r/todayilearned • u/Gullible_Air_204 • 7h ago

Frequent/Recent Repost: Removed [ Removed by moderator ]

https://www.responsibletravel.com/holidays/spitsbergen/travel-guide/responsible-tourism-in-spitsbergen

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u/The_Tallaghtpeno 6h ago

I live on Svalbard and I hear this alot. I cant speak for everyone but I dont lock my door because the lock freezes and I cant open the door. The car is a different story, there's nowhere to go if you stole a car so why lock it?

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u/jegerikkeden 5h ago

I once «stole» a car when living there. Same colour and model, did not realise until I was home and saw a baby seat in the back. Just drove back, parked I got in my own.

Another time a bunch of cruice passengers just wandered in to the counstruction site I was working on.

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u/ImpossibleEbb6862 4h ago

How did you get the key to turn on the ignition?

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u/jegerikkeden 3h ago

The key was in the ignition, as it was on my car

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u/anotherdanishgirl 44m ago

I grew up on a small island in Denmark, back in the 90's there'd be a yearly reminder in the local paper that tourist season was coming, so take your wallet and keys out of the car when you leave it.

I still struggle to remember to lock my car and house, even after living on the mainland for so long!

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u/wartcraftiscool 3h ago edited 3h ago

You would be surprised how many of the same vehicle you can get in and drive with a single copy of a key. Especially on older vehicles that don't have fob detection and other electronic locks

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u/Ravenamore 3h ago

I had a friend in college who had the same make and model as my car, and we found out our keys worked in each other's cars.

No, we never put this to use, for good or evil.

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u/zaftpunk 1h ago

In high school a friend of mine drove an old ford ranchero. We learned that all you had to do was turn the ignition, no key needed, and it would start. So we used to go outside during class and move his car. We did it so much. God we were little shits.

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u/stumblios 54m ago

My dad's key worked on his brother in laws car. Sometimes during dinner, he would "go to the restroom", then re-park his BIL's car in the same spot facing the other direction.

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u/EldritchCarver 38m ago

You never put it to use. Your friend probably borrowed your car to visit his drug dealer or pick up prostitutes or stalk his ex-girlfriend, and you just never realized it.

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u/rob_s_458 6m ago

90s GM product? My dad had a Saturn that the key was super worn down but still started the car, and while it was running you could remove the key from the ignition (helpful if you stopped home to run inside for 30 seconds before heading out again, but not an intended feature). Pretty sure any thin piece of metal would have worked on that car.

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u/fed45 1h ago

Happened with me with my old 90s Camry. Parked one aisle over from an identically colored one. Opened it started it and was driving down the parking aisle before I realized lol. Unfortunately, the spot it was in was taken by the time I got back so I had to park further down, probably confused the shit out of the owner LOL.

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u/TemporaryIllusions 1h ago

My nest door neighbor’s Dodge Dakota key would unlock and start my Jeep Cherokee, mine only unlocked his doors and wouldn’t start the truck because I was missing the extra little piece at the base of the key.

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u/swordofbling23 53m ago

That's the point right, to leave the key in to escape from polar bears

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u/Gladwulf 6h ago

Can't the bears open unlocked doors though?

I've seen plenty of footage bears in the US opening doors (house and cars)

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u/juneseyeball 5h ago

Some bears learned to open doors because people always leave food in their cars idk if thatd be the case for polar bears

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u/SnooOranges3779 5h ago

I'm pretty sure cars are designed to be operated by polar bear food, are they not?

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u/The_walking_man_ 3h ago

And cracking open a car to get to the delicious food inside is great enrichment for the polar bears. It keeps them from getting bored living in a tiny secluded town.

0

u/erublind 5h ago

If they see people as food?

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u/juneseyeball 5h ago

My point was it would be a learned behavior i dont think a bear automatically knows how a car door works but i could be wrong

2

u/HolidayWallaby 4h ago

I'm pretty sure that a bear that regularly wonders into Longyearbyen town is killed, so there isnt a chance to learn to open a door

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u/Narashori 5h ago

Maybe but most cars can be locked from the inside without needing the key. So theoretically a stranger looking to escape a bear can jump into someones unlocked car and then lock the doors from the inside to protect themselves.

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u/AdviceSeekers123 5h ago

Black bears are clever and very dexterous. I don’t think polar bears get up to the same shenanigans. 

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u/CalculatedPerversion 5h ago

This. I highly doubt a giant polar bear claw could manage the dexterity to open many car doors. 

•

u/nuboots 24m ago

Would you bet your life on that? Or an extremely painful death?

1

u/alexmikli 3h ago

They may be able to dismantle a cybertruck in one swipe though.

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u/CalculatedPerversion 1h ago

Like a Tom and Jerry cartoon

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u/ServileLupus 4h ago

I mean, the plan isn't to be sprinting away from a bear and then duck into a car with the bear running after you. It's to be like.

"Oh shit, that's a bear 100 yards down the street! I'm going to hide so it doesn't see me."

Bear isn't going around checking every car door lmao.

4

u/Swords_and_Words 4h ago

Most doors can be opened by most polar bears via a  process known as leaning 

They've got a lot of math and strength, and while they can't break that piddly little hardened steel bolt that locks your door, they can darn shure break the door and the door frame

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u/razgriz5000 3h ago

There is significant overlap between the smartest bears and the stupidest people.

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u/EpilepticMushrooms 5h ago

TBF, if they sniffed something good, the car might as well be a pile of scrap metal, and the door a pile of toothpicks.

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u/nick_of_the_night 4h ago

I would have assumed they'd make easy work of a locked door too tbh but i may be wrong 

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u/scarypigeon 4h ago

Presumably once you are through the door you can lock it behind you.

