Haunting places

There are some places on Earth that, for one reason or other, seem to beckon your person. Icelandic places and cold reaches further North have mesmerised me for as long as I can remember.

When I was little, I used to spend most of my free time either exploring the neighbouring parks all day long, searching for magical portals in the midst of bushes (as one does, obviously...), or I would be found in the library with a stack of books on the table, notebook and pen in hand as I lost myself in the picturesque landscapes contained within those books.

If I remember correctly, there was method in my 'research'. I would research different regions of the globe based on their climate, for instance. The ones that stood out - or that I still remember to this day researching when I was 8 or 9 years old - were Arctic and temperate regions (especially forests and other grasslands). I'd first make note of each region's characteristics in terms of climate - and this I also did because I truly thought I was going to visit those places, so I had to be prepared. Once I had a good enough grasp of the climate itself, I'd move to the vegetation to be found there in detail, including the types of animals that lived there. I remember making lists of the things I should pay attention to the most; which animal, in particular, I wanted to be able to spot in the wild.

Looking back, I definitely had an inquisitive mind from the start, but then school got in the way and put me off everything I first loved to 'study' by myself. Biology, geography, ecosystems, you name it - these were the things that used to float my boat as a child, without forgetting space exploration. Black holes, in particular, got me hooked on the subject from very early on. It was the mystery of it all, you see, that attracted me.

By the time I turned into a teenager, I had drifted away from these research activities, focused instead on the wondrous universe of prose. Yet these days, memories of my earlier fascinations have been coming back to haunt me, and the beckoning of the far North remains.

I was losing myself in pictures last night, reading here and there on such places as Iceland and Greenland, for instance.And then I realised that it wouldn't make sense for me to go unless I could drive. So here I am now, thinking: "Shit, I really need to start learning..." Because you know what? Some day I'll be hiring a 4x4 to explore these regions.