My Tips for Your Trip.

• I traveled north of the Arctic Circle to a tiny village in Finland for a chance to see the northern lights.
• I booked a tour as far north as I could afford for the best chance of seeing the colorful auroras.
• The location made viewing the northern lights easier, but they were different than I expected.

In February, I finally checked off one of my top bucket list items — seeing the aurora borealis, better known as the northern lights.

The auroras occur when charged solar particles from the sun interact with the Earth’s upper atmosphere, resulting in an array of colorful lights beaming from the planet’s poles. They occur year-round but can only be seen in winter months during the long polar nights.

I journeyed all the way to Finland’s northernmost municipality, Utsjoki, about 280 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The trek required two plane rides from New York to Ivalo, Finland, via Helsinki, plus a two-hour drive deep into the snow-covered Lapland.

The secluded village is home to Aurora Holidays, the tour company I used for my trip. I paid about $2,000 total, which included guides, full room and board, a village tour, reindeer feeding, a king crab fishing trip in Norway, and dog sledding — though prices have increased since I booked. Flights on Finnair were another $1,000.

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Aurora Holidays boasts a 100% success rate over five years of seeing the auroras thanks to a lack of light pollution in the northern location — and, fortunately, the streak continued on my trip.

Here are four things to know when planning a trip to see the aurora lights and why I recommend getting as far north as possible to maximize your chances — even if it means facing bone-chilling temperatures and relying on a little bit of luck.

Location, location, location

While recent environmental phenomena have made the northern lights visible in places as far south as England and Denmark, the aurora borealis are best viewed within the Article Circle.

The far north is hard to reach, though, and popular viewing spots like Fairbanks, Alaska, Tromsø, Norway, and Canada’s Northwest Territories sit below the 66° 34′ N latitude that defines the region.

Plus, these often-crowded tourist destinations have light pollution that requires people to venture out of the city into darker areas to see the lights.

Utsjoki, however, is so remote that it offers complete darkness during the long polar nights. Even better, my accommodation was perfectly situated facing north across Lapland — meaning I could see the auroras from my cabin porch.

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“A lot of people don’t know that for the highest possibilities to see the lights, location matters,” Aurora Holiday’s owner, Tiina Salonen, told me during the tour. “The rule of thumb is that the further north you travel, the less [solar] activity you need to have lights in the sky.”

Other places within the Arctic Circle, like Abisko National Park in Sweden or Ilulissat, Greenland, are also good viewing spots.

Pack for below-zero temperatures

During my trip, the temperature reached -8°F, which is even colder than what I experienced in Antarctica. Fortunately, my previous polar expedition taught me how to pack.

I opted for a merino wool base layer from REI, which I prefer due to its moisture-wicking abilities. I also wore a fleece pullover and a Kathmandu puffer as my mid-layers and a 600-fill jacket as my shell. I also wore snow pants, ski gloves, wool socks, a fleece buff, a beanie, and hiking boots.

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All of that combined, I was easily warm enough to stand outside under the lights. I also recommend bringing hand and foot warmers if you plan to do other winter activities like snowshoeing or snowmobiling.

One thing to remember about going to extremely remote places like northern Lapland is how far you are away from a proper hospital — the closest to Utsjoki being a few hour’s drive, according to Tiina. Wearing the right clothes to prevent frost bite or illness is important, but it wouldn’t hurt to get travel insurance, too — just in case.

The vibrant colors that appear in photos are not what humans see

Not every color of the northern auroras is visible to the naked eye. During my trip, I could clearly see streaks of green and white, but the intensity and array of colors were more vivid in photos taken on my iPhone.

Tiina explained this is because cameras can take in more light than a human’s nighttime vision can, therefore allowing it to capture otherwise invisible colors, like pink, red, and purple.

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I’ll admit that the auroras were much fainter than I expected, but that didn’t take away from the beauty. Nevertheless, some people may be disappointed it isn’t the extravagant Disney-like display social media sometimes makes it seem.

Seeing the lights takes a little bit of luck

During my six-day, five-night tour in Utsjoki, we only saw the auroras once — which is the reality of lights chasing, and why I booked a longer vacation to better my odds of seeing them.

That night was perfectly clear, and the solar activity was relatively strong, allowing the beautiful green beams to dance across the sky. The other nights, however, were too cloudy to see anything.

“The lights are there, but if it is super cloudy — we can’t, of course, see them,” Tiina told me. I noticed this when I was further south in Ivalo before and after the tour in Utsjoki. I couldn’t see the auroras either night I was there due to the clouds, even though the online tracker said they were out.

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Sometimes tour companies like Tiina’s can drive around to find pockets where the auroras are visible, but it’s not always possible — which makes seeing the lights a roll of the dice and why I now warn people to manage their expectations before booking a trip.

“Even here in Utsjoki, we cannot guarantee the lights — after all, it is a natural phenomenon, and Mother Nature is in charge,” Tiina said.