In some ways, my entire book (The Map of My Dead Pilots) is all about why we go north. It is certainly about flying and what we did at the Company and the odd world in which Alaskan commercial aviation operates and exists but I keep butting up against questions on why so many men (because the field is dominated by men) went to AK in the first place. Part of the whole book is about me and why I went as well, so I can see how these questions developed, but they've set me on a path of wondering why explorers went north over the 19th and 20th centuries. It's not about the general group reasons - for example Britain was all about the Northwest Passage and the fastest route to the East - but why each particular man chose to go.

It's easy to understand a country's motivations, but an individual's are much harder.

So many of the people I worked with in Alaska were there looking for something else. This might mean the obvious, like money and flight time, but all too often it was some kind of proof that they were good at their job, or capable, or tough or brave. I've read the phrase "looking for adventure" so many times but what does that really mean? Is adventure alone why people leave home and go far far away or is it what they think that adventure will give them which motivates their travels? Do they seek to be transformed in the search, in the discovery, in the mere act of exploring?

Do they think that by going off on a self-styled adventure, they will become an adventurer themselves? (If I explore then I must be an explorer?)

You don't go to Fairbanks, Alaska for no reason. Even if you take a job transfer to get there, it's a transfer you were seeking; you wanted to go to the north and sought a reason to support that desire. In other words, you can get flight time in other places, if you're going to Alaska to fly then it is Alaska flight time you want.

I'm likely writing in circles here but these thoughts are bouncing around in my head a lot lately. I've started researching a new project - a very short project - and it has made me think a lot about polar explorers and adventure seekers. I'm winding up Map for my agent and do need to go back to Flying Cold (and still I loathe that title) for some fixing/cleaning up but I want to write something short and complete before looking at another novel-length book, even in the advanced rewrite stage. Someday I think it would be fun to write an essay collection about polar explorers but I have no idea if there is much of an interest (other from polar geeks like me) for such reading. In the meantime it's something to think about...and a fun subject to write on.

[Post pic from Elisha Kent Kane's title, Arctic Explorations via Linda Hall Library's exhibition, Ice: A Victorian Romance.]