News from the Wild Roads
We are introducing our new ambassador Jan Hvízdal!
BLOG 1: PRIM SPORT ADVENTURE as presented by Jan Hvízdal
For the past 10 years I have been travelling around the world, trying to reach places that most people cannot easily access. Whether it is the Canadian Yukon, Alaska, Antarctica, or Svalbard in the high Arctic. The last-mentioned place has become very dear to my heart. I spent four wonderful years there, working as a dog sled guide taking customers into the wilderness — the habitat of the polar bear. This place is very specific due to its three-month polar night, extremely low temperatures, and severe weather. Yet it is a place you will fall in love with if you dream of true wilderness. If you are lucky enough to be able to explore it with a dog sled, in my opinion there is nothing purer or more beautiful. Whether it is a face-to-face encounter with a polar bear, endless traversing of polar plains by dog sled, or stunning northern lights — these are the moments that will stay with you forever. I will describe my time on Svalbard in one of the following blog posts. Although I no longer live on Svalbard, I try to head to the far North at least once a year to feel the cold polar wind.
Because photography is among my greatest passions, I have advanced my career and now work as a photographer for Hurtigruten Expeditions. Although these are not “real” expeditions but rather expedition cruises, this job gives me the opportunity to travel around the world and see places that many people only dream of. It is also income that helps me plan my own projects and expeditions, and at this stage of my life that is what matters most. In the future I have projects planned in Greenland, Canada, and Kamchatka, so we shall see what travel looks like in the new decade. Have a wonderful day and I hope you will follow me on my travels. Jan.
Link to IG: https://www.instagram.com/janhvizdal/
Source: https://janhvizdalphotography.com/
Who else would be such a great ambassador for the PRIM Sport Adventure watch series, which we created precisely for people who love adventure and are not afraid to try something new!
Jan comes from the Czech Republic and is a professional guide based on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard (Norway). In the coming years he will spend part of the year in the Czech Republic and part in destinations such as Norway, Svalbard, Greenland, or Antarctica, and his wild journeys will be accompanied by PRIM watches. He strives to leave behind the hectic modern society and find peace surrounded by wild nature. He left the office eight years ago and it was the most important decision of his life. He proved to himself that he can make a living anywhere in the world, and at the same time that life can offer so much more than a stereotypical nine-to-five job. This illusion does not allow people to find their true essence — something they genuinely enjoy — and instead leads them into the machinery of modern society, which he will never fully understand.
“In recent times I have lived for several years in a van or a cabin without running water, and what I received in return were experiences for a lifetime. Nature in general offers me far more than the modern world, even though I gladly and often make use of its conveniences. Svalbard, where I have spent the last 3 years, has given me a completely new perspective. Wild nature is all-encompassing and people must learn to live with it — and above all to respect it. At the same time, a person is strongly influenced by the alternation of polar day and night. Places where I lived before, such as New Zealand and Canada, cast a spell on me. The Arctic and Svalbard, however, are something else. Working year-round with a pack of sled dogs, witnessing the alternation of darkness and light and the changing of the seasons, or encountering a polar bear in its natural environment — these are experiences that shape my everyday life,” says Jan Hvízdal about his philosophy.
Link to IG: https://www.instagram.com/janhvizdal/
