Ismael Ferrero

Ten minutes counts.

Nature is how I recharge. On a busy day that’s a ten-minute escape. Other times it’s a full weekend of survival camping.

Either way, stepping into the fresh air brings the clarity back, even when the weather is rough.

My daughters come with me. Out there they explore, discover and learn how simple and beautiful life can be.

Ismael smiling with a frozen, frosty beard in front of a hot tent in a snowy pine forest — Hot-tent night, January 2024.

Three hundred kilometres of Arctic, with 180 dogs.

300km of Arctic tundra

180sled dogs

20people from around the world

pulled by dogs with more life experience than I have

Ismael in a fur-trimmed parka and Fjällräven beanie, smiling in the snow — Fjällräven Polar, April 2025

In April 2025 I joined Fjällräven Polar, a dog-sled expedition across the Scandinavian Arctic tundra, with a team of 20 people from around the world.

A little over two months have passed since the polar expedition ended…
Some said they needed time to process what they’d lived.
I needed time for my hands to thaw.

I still struggle to put into words what Fjällräven Polar 2025 was.
A brutal adventure, in a place that looked like another planet,
pulled by dogs with more life experience than I have,
surrounded by people who became family within a few days.

Thank you, Fjällräven, for this beautiful madness.
Thank you for reminding me how small we are in front of nature…
and how big we can be when we work together.

Later I’ll share more moments, stories and faces of the incredible people I met along the way.
But for now, here are these images, which still smell of snow and hot soup.

Written on Instagram, June 2025

My Fjällräven Polar profile The post I wrote afterwards

Ismael crouching in a snow trench, cooking on a stove in a blowing Arctic storm at sunset — Dinner, Arctic edition.

Spend it while they’re still home.

Kids live at home for about eighteen summers. That’s the window when they’ll still hold your hand on the trail.

So I made a choice. My money goes to flights, tents and trips, not to a bigger mortgage or an expensive car.

It’s my trade-off, not a rule for everyone. But it’s the one I’d ask you to think about.

Two adults and two small girls in rain jackets and backpacks walking away on a forest gravel road — Oslomarka, August 2026.

About 18 summers. Count yours.

Where the money went.

52countries,
and counting.

Countries visited: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Czechia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City, Vietnam.

The world 22swipe →

Europe, up close 23

Middle East 7

Three girls striking camel poses in front of a camel-shaped rock formation under a cloudy sky — Devrent Valley, Turkey. The girls meet the camel rock.

Ismael in an Argentina shirt holding a toddler, with a girl holding a fishing net, beside a lily pond with Marina Bay Sands behind — Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. Sunset and one fishing net.

Father and daughter seen from behind in an open safari vehicle, looking over golden savanna — Safari in Tanzania, her arm around my shoulder.

Ismael with arms wide on a cliff above a blue fjord, toddler daughter in a carrier on his back — Preikestolen, Norway. Above the fjord, daughter on my back.

Family looking over a tiled bridge railing at Plaza de España, Seville — Plaza de España, Seville, Spain.

Family arm in arm facing a lotus field and green limestone hills, one with a yellow Kånken backpack — Ninh Binh, Vietnam. Everyone in one hug.

Ismael in a red jacket and his daughter reading books inside a red British-style phone booth turned into a free book exchange — Switzerland. A phone booth turned free library.

Family sitting on the steps of a carved Balinese temple gate — A temple gate near Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.

Two girls posing in front of the Freedom Monument under a dramatic purple sky — Freedom Monument, Riga, Latvia. Big sky, bigger attitude.

Three girls warming hands and roasting sticks over a campfire by a lake in autumn — Campfire by an Oslo lake, October.

Three girls sitting on the marble floor in front of the golden Buddha at Wat Traimit — Wat Traimit, Bangkok, Thailand. A quiet corner by the golden Buddha.

Ismael raising a clay mug and his daughter leaning on him in a candlelit medieval tavern — Medieval tavern, Tallinn, Estonia. Candles, clay mugs, house rules.

Ismael in a head wrap sitting on a camel in the Sahara dunes — Merzouga, Morocco. One camel, zero schedule.

Ismael in a red football jacket standing on a rock above Camps Bay with the mountains and ocean behind — Above Camps Bay, Cape Town, South Africa.

Ismael and a toddler in a sun hat beside a vintage motorbike in front of a weathered brick wall and red door — George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Small traveller, big wall.

Three people lying on their stomachs on a wooden jetty looking over the Oslofjord at dusk — Oslofjord, Norway. Nobody’s in a hurry.

Family at a low table on blue plastic stools at a night street-food corner in Hanoi — Hanoi, Vietnam. Street food on tiny stools.

Ismael, his wife and three daughters standing arm in arm with a woman in bright red and purple traditional dress and two village children on a dry dirt road at golden hour — A village visit in northern Tanzania.

Two tiny figures with arms raised in front of the huge dark spires of Prambanan temple — Prambanan, Java, Indonesia. We are the tiny dots.

Three girls on a lakeshore watching ducks, with a red hammock in the birch trees — By a Norwegian lake, with the neighbours.

Ismael and his daughter from behind, looking up at the bronze Wawel Dragon below a red-brick castle wall — Wawel Dragon, Kraków, Poland.

Family at a hotel window looking at the Kuala Lumpur skyline and tower — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Watching the skyline.

Three children by a turquoise mountain lake, one fishing, under a rocky peak — Norwegian mountains, May 2025.

Two girls walking on a green bike lane on a Swedish shopping street, one with a pram — Örebro, Sweden. A green bike lane and a pram.

Ismael and his daughters in blue robes beside a lily pond at a water temple in Ubud — Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.

Family crouched on a rock at a lake shore looking into the water — Norway. The lake belongs to the kids.

Ismael leaning on the glass edge of a pool facing a lake and a jungle-covered limestone outcrop — Ipoh, Malaysia. A pool with a limestone view.

Come say hi.

Questions about family travel, winter camping or Polar? Write to me.

Email me @s.i.ferrero on Instagram