wonderful. Yeah. I mean, I think the last episode that kind of that went live in this podcast, know, Christmas Caffrey had done a global cycle raise something very similar about like the cuts for the national parks in the US. And, know, if you can do your bit when you go into these national parks, even without, you know, volunteering time or money or whatever it is, you can always do your own bit.

what you know if you take carry these spaces as well and make sure that you know that they continue to be there and you know in a suitable state for people to enjoy for time to come so. Yeah excellent, excellent thank you very much. Secondly call to adventure so opportunity to recommend a place and an activity to inspire people to take some action something adventurous.

So what would you say, Katharina, as a call to adventure?

Katharina (01:22:36.452)
Well, would say of course hiking or walking because it's so simple and you don't need anything if you just basically have some shoes and start at the front door and yeah, and then of course, yeah in Europe for instance there are this like the Camino or like the pilgrimage path and they basically go through all the towns and even though I mean everybody knows the Camino in Portugal or Spain.

but they're connected with other pilgrimage paths. So, yeah, you can just start there and it's very easy because they're going through all this cultural landscape, let's say. So if one doesn't like to sleep outside or just only make short stages every day, it is very easily possible. I think it's a great entrance. there's nothing for me, at least there's nothing about the feeling of

having started at the front door and maybe even getting back there by foot. I mean now I'm doing quite far away but even if it's just getting out in the morning and then walking for the whole week and maybe once around the whole town or wherever we live and then coming back and even though it hasn't been that far it can be like an amazing...

Chris Watson (01:23:48.992)
yet.

Katharina (01:24:06.989)
time in a new perspective on where we live.

Chris Watson (01:24:10.069)
Yeah, fantastic. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot to be said about walking. It's I think what it does for the mind as well and experiencing things can slow down to an extent. You're recognizing, hearing, seeing, smell things that you may not otherwise do if you are taking a different mode of transport, for example. Excellent.

Katharina (01:24:21.485)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:24:31.251)
And also being aware of the infrastructures because many cities are not... The infrastructure is not for people walking. Or maybe there are some pedestrian sidewalks in the city center but not as soon as you go out. And then the hiking trails start at a parking lot but to get to this hiking trail you kind of need to walk on the road or through some fields or...

Chris Watson (01:24:46.965)
Mm-hmm.

Chris Watson (01:24:51.712)
Yeah.

Katharina (01:24:57.814)
Yeah, it gives a very interesting perspective on what is important in our societies, like in Western societies.

Chris Watson (01:25:05.819)
How many pairs of boots have you gone through?

Katharina (01:25:09.406)
I did not count.

Chris Watson (01:25:13.579)
That's more than one, then.

Katharina (01:25:15.498)
yeah, maybe seven, eight or something. It's not too many. Yeah, and right now I'm just walking and basically running shoes, since I'm allowed to walk on the roads. Yeah. But the winter is quite good because the boots don't rub off so fast.

Chris Watson (01:25:17.947)
Okay, right. Yeah, okay.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Excellent.

Chris Watson (01:25:35.106)
Yeah, because I imagine it'd be solid. Excellent. Right, so finally, the, Katerina, the quick fire round to end things on a little bit of a fun note. 10 questions you can answer or you can pass. There's no time limit on it, ready? Katerina, question one of 10. If you could have a dinner party with two guests dead or alive, who would they be?

Katharina (01:25:57.719)
Ha!

Katharina (01:26:03.648)
Ooh,

If they could be together and there no language barrier, maybe Cleopatra and think Friede of Nansen.

Chris Watson (01:26:21.313)
I'm not sure who that is actually but I will... okay, yeah. That broke up a little bit there. Excellent, okay. Cleopatra, that's really interesting. Question two, do you have a hidden talent?

Katharina (01:26:24.116)
Nonsense? Like,

Katharina (01:26:41.267)
What?

Chris Watson (01:26:42.061)
Hidden talent. Are you talented in anything that people are unaware of?

Katharina (01:26:44.299)
hidden talent.

What is hidden?

Katharina (01:26:52.097)
I'm not sure if it's a talent. I like to sing. So I'm always singing when I'm working. I think I'm quite okay. But I don't know if it's a talent.

Chris Watson (01:27:02.525)
Huh? Excellent.

Chris Watson (01:27:08.341)
Yep.

Yeah, no, no, no. Well, it's all relative. Excellent singing. Quite a lot of musical things come up on this, so maybe try and connect a bunch of you adventurers together and try and get a little bit of a song going. Question.

Katharina (01:27:57.195)
think I lost you.

Chris Watson (00:00.758)
Right, so back after some technical difficulties. So question three, Katerina, what is the most underrated place that you have ever visited?

Katharina (00:13.164)
narrated. Well, on this journey at least, I'd say...

I think they're all quite popular touristic destinations. So it's hard to say. But maybe from all the, maybe this border area between Denmark and Germany. Yeah, it's actually quite beautiful. Beautiful little villages and nice forests and everything. And most people...

basically passed through to go to Denmark. But not so much staying in the area, but it's also not 100 % true. It's like, people also do vacation on the Baltic Sea or the North Sea. But it's, yeah, this is maybe the most untouristic region I've been and everybody knows already that Sweden and Norway are pretty beautiful.

Chris Watson (01:17.876)
Yeah, okay. Excellent. So question four, what is your favourite expedition snack?

Katharina (01:31.819)
The most common favorite snack is nuts, all sort of nuts. But I got to really like in Iceland, I must say, the dry fish and dry meat. It doesn't sound so appealing, but it was pretty amazing as a winter snack.

Chris Watson (01:36.5)
Nuts.

