I admire the Norwegian polar explorer Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen. In 1903, Amundsen and his six-man crew piloted a 47-ton seal hunting ship named Gjøa through the undiscovered Northwest Passage. In three years time, they navigated from the Atlantic to The Pacific Ocean through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, a route sought since the time of Christopher Columbus. Along the way, Amundsen learned critical survival skills from the local Netsilik Inuit, which he later used with great success on his South Pole attempt. Utilizing sled dogs and seal skin clothing; Amundsen and five team members became the first to reach the South Pole on December 14, 1911, easily beating the Englishman Robert Falcon Scott, despite a much later start.

To me, Amundsen’s explorations and my own, namely visual communication, draw parallels in that you are always entering the unknown, utilizing new abilities to achieve a goal.

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