Once, we did a crazy bet: taking five days off work to go to the Lofoten Islands, in the middle of January, to try to see the northern lights. One day to get there. One day to come back. Three nights left for a dream to maybe come true.

After two flights and a long drive in the dark and the snow, we made it to the Polar Light Centre in Laukvik, owned by Therese and Rob. They moved from the Netherlands to Norway by passion for the northern lights and became experts. They opened the Polar Light Centre to share their knowledge with the public through conferences and outside observation. Rob will explain to you that northern lights are absolutely no magic but science. Therese will tell you were to set your tripod to capture the best picture. They also happen to be casually sending data to the Nasa. We stayed in one of the two rooms available at the centre.

During the day, we made the best of the few hours of daylight and explored Laukvik and its surroundings, wrapped in layers and layers of warm clothes. We drove to Svolvær where we had brown cheese and coffee. It was the first day of the year the sun would be visible after weeks of winter polar darkness. The weather changed and the cloud covered it be we could almost feel its warmth. Almost.

In the evening, Rob’s prognostics were not optimistic. The meters were showing no activity at all and the sky was cloudy. Still, it happened. That knock on the door. “Something is happening, right now”. We jumped in our boots and ran outside. The sky has cleared up and there they were. Shy but vibrant, moving like a snake. The dream came true.