Hitchhiking The Arctic - With Katharina Kneip

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In this highlight reel from the Adventure Diaries Podcast, Chris W. revisits his conversation with explorer Katharina Kneip. Katharina shares the harrowing story of hitchhiking on a French sailboat to cross from Iceland to Newfoundland, battling 50-knot winds and ice in one of the most remote regions on Earth. She also discusses life under the eternal sun of Svalbard, camping near existing settlements to stay safe from polar bears, and offers a grounding "Call to Adventure" that encourages everyone to find exploration simply by walking out their front door.

FULL Episode With Katharina 

Timestamped Chapters

00:00 - The Danger of Sailing: Hitchhiking from Iceland to Newfoundland
05:14 - Svalbard's Eternal Sun and Polar Bear Safety
07:01 - Comparing the Rough Beauty of Iceland vs. Svalbard
08:29 - Call to Adventure: The Simple Power of Walking
10:51 - Season 5 Launch Updates & Patreon Support

Transcript

The Danger of Sailing

As we prepare for the launch of the Adventure Diaries Podcast, season five at the end of February, 2026, we are revisiting the highlights and call to adventure from each episode in season four to keep you entertained and inspired to get you outdoors.

And now here are some of those short highlights from my episode with Katharina Kneip and her 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. Enjoy.

Chris w: Iceland

how did, how was that, what was that journey like? 

Katharina: That was, that was then maybe the most adventurous sail, I was say, yeah, because I had another plan not to sail with, with some people first along the coast of our two west Greenland.

And then stayed there maybe a week or two, and then join another boat to Newfoundland. And then I crossed Iceland by foot [00:01:00] in yeah. May, June, uh, from the farm towards Revic, uh, to get to the boat. Then just, I just finished crossing the Highlands and thought like, oh, that worked out quite well. I'm so very much in time and I still have time to see take a week.

Yeah, I was quite happy. And uh, then I just checked my mails and I got this mail like, Hey, we are sorry, uh, we have some technical issues. We, we will, will not make it. Yeah. And it was like, whoa. Crazy. Um, then I, uh, yeah, I reached out to several people and luckily one person I knew in Iceland, he has this sailboat, um, in the harbor right next to Vic and uh, and he was like, oh, so how bad.

There was just a French sailboat, um, leaving the other day towards, uh, the Northwest pass and they should be still in Iceland. And then there's like this app, uh, marina traffic app. And [00:02:00] then of course I directly checked in Iceland if I see a French sailboat. 

Chris w: Yeah. 

Katharina: And, uh, I saw French sailboat again in his, in the harbor where he has his boat.

And I I was like, is it them? I said, no, but it's strange that there is again a French table. I 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 me anymore.

Chris w: Yeah. 

Katharina: And, uh, yeah, that was, that was crazy. And then I, yeah, it was still a hundred something kilometers to go for me. And, uh, but then we had a, I talked to him on the phone and, uh, the person I knew, he kind of checked the boat a bit for me. If, if that is like serious. But he sailed already alone from Norway to Iceland.

Chris w: Oh, 

Katharina: okay. And so I knew he, he wouldn't basically need me Yeah. Uh, to do the sale and Yeah. And then I just got to know him and the boat looked good and I, I just thought, okay, 

Chris w: yeah, 

Katharina: it could work. 

Chris w: Yeah. [00:03:00] It's a leap of faith. It's a big leap of faith that, 

Katharina: yeah. And, uh, yeah. But in the end it was, it was just amazing.

But it was extremely exhausting. Yeah. Because it was just the two of us. Then of course, the weather. I mean, there is a reason why most people don't wanna sail in this direction. Um, and yeah, it was just the wind and the current against us. And then in Greenland there's, there was a lot of ice. We were also quite early, I think we left Iceland on 11th of June.

And so in Greenland there's a lot of ice, like sea ice and also the ice. And then there were like. Really stormy weather, like with more than 50 knots in the, in the south of Greenland for a whole day. And yeah, it was just, and then things break on a boat, of course, like it's just normal. But um, yeah, you also need to deal with this.

And there's nobody, I mean, uh, it's, it's not like sailing along Yeah. Norway or where you can always reach somebody with a reach f but there's just nobody. 

Chris w: [00:04:00] It's 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 going to, this isn't going to end well?

Katharina: Yeah, I, well, when we were in this whole day, uh, 50 knots, then I, I was kind of thinking because if, if we would've, if, if we would've kind of tipped, which theoretically should not happen with a sailboat, but if you would've flipped over, then that would've been it. Yeah. But there's no one to come exactly.

At 50 knots. Yeah. There's nothing. And you also don't have the chance to get them into the safety boat thingy or, yeah. So yeah, that is as is. I always, I mean, I think a lot about risk, of course, but there's always risk you agree on, and we agree on many risks in, in daily life, like using a car or, and that is just accepted in society that you just take the risk to get to work or something.

And uh, so that is something I agreed on. And, uh, 

Chris w: yeah. 

Katharina: So it's 

Chris w: part [00:05:00] of the 

Katharina: adventure, 

Chris w: it's part of the excitement, 

Katharina: yeah, 

Chris w: part of the adventure, part of the excitement 

Katharina: and, yeah. And the boat was, it, it was in a good shape and everything. It's not, it wouldn't have been about starting in a, in a bad condition or, or something like this.

It's just, yeah. Something that happened. Yeah. 

Svalbard's Eternal Sun

Chris w: so I've seen a lot of your reels when, when you were in Svalbard, uh, you talk about ice and you come, you was fascinating.