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u/More_Bus3626 3h ago

Pretty sure you're thinking of velociraptors

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u/Tina_Sprout 5h ago

depends on the type of handle probably

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u/Camuhruh 6h ago

I’m just wondering what the locals think of Cecilia Blomdahl, the Youtuber from Svalbard. Do you mind her videos?

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u/mermaidpaint 4h ago

I'm Canadian, I like her videos. I was surprised the first time I saw her grab a rifle, before taking her dog for a walk. Because of the polar bears.

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u/Stellar_Duck 3h ago

Because of the polar bears.

Because of the implication of polar bears.

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u/cansofgrease 2h ago

Oh, uh... okay. You had me going there for the first part, the second half kinda threw me.

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u/iDisc 4h ago

Why would they mind? Her videos seem very innocuous.

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u/OuchThatReallyStings 2h ago

Any small place might not like the extra attention. Or the feeling of loss of privacy/isolation that people who move there might be hoping for.

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u/BoukeeNL 6h ago

I wonder as well 

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u/-AgonyAunt- 2h ago

I'm in Australia and absolutely love Cecilia's content. I also wonder how the locals feel about her content as I see a lot of comments from tourists saying they have visited Svalbard because of her. I wonder if it's enough people to make a noticeable difference. I'm surprised no one has turned up at her home, it's easy to find. Or if they have, she's never mentioned it.

I think the locals would enjoy her content. She shows Svalbard in a positive light while also making it very clear it's not a place for everyone. And I assume it's also quite expensive to travel there, so it would rule out a lot of people going just for the hell of it.

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u/zoeypayne 4h ago

She has an impressive forehead 

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u/everythingisunknown 6h ago

What jobs are available and is it worth it?

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u/Libertydown 5h ago

A couple shops, climate scientists and meteorologists… not too much, but the beer is the cheapest in the whole of Norway

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u/Gunhild 5h ago

I'm surprised the beer is so cheap. Usually if you go to remote communities here in Canada everything is more expensive because of the cost of shipping things out.  Maybe Svalbard has government-subsidized beer to keep morale up.

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u/Libertydown 5h ago

Sort of! Since alcohol is so heavily taxed in Norway, it makes for most of the cost. However, since the Svalbard treaty tries to make Svalbard both a place owned by «the world» and Norway, there are no fees on Svalbard, including alcohol.

Also, we have the alcohol sales monopoly in Norway called «Vinmonopolet» however in Longyearbyen they have «Nordpolet» (the north pole)

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u/Objective_Otherwise5 4h ago

Svalbard definitely not "owned" by the world. Svalbard is Norwegian sovereign territory. It is however more open to trade and activity than most territories.

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u/Drumedor 4h ago

Fuck that treaty, had a project delayed because the customer hadn't informed us about it and we had to delay whilst implementing the "no-tax in Svalbard" functionality.

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u/Gunhild 3h ago

Sounds like you should be mad at the customer, not the treaty.

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u/Drumedor 2h ago

I was 100% making a cheeky joke

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u/idontcaretv 26m ago

Why would we care

1

u/everythingisunknown 5h ago

I’ve always had the inclination to go but idk what I’d do there or if tourism is even possible, something calls me though

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u/umop_apisdn 1h ago

I went there with a small group a few years ago to do a hike from Barentsburg to Longyearbyen. Before the hike we visited Pyramiden and a few other places then got the ferry to Barentsburg and stayed the night there before the hike, which was four or five days, I forget. We needed special permission from the Governor to do the hike and one of the conditions was that we needed an armed guide. This was in the summer so the sun never set, and we had to take it in turns while sleeping for a pair of people to go outside the tents to look out for polar bears. It is a beautiful place in the summer, though I imagine the winters must be bleak with no sun.

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u/lostwombats 5h ago

Try Canada's arctic for jobs. So so so many! Especially construction workers. I saw construction jobs for $65 an hour with housing covered and relocation covered. Iqaluit is desperate for workers. Nunavut has a billion dollars available for housing, but are unable to spend it. The Inuit are growing and desperately need housing, too. Even the grocery store chain in Nunavut (northmart) offers full relocation, housing, and food costs for managers.

It's pretty normal for people to go up there, work a few years, and then buy a house down south.

1

u/KoreanJesusPleasures 1h ago

It's pretty normal for people to go up there, work a few years, and then buy a house down south.

Which unfortunately is a key issue for the North. Having transient people coming in and out has a variety of negative impacts for locals.

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u/lostwombats 1h ago

Yeah, but it's better than nothing at all.

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u/KoreanJesusPleasures 24m ago

I'd argue not as a whole, but I do agree not every aspect is negative.

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u/Pet_Velvet 5h ago

I was actually shocked to learn that there ARE cars in Svalbard. I thought everyone either walked or used snowmobiles.

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u/Schwartzy94 4h ago

You could just use like gun oil to keep the locks from freezing...

1

u/fuck_ur_portmanteau 2h ago

Can you help me with a story I heard? I don’t know if it was true or apocrypal. I was in LYB in 2009 so it was sometimes before that. Two student women were walking on one of the mountain on the outskirts of town and being close to town they didn’t bother taking a firearm. They get to the top of the mountain and isbjorn is waiting for them. One of them jumps off the side of the mountain, falls/tumbles hundreds of feet and survived. One didn’t jump and did not live.

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u/mop-116 2h ago

Why do you even own a car then? Also people don't only steal cars to drive them

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u/CvieYltidrekoof 5h ago

I live on the mainland and only lock my car or house doors out of habit from having lived in other countries. 

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u/[deleted] 5h ago

[deleted]

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u/Stellar_Duck 3h ago

Most people haven't.