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Inside Bruised Passports’ once-in-a-lifetime North Pole expedition: Luxury, sea ice, polar bears, journey to 90° North
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Savi and Vidit, of Bruised Passports, embarked on an expedition to the North Pole. Here's a look at their epic journey to the top of the world.
Travel is evolving. It is no longer about reaching a destination, living in lavish resorts, or visiting a pristine island; now it is about something much rarer — access. The modern elite traveller wants to have experiences that are much more rooted, and that is the journey world travellers and entrepreneurs Savi and Vidit, also known as Bruised Passports, undertook in the last week of August this year — they travelled to the geographic North Pole.
After travelling to 119 countries, the couple saved up to undertake an expedition to the North Pole this year, beginning in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, then continuing through Spitsbergen and the sea ice to the geographic North Pole at 90° North, before returning through different regions of Spitsbergen and concluding in Longyearbyen.
In an exclusive interview with HT Lifestyle, Savi and Vidit opened up about their journey to the North Pole, the experience of reaching 90° North, how the expedition transformed them as travellers, how one can undertake the expedition if they wish, and more.
The journey
Savi and Vidit went on the expedition with PONANT’s Le Commandant Charcot, which they told me is the only passenger ship in the world that can reach the North Pole. So, when they first set foot on the expedition ship in Longyearbyen to spend the next two weeks travelling to the geographic North Pole, Savi confessed it was a strange combination of excitement and disbelief.
“We’ve travelled to some pretty remote corners of the world, but the North Pole feels different because there is almost nothing to anchor the idea of it in your mind. It’s only when you stand in Longyearbyen that it starts to sink in what an incredible adventure this is going to be,” she shared.
As for Vidit, experiences where the destination isn’t the whole point and the journey becomes the story are always exciting. He shared, “This was going to be two weeks of ice, wildlife, fjords, glaciers, and complete remoteness, with a little French luxury thrown in. That combination is very tough to beat.”
Experience the Arctic sea ice up close
Pictures and reels on social media can never prepare one for the first time they witness Arctic sea ice. For Vidit, photographs could never have prepared him for the scale of it all.
“You imagine 'ice' as one continuous white sheet, but it’s constantly changing. There are huge flat expanses, channels of dark water, pressure ridges and enormous pieces of ice that almost look sculpted. It’s like a museum, with nature as the sculptor,” he shared. “The light changes, the texture changes, the colour changes. Sometimes it was blue, silver, grey and almost metallic. And then you would suddenly see a seal or a polar bear appear in what looked like an infinite expanse of nothing.”
Reaching the 90° North: standing at the top of the world
They say the journey is as beautiful as the destination. However, when the destination is reaching 90° North, there are bound to be immense emotions attached to it.
When asked whether there was a sense of exhilaration, disbelief, or silence when they finally reached 90° North, Savi shared, “It was surprisingly emotional. You expect a huge celebratory moment because reaching 90° North sounds so monumental, but once you actually get there, there is also a strange stillness.”
She added, “There is no land. No monument. No airport sign. No little café or village waiting for you. I lost my dad a few years ago, and I kept wishing I could share this moment with him — so it was bittersweet.” As for Vidit, the thought that kept coming back to him was: “We are standing at the top of the world.”
As for if there was a moment that they would remember most vividly, he shared, “The Geographic North Pole is the point at 90° North where the Earth’s rotational axis meets the Arctic Ocean, and it is about 700 kilometres from the nearest land. I think that contrast — something so geographically significant looking so completely untouched — is what I’ll remember most.”
‘A moment for the books’
The North Pole is not a conventional ‘destination’; you are literally standing over sea ice when one arrives at 90° North. For Savi and Vidit, reaching there was more than ‘ticking countries off a list’.
Detailing their experience of the day they reached the North Pole, Savi shared, “We’ve always said that we care more about experiences than ticking countries off a list, and the North Pole reinforced that for us. You don’t really 'arrive' at the North Pole in the traditional sense. It is a pilgrimage for travellers. It was less about where you are and more about what it took to get there. A moment for the books.”