I seen you in swimming. I seen you in kayaking and stuff like that. Uh, I mean, it, it just looks otherworldly. I've never been to FBARs. 

Katharina: Yeah. 

Chris w: It just looks like it, it looks like a different planet. It's like another planet. It's fantastic looking. Yeah, yeah. 

Katharina: It's, it does. Yeah. 

Chris w: And also seeing that you were wild, you were wild camping by the looks of it.

So how is that on in nerves with the fact that there are many polar bears and then the region? 

Katharina: Yeah, I didn't white camp too much. There's like a, um, it's a big difficulty in the housing situation, let's put it this way. 

Chris w: Mm-hmm. 

Katharina: But I knew it in advance that it would be easy or it would be very expensive.

So [00:06:00] I asked on the campground and um, then they said, yeah, if you, if you just. Help us maintaining the place, uh, you can stay for free. And then that sounded great to me. So I stayed, whenever I wasn't on the sailboat, I stayed on the campground and then I, I did some hikes of course, and yeah. And then of course, it's good not to be alone, uh, with the polar bears.

And yeah, as soon as you leave long yabu, you should have some sort of protection. Uh, and if it's further away, maybe a rifle would be good. Not, not only the signal. Um, and, uh, yeah. And then, but the, the easy thing in the summer, of course, it's always bright. Yeah. Sunshine at midnight 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 yeah, and just, you don't need to make a break basically. . 

[00:07:00]

Icelandic Exploration

Chris w: And what was, what was Iceland like when, when you went to that? Because it must be very different from Albar.

It's quite volcanic, 

Katharina: isn't 

Chris w: it? Yeah. Very different terrain. 

Katharina: Yeah. And also I, I was really looking forward to be, again, in a place where with a, with a history of, of people 'cause Uhat of course there is no indigenous history. Yeah. As far as we know. 

Chris w: Yeah. 

Katharina: And um, so it all started with the wailing and all these like all exploitation of earth basically.

And then later the coal and now it's political 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, that it's okay to be there actually.

'cause that was something I felt in SW that I just thought like, there, there just shouldn't be any humans, even though it's amazing place. Yes. It's [00:08:00] just not right that there's so many people going there. And, um, yeah. And then Iceland of course has this very long history and again, very different culture also.

Yeah. Yeah. That was just, that was incredible. And it's also not, there's no place where I've been that I could compare it with, like with the steam in some places. Yeah, 

Chris w: yeah, 

Katharina: yeah. It was just also, again, like another world. 

Chris w: How much

yeah.

Excellent. Excellent. Thank you very much. 

Call to Adventure

Chris w: Secondly, call to adventure. So opportunity to recommend, uh, a place and an activity to inspire, uh, people to take some action, something adventurous. So what would you say Catarina, as a call to adventure? 

Katharina: Well, I would say of course hiking or walking because it's so simple and, uh, you don't need anything if you just basically have some shoes and, uh, start at the front door and, um, yeah.

And then of course, yeah, in Europe for instance, there are this, this, um, like the Camino or [00:09:00] like the pilgrimage path and they basically go through all. All the towns, and even though, I mean, everybody knows the Camino in Portugal or Spain, but they're, they're connected with other pilgrimage paths. So yeah, you can just start there and, um, 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 Yeah, just only make short stages every day. It is very easily possible. It's a, I think it's a great entrance and there's nothing, uh, 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, I'm doing quite far way. But even if it's just, uh, yeah, getting out in the morning and then walking for the whole week and maybe once around the whole town or wherever we live and, and then coming back and even though it hasn't been that far, it, it can be like an amazing time in a new [00:10:00] perspective on where we live.

Chris w: Yeah. Fantastic. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot to be said about walking. It's, it's, I think what it does for the mind as well and, and experiencing things kinda slowed down to an extent. You, you recognize and hear and see and smell things that you may not otherwise do if you are taking a different mode of transport for, for example, actually, and 

Katharina: also being aware of the infrastructures, because many cities are not, the infrastructure is not for people walking, or maybe there are some pedestrian like sidewalks in the city center, but not as soon as you go out.

Chris w: Mm-hmm. 

Katharina: And then the hiking trails start in a parking lot. But 

Chris w: yeah, 

Katharina: to get to this hiking trail, you kind of need to walk on the road or through some fields or, yeah. It, it gives a very interesting perspective on what is important in our societies, like in the western societies. 

So I hope you enjoyed these short highlights from my episode with Katina Knape,

now, if you're enjoying the Adventure Diaries Podcast, could I ask that you leave a quick [00:11:00] rating or a written review? 'cause it really helps the show more than you think, and it's the simplest way to support the show for free, and it helps get it out to a wider audience. Now one final update. , Season five launches at the end of February, 2026.

And along with that Patreon, a new Patreon site will be launched as well with one simple single tier, which is $5 or three pounds 70. Now if you join, you'll get the season five, , quickfire after shows. So those fun q and a segments with the guest at the end of each interview, plus a new monthly extended newsroom episode.

Occasional short and immersive audio stories and two supporter meetups. Each year will be thrown into the mix as well. Now, if that sounds like your kinda thing and you want more from the show, then please support the show by going to adventure diaries.com/go. And just follow the button for Patreon and get ready for [00:12:00] launch.

Alright, that is the end of the highlights. Packages from season four.

And next up is season five, and what an incredible lineup of guests we have. We are all over the planet with some incredible adventures, some real stories of exploration, and some fantastic natural world stories as well. And that schedule will be announced imminently. Until then, peace.