Chris Watson (01:52.702)
Yeah, and I also seen from one of your Instagram Reels was it in Norway? What is the chocolate wafer biscuit that's got the red and the green wrapper? Yes, that's yeah, I'm partial to those as well. Very tasty. Excellent. Question number five. Who's your favourite artist?

Katharina (02:04.075)
the quick lunch.

Katharina (02:09.869)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Katharina (02:20.161)
that is a very hard one. I usually don't think in categories like favorite or best. So, yeah.

Chris Watson (02:27.158)
Hmm. Yeah. Inspirational then. Who's an artist that inspires you?

Katharina (02:32.589)
Well, still, I I studied with Mariana Castillo de Ball in Münster. she was my professor and yeah, and I like her work and also I like her, like the way of dealing with the work because that is also sometimes maybe you see work and I'm very impressed and then I get to know more and then I'm not so impressed anymore or...

I hear lot and I think it's amazing but then I see the work and I'm not so amazed anymore. yeah, many perspectives but for her, yeah, I still like it from all perspectives.

Chris Watson (03:10.576)
Excellent, Question number six, what is your favourite book?

Katharina (03:18.668)
I like very much Robert McFerlin. I didn't read the last one, Is the River Life? Because it came while I was walking. But I really enjoy reading these and I think it's amazingly written language-wise and still combining research and beautiful language and all these things together.

And very often you can find only one of these things in books.

Chris Watson (03:48.97)
Yes. Yeah. Excellent. Wonderful. Number seven. If you could snap your fingers and be anywhere, where would it be?

Katharina (03:59.582)
I think I'd be here, yeah. Yeah.

Chris Watson (04:02.138)
excellent, yeah. You didn't disappoint, excellent. And funnily enough, if I could snap my fingers, I would be in New Glasgow as well. I'd love to come and see what that's like. It's really captured my imagination a little bit. Thank you. Number eight, what scares you?

Katharina (04:06.004)
You

Katharina (04:11.916)
yeah, you should, yeah.

Katharina (04:27.058)
I think very protective people for what very often may be racist reasons or strange reasons. But if they're a little bit too protective of themselves and the land and all these sort of things.

Chris Watson (04:47.766)
narrow minded people. Number nine what makes you happy?

Katharina (04:56.395)
Well, of course, being able to do what I'm doing, having this opportunity and being healthy and coming also from country, I mean, that's also the truth where I got the opportunity to do what I'm doing.

Chris Watson (05:20.34)
Yeah, excellent. And finally, number 10, what is the best advice that you have ever received?

Katharina (05:33.141)
Well, it's hard to put in words, maybe.

Maybe also being honest about myself, to myself. That is also very important now, of course, when meeting people and knocking on people's door. And the way of how to choose the house, basically. Very often I have quite a good feeling, but sometimes if I have a middle good feeling...

and I knock anyway because I think like, don't want to be so judgmental. Later on, I knew it before actually what would happen. And so to be like, even if it's hard to be really honest with myself about myself.

Chris Watson (06:23.302)
Excellent. And that's us. We've been to the end of our little journey on this podcast. been wonderful and enlightening. And thank you for putting up with my questions and my curiosities and giving your time as well. It is truly appreciated. I know it's taken a little while for us to connect and get this sorted, but I do appreciate you and telling your story so far.

Katharina (06:31.878)
Yeah. Thank you so much.

Katharina (06:52.585)
Yeah.

Chris Watson (06:53.042)
excited to see what comes and what path you take when you get to the end of Canada. So yeah, excited. Yeah, excellent. So, Katerina, as usual, where can people find out more about yourself, but round motion and this adventure that you're on?

Katharina (07:01.438)
Yeah, I'm also excited.

Katharina (07:16.938)
Well, the easiest to follow is Instagram, just round motion and then you should already see the logo and there I post quite regularly, not every day, yeah, always when I have reception or something and that is equally with Facebook and then of course I have the homepage. It's a little bit hard to maintain.

from on the way. But there is the opportunity, it's like round and then like a little minus, it's vmmotion.com. And yeah, there is the opportunity to sign in for the newsletter, which is also for free. You can pay if you like, but you don't have to. yeah, there I just write and but it comes maybe every few

Chris Watson (07:54.678)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Katharina (08:15.124)
two, three months, sometimes maybe two per one month, but then again for three months nothing or something, depending on the internet situation and electricity and everything. yeah, so these are the three. And of course it's always possible to just write me through either through the homepage or also on social media and the whole project is open to meet on the way or yeah.

Chris Watson (08:20.5)
Yeah, yeah,

Chris Watson (08:43.178)
Yeah.

Katharina (08:43.282)
If somebody wants to join for a bit, depending on the stretch, it can be quite easy or just having a coffee or walking together. Yeah.

Chris Watson (08:49.611)
Yeah.

I mean, it's a very important point actually, because unlike many people that have been on this show, you're very much still on the journey. You've got a long stretch ahead. So when this is live, if anyone's watching and listening and you're in these regions and you can lend a hand or you can help, whether it's a sailboat if it comes to a fresh pair of boots or some dried fish or meat, then...

Katharina (09:00.839)
Yeah

Chris Watson (09:16.65)
then Katharina is very welcoming, so I would encourage you to reach out and support as much as you can. Yep, exactly. Yeah. Exactly. This has been wonderful. Thank you very much for coming on today, Katharina. It's been a pleasure. And with that, I'll bring it to a close. And I'll just...

Katharina (09:21.468)
Yeah. Yeah, or just have a coffee together. It doesn't need to be so big, yeah.

Katharina (09:35.378)
Thank you.

Katharina (09:39.804)
Yeah?