According to Savi, people often see the Arctic as a beautiful photograph, and though it is, in fact, unbelievably so, photographs flatten the experience. She explained, “They don’t show the silence. They don’t show how vast it is. They don’t show how quickly the weather can change or how much patience it takes to see wildlife. And they definitely don’t show how tiny you feel when you’re standing on a piece of ice in the middle of the Arctic Ocean.”
From Polar bears to natural wonders
After spending two weeks moving through sea ice, there are bound to be moments — landscapes, ice formations, or wildlife encounters — that stay with one longer than the destination itself. For Savi and Vidit, this proved to be the truth during their journey.
While the North Pole was the highlight for them, some memories from the journey became their favourites. In fact, they recommend that if someone is new to the Arctic, they take a shorter one-week expedition in the Svalbard Islands. “You can be looking at the ice from the deck in the middle of nowhere and suddenly spot wildlife against that enormous white canvas. Polar bears are obviously incredible, but there was something equally beautiful about watching seals, seabirds, whales, and Arctic foxes live on their own terms. These are the memories you carry home with you,” they shared.
Putting the camera down
As travel creators, the couple are accustomed to documenting their journeys, but when asked whether there was a moment on the expedition when they deliberately put the cameras away, they said there were too many to count.
“We obviously love photographing the places we visit — that is such a huge part of how we experience the world! But since we were travellers way before we became content creators, there are many times when we just put the camera aside, stare at natural wonders, and stand next to each other, saying nothing. I remember this particular moment when we saw lots of seals in Svalbard, Norway, at the start of our trip — I just wanted to remember how small I felt standing there,” Savi confessed.
Luxury and wilderness are not opposites
According to Vidit, the biggest misconception about the Arctic is that luxury and wilderness are opposites. However, during their journey on Le Commandant Charcot, they could spend the day navigating through sea ice, stepping onto the ice or searching for wildlife, and then come back to a luxurious cabin, a hot shower, incredible food and a warm bed.
“Evenings are spent with fellow travellers from around the world exchanging stories over fine wine and gourmet cuisine. That’s what makes this kind of expedition so special to us. You don’t have to choose between adventure and comfort. You can have both while travelling in a vessel specifically designed for these extreme environments,” he shared, detailing his experience.
The different landscapes
When one thinks of the Arctic, endless ice is what comes to mind. While it may be true, that is only a part of the landscape. According to Vidit, their return through Spitsbergen took them through very different Arctic terrain — fjords, glaciers, and remote coastlines.
“The journey back was almost like seeing a completely different Arctic. After days of endless sea ice, suddenly there were mountains, glaciers, cliffs, fjords, and green patches of tundra. We saw how dramatically the landscape changes as you move south through Svalbard. And that is why expedition travel is so different from simply getting to a destination. The journey becomes part of the destination. We were able to see landscapes that you simply couldn’t experience if the North Pole were just a flight in and out. And because the itinerary responds to weather and ice conditions, every voyage develops its own personality. There is no fixed itinerary,” they shared.
Climate change
The Arctic is one of the regions most visibly affected by a warming planet, and climate change is no longer an abstract conversation; it is becoming a reality with yearly floods, wildfires, and extreme temperatures. During their journey, conversations with locals and scientists reinforced the importance of experiencing places like this responsibly and sharing them in ways that inspire people to care about protecting them.
However, being there, surrounded by ice in every direction, there was no way to compare it to how the same spot looked decades ago. To them, it felt vast, pristine and almost otherworldly.
What did the trip cost, and what should someone know before booking?
According to Savi, the North Pole is not an inexpensive trip. Their recommendation is to look at it as an expedition rather than a conventional cruise.
“We feel truly fortunate that we could do this together. If you’ve never been to the Arctic, we recommend starting with a shorter seven-day expedition around the Svalbard Islands and 80° North. PONANT’s Arctic expedition cruises cost €945,000 ( ₹10,32,63,930) per person. The captain and expedition team work with the ice and weather. Wildlife sightings, landings and even the exact route cannot be guaranteed. That’s part of the magic — you surrender to the Arctic rather than expecting the Arctic to follow a timetable,” she shared.
All these details can be found on the Bruised Passports app or by emailing app@bruisedpassports.com.
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