BACK ON BOARD WITH KARINE

Executive Vice President of Viking, Karine Hagen, recalls her time on board Viking Star and Viking Jupiter

Clockwise, from

above: Karine catching up with the crew of Viking Jupiter; Karine serving Norwegian dish pølse og lompe In February, I was fortunate to bring Finse and Charlie with me on board Viking Star and Viking Jupiter for a ten‑day work trip in Kristiansand, where two of our six ocean vessels were in warm layup awaiting the restart of operations. After almost a year of COVID confi nement, I admit I was secretly looking forward to delicious prepared meals, and having my bed properly made by someone else, but I quickly discovered that what I had missed more, much more, than the luxury of service, or the comfort of the ships, was human contact. Being on board, protected by our health protocol of daily, simple, non‑ invasive saliva PCR testing, gave me a sense of freedom I had not me a sense of freedom I had not felt on land for an entire year.

While our ships have been in warm layup, our crew has been busy, keeping them shipshape and ready to restart at short notice. Having ships on standby hopefully only happens once in their lifetime (and once in ours!), and as hard as this year has been on the world, we must try to fi nd some silver linings.

A silver lining for me – being on board – was getting to know some of our crew much better. Heartfelt conversations about their families, lives and homes, their childhoods and growing up in diff erent parts of the world, allowed my mind to travel the world, without moving my body an inch. I travelled with video technician Mahesh, to his family’s modest mango farm in the village of Madhavamala, in southern India, where his bride is waiting to meet

him for the fi rst time when he returns home next month.

He shared with me pictures of his new family home, and the Hindu housewarming ritual of having a cow be the fi rst to enter the home, ideally “doing its business inside” as Mahesh said politely, to bring good luck to the marriage. Hotel manager Sujith joined our conversation and said that in his home town in India, the cow has to enter backwards for the luck to really last!

Within minutes of my mind in southern India, I was transported to the tropical island of Carabo in the Philippines, talking with Hilda about her childhood growing up on this tiny exotic island with no electricity, apart from the night light from the moon and the fi refl ies; where their toys were found in nature; and where she would hang off the outrigger on the island canoe – used to go grocery shopping on the neighbouring, larger island – to learn how to swim in the crystal‑ clear waters, with an empty gallon and old rope tied around her waist as a life vest. A childhood that was bereft of material surplus, but absolute paradise to Hilda and all of us listening, and a place that is now top of my travel bucket list after seeing her eyes shine with delight in describing her privileged upbringing and recalling stories from her childhood. I wasn’t actually travelling anywhere physically but in a matter of minutes my mind had travelled around the world.

To fear another person for no reason, but the air between us, is a strange mindset we have all had to live with throughout the duration of this pandemic. And I think it has become clear to many of us, after having been by ourselves for such a long time,that human contact is indeed a fundamental need, quite essential to our wellbeing.

Clockwise, from top left:

Celebrating Valentine’s Day with Viking umbrellas on Viking Star; Finse and Charlie make some new friends; Hilda encounters snow for the first time and tries on expedition gear; Carabo Island, in the Philippines

M E BACK TO THE WORLD O WEL C

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The last two years have helped us appreciate what's truly important and what defines a well-lived life. As a Viking, we know travel isn't just something you do; it's who you are, and you need to explore the world again.

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