This YouTube vlog follows Nate and Kara Buchanan during their final day in Finnish Lapland. They move into a one-of-a-kind wooden teepee with a glass roof (bed at the apex for star/northern-lights viewing), then go dog sledding—receiving instruction, driving sleds themselves, stopping for breaks and hot chocolate—and plan to experience a Finnish sauna that evening. The transcript captures emotional reactions to the huskies, practical details of sled operation, and local interactions.
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We are about to go dog sledding.
Today is our last day in Finnish Lapland, and it has been such an incredible week here. But today should be the best of them all, which is saying a lot.
Today should include huskies, our first Finnish sauna, and if we're lucky, the northern lights.
And now it's dark. We are moving from the ice cabin that we stayed in last night to new accommodations. And if you're wondering how you get your stuff around Finland, you have your own little sleigh just for your luggage.
We have stayed in so many cool accommodations this week, and this one has to be the most unique. It is a wooden teepee with a glass roof.
And it is the only one in the world of its kind.
How cool is this place? I cannot get over it. It's so much cooler and more unique than I thought it would be in here. Like, even the walls and all the furry things and the light bulbs and the couch and the bathroom. There's a full functioning bathroom in here. It is all just. I'm so excited right now. But I think what makes this place the most spectacular is the upstairs. We haven't been up there yet.
Come on.
So there's a ladder that leads up to the top floor. Just the bed. This is nuts.
No way.
So we get to lay in this bed tonight and look up at the stars.
Also, we've been tracking the northern lights all week, hoping that we're gonna be able to see them. And tonight is our best chance. The solar storms are supposed to be really strong, so if we're lucky, we will be laying in this fur covered bed staring up at the northern lights.
I'm so excited.
This is gonna be the best.
I can't believe we're here. They're gonna have to us out of this place tomorrow.
But we don't have any time to enjoy our new home now because we are about to go dog sledding. Hey, you don't look like a husky.
So I am editing this vlog right now, and Nate tried to tell me that the dog sledding scene was way too long. But I love dogs and I think it's beautiful, so I left it all in there. Hope you like dogs too. Enjoy.
Oh, my gosh.
Is that. Are those tears?
I feel like I'm gonna cry.
Hi. Hi. I didn't realize how happy this was gonna make me.
I think I really miss my dogs. And so when I see all these dogs and they're so good and so.
Smart.
I can't wait to love on them.
She Told us we can't pet to pet them after because if you start petting one, then they all want to be pet. And then they get all tangled because they're already on their ropes.
End of the feet, end of the hand, end of the holiday. Whole pile of paperwork for me, and I'm not that good doing the paperwork, so I don't like to do it. So hands and feet inside of the sled, please.
All right.
Are they ready to go?
Thank you. The husky man is also a videographer, and they are letting us drive today. They told us this metal bar down here is the cruise control.
This is nice. The dogs are so excited. I cannot wait.
Ready? Here we go. We're ready.
Let go the brakes.
Oh, here we go.
Wow, they're fast.
We're going. This is crazy. Oh, they're so cute. They're having so much fun.
I cannot believe I am driving a dog sled right now.
I can't either.
Two in the back and trying to eat each other.
My gosh. This is amazing.
How we doing?
Excellent. I just take this troublemaker away.
Troublemaker.
Look at this one.
Let's see how the sister is doing.
Okay.
He owns all these dogs. How many do you have?
35.
30.
Off we go.
They're so fast.
It's crazy how fast they take off.
Oh, they're so sweet.
The most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Settle down.
Quit fighting. Ah, life is good. A lot less stressful than the snowmobile.
They throw as much fun.
Oh, we're turning.
We're doing our first turn.
I feel like that should be great. Maybe not. Oh, wow, they're fast.
Leave. Nate Lee.
Nate.
I'm leaning.
That was awesome.
So our guy told us the break is very important for when we stop, because if you stop and then let go of the break, he said you might have, like, 30 seconds to a minute, and the dogs will start running again. Apparently, they absolutely love it, and they're always ready to go. So if you want them to stay still, you gotta stay on the break.
All good.
All good.
I lost concentration there for a second.
We would have won the curb.
Pay attention. Are you thirsty?
Oh, my gosh.
Just let the dogs cool down a little bit.
Is this halfway?
No, not yet. This is. We need to do three stops.
Perfect.
Least three stops. But taking care of the dogs.
I can do this all day.
Seriously. Let's go to Sweden.
Why?
Apparently, the father of his main girl up front has done the Iditarod race in Alaska twice.
Hi, sweetie. Oh, my goodness. Oh, you're Doing so good. Yeah, you're doing so good. I love y' all so much. I know. I love you too.
I think they're ready to go.
Wow.
They got much faster.
I cannot get over how quickly they take off. They are noticeably faster right now than they were five minutes ago when they were tired.
I just love how much, like, you can tell they want to run. As soon as they're cooled off, they just started barking. They were like, let us go. They just have so much energy.
It's amazing to see.
We're tying up. We're at the halfway point. Can take a little break.
Then. I'm gonna try.
Not for you. This is for us. Hot chocolate. Brisk. No, not for you.
Such a cute bug.
This is great.
Sa.
I got to drive home, and I can safely say that a sled drawn by huskies is my favorite vehicle I've ever driven. I'm not a very good driver, but I feel like I'm a pro sled driver. What do you think, Nate? Did I nail it?
I think the dogs just kind of do most of the work.
I didn't even have to know where I was going because they knew where to go, which is the hardest part.
You're a decent driver. You're just really bad at directions.
It's true. So we just got back to the resort, and I think think.
Smells terrible. Dog food.
Six weeks.
Oh, my gosh. I'm in heaven.
Oh, man.
And they have been just starting to eat the meat, and they smell a little bit bad.
That's okay. I don't care.
You be a big runner one day.
That's the mommy. What is this white stuff?
Like the doctor of Back to the food.
You can do it. Deep bridge. Deep bridge.
Hey, what do you think?
Well, that was the best, but I think with the sun starting to set and the wind picking up, my body temperature has limited.
This is the first time I've been, like, really cold. Thankfully, we are about to do the one thing that everybody told us that we had to do when we came to Finland.
We're going to the sauna.
We actually met these at old people the first night we were here, and we were like, tell us more about, like, the Finnish sauna. And they were like, what? What's a sauna? And then they're like, oh, sauna, sauna. That's not how they really sounded, but that's my best impression.
It's time to sauna.
Wow. I think it's time.
That was all this yellow snow, and it is the only one of its kind in the entire world. I don't have the key. It's so much more.
We are about to learn how to make dog sled. Do you make dogs? Should we put our stuff in the house?
This sled is surprisingly smooth.
It is super smooth.
As soon as I said that, it bumped. It is very smooth.
Did I brake before I turned?
Okay.
I think that means a little bit.
Okay. I should have pulled the brake before we turned right there, but that was a lot of fun. That was key. While it's running, very tough.
