Madeleine's Global Quest in Dad's Memory

*ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF*

Hey, my name is Madeleine, an adventurous solo traveler roaming through this wild and wonderful planet with her two dogs; Haku (Alaskan husky) and Yikhdaa (Karelian bear dog).

I’ve lived in my van all around the US, up into Alaska, later expanding throughout Canada and Mexico. We’ve lived on a boat in the Bahamas after I became infatuated with filming sharks in Florida. Most recently, I embarked on an epic solo trip up to the Arctic, as a tribute to my late dad’s life. He was the best storyteller I’ve ever known, and I hope to carry that legacy.

*WHAT I HAVE IN MIND*

I am currently in the Arctic trying to film orcas in their natural environment, leveraging my skills as a videomaker and experienced diver.

These orcas are around the Lofoten islands lately, an event that hasn’t happened to this degree in years. I’d been trying to arrange a deal with some fishermen for weeks to clean/repair some things on boats to be able to get a ride out there and finally found the right chemistry with one. While we’d been trying to get lucky with timing, we found a couple of other divers who were interested in the same project and developed a bit of a team. The other divers are sponsored and will make money off the content, but I’m trading my content for free rides and working off the gas on the boat. The other divers and I are currently trying to time it right with the local fishermen, an additional sailor, and a drone photographer, not to mention with the orcas showing up in the right fjord and initiating a playful response with us.

Important to mention that we only film if the orcas welcome us into their space, as we must be respectful of their environment first and foremost.

I create for me, haha, and my love for adventure. I have a spontaneous urge for passion projects all over the world with very little money, to which my brother almost always thinks I won’t pull off—and I almost always do.

*WHY I NEED THIS CAMPAIGN*

I usually end up trading most of my content for the free ride out into the middle of nowhere, on the helicopter/plane/boat.

This is because I am not sponsored/funded like these other creators, nor do I have the visa to work in the countries I am frugally traveling in.

Not being able to legally work poses a tremendous obstacle to the realization of this filming project.

To maximize saving, I’m moving around with a van that I shipped across the ocean, so me and the dogs wouldn’t have to rely on expensive hotels and resorts. Full autonomy for the love of orcas!

However, also running a van is not completely free. Gas is the highest expense, something that in the Arctic is way less affordable than in the US.

It costs almost $300 to fill a V6 petrol tank each time!

We’ve just completed a ginormous loop around the Arctic with the van after a comical series of unfortunate events. The van is basically an entirely new rig made up of scavenged parts now, but those are stories for the foreseeable future, hopefully for all of you.

Being funded by the public who are stoked about my adventure and would genuinely enjoy seeing my content would solve that problem and make this project truly possible.

Hopefully, this will lead me into a future of being funded by some brands who I can film and shoot content for—fingers crossed.

*FEEDBACK WANTED*

I’d need to know what kind of platform you guys would want me to post on for you to keep up with my adventures. I can edit my content I’ve created from the last 4 months of my solo expedition. This featured a trip to the tip of the north of the Arctic Circle of Scandinavia in a petrol van from the US that was not at all equipped for this adventure in the middle of winter (shocker).

And all future excursions of mine.

So I’m not really sure how the forum on this post works, but I’m hoping you’re all able to comment.

What would be the most favorable way to keep up with the adventure?

YouTube? Insta? TikTok? A travel blog website?

Please let me know your preference. I will attach some BTS from our latest passion project right now.

I hope you enjoy the sneak peek.

And please let me know if you’re interested in helping me with future projects.

It would mean the world to me.

PS the drone shots of us divers were taken by Philip Halvorson: the underwater shots are yet to come! :)