Rebecca Douglas has visited Iceland 29 times. And she has already booked her 30th trip.
The goal of every trip is the same. It’s about taking pictures of the aurora borealis and aurora borealis.
Douglas has been photographing this spectacular phenomenon since 2010. The dazzling colors of green, purple, yellow, and blue that paint the sky are the result of solar particles reacting with gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere. The current solar cycle has reached its 11-year peak, and the light is expected to become even more pronounced over the next four years.
Douglas, a professional photographer based in Kent, UK, also travels to Finland, Norway and Iceland every year to photograph the night sky. But she said she had also been able to photograph the Northern Lights from the English countryside in the past year.
The rise of “nocturnal tourism”
Douglas has unknowingly been an early adopter of the trend of “night travel,” or focusing on nighttime travel experiences.
Booking.com listed this as a top travel trend for 2025, describing it as a desire to “avoid the midday crowds and seek the magic of midnight.” The company’s global survey of more than 27,000 travelers found that nearly 2 in 3 travelers prefer stargazing (72%) and once-in-a-lifetime space events (59%). , constellation tracking (57%).
The Northern Lights seen above Rebecca Douglas’ holiday accommodation in the Norwegian archipelago of Lofoten.
Source: Rebecca Douglas Photography
While most activities are aimed at the night sky, there are also activities that take place on land, from nighttime city tours and truffle hunting in Italy to full moon picnics by the sea.
Luxury travel company Wayfarer Travel says it has seen a 25% increase in nighttime tourism experiences in the past year, including Northern Lights viewing in Norway and Iceland, as well as night diving in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Egypt’s Red Sea. There was also a request. Nocturnal wildlife safaris in Zambia and Kenya and stargazing in Chile’s Atacama Desert are also popular, the company said.
“Noctotourism will change travel by 2025 as night owls seek unique after-dark experiences,” said Jay Stevens, CEO of the company. Deaf,” he said.
Travelers can register to participate in an evening truffle hunt with professional hunters and their dogs.
Stefano Guidi | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Chasing a solar eclipse could become a new bucket list experience, according to luxury travel agent Scott Dunn.
Spokesman Scott Dunn said: “Travellers travel to remote parts of the world to witness these celestial spectacles. Greenland’s High Arctic is an ideal destination thanks to its remote, light-free coast. So it will be my next destination.”
But travel doesn’t have to be that far, with hotels from Hawaii to Austria now offering stargazing activities. The next total lunar eclipse will occur on March 14 and will be visible across most of the world, including the Americas, Western Europe and West Africa, according to NASA.
In search of darkness
Douglas avoids hotel packages and prefers to plan her own trips, as she plans a lot of activities in the evenings. She also said it’s best to stay away from large groups of nocturnal novices who unwittingly create light pollution with smartphone and camera flashes.
Aurora seen from Iceland.
Source: Rebecca Douglas Photography
Douglas plans most of her trips during the best times to see the northern lights, usually from August to April, she said. She also chooses secluded accommodations, far from the city and her neighbors, as a single streetlight or house light can ruin a photo.
“I spend a lot of time looking for accommodation on Google Maps,” she said. “If there are lights in the photo, ask the host if you can turn off the outside lights. Even less active shows can look really beautiful if you’re in a really dark place.”
She also takes into account the phases of the moon, she said.
Aurora storm seen from Elmley Nature Reserve in Kent, England.
Source: Rebecca Douglas Photography
“The two weeks before and after a new moon are when the skies are at their darkest, and it’s not just the Northern Lights that are at their best, the stars are also breathtaking,” she said. “I see the Milky Way, but it’s a rainbow of dust and glitter across the sky.”
Douglas has created an online course to help people photograph the Northern Lights.
At night, it also photographs noctilucent clouds (clouds of sparkling ice crystals high in the atmosphere) and rainbow clouds in the polar stratosphere. She sometimes shoots from 8pm to 5am and has been out in temperatures as low as 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
“They say you have to work hard for your art,” Douglas says.
But for her, taking photos at night while traveling is a “privilege.”
