For the last few days, Norad has been tracking Santa Claus as he makes his way from the North Pole. It’s pretty cool to watch the videos they’ve posted of the most recent location where St. Nick’s been spotted. Take a look at this video of Santa as he gets on the road.

So while I was watching Santa circumnavigating the world, I started thinking about the North Pole and I realized I didn’t know much about it. Where is it exactly? Can we go there? I decided to find out.

Where is the North Pole?

To begin with, there are two North Poles – the geographic (or True) North Pole, which is the northernmost part of the Earth, and the  Magnetic North Pole, which is where the magnetic field lines are oriented vertically and plunge into the surface of the Earth. Magnetic North varies annually based on changes in the Earth’s magnetic field and is located generally in the Arctic Ocean.

With two different places for him to locate his workshop, is it any wonder that only Norad can track Santa?

Can we travel to the North Pole?

So I go to Travelocity and put in my departure city and my destination as the North Pole. Right away, the destination defaulted to Oslo. We’re getting somewhere! But it doesn’t tell me how to go from Oslo to the North Pole.

A check of wikitravel found several companies that offer different packages to the North Pole, some are not as expensive as you’d imagine.

If you’re a runner looking for your next big adventure, consider entering the North Pole Marathon. (Just thinking about it makes me want to return to running.) Check out the 2010 video.

Lastly, from the Mail Online, I discovered that airlines operating in the South Pacific can now take a short-cut over the North Pole. It means shorter journeys, cheaper flights, less fuel, and lower emissions of carbon dioxide. So why didn’t they do this sooner?