8 places your global mobility program will NEVER send anyone to...probably

Mobility programs are all about getting people where they need to be. So why write about places they'll likely never go, right? Well, never say never!

Curiosity is a great trait to have as a mobility professional, and this article certainly piqued mine. I've been supporting relocation for years, and I consider myself pretty well versed in geography. You would think I would have heard of these remote places previously, right? Not so much. If none of our clients ever send anyone to these locations, maybe one day I will at least be able to use this in a mobility trivia game. Let's take a look.

1.) Ciudad Perdida: Try creating a mobility policy (let's go with short-term assignment) for sending someone to Ciudad Perdida, which is in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains of Colombia. Getting there requires a four- to six-day round-trip hike through 30 miles of steep terrain and humid, mosquito-laden tropical forests and hiring a local guide is required. Hardship allowance? Clothing allowance? 

2 and 3.) Point Nemo and the Northern Pole of Inaccessibility: If your company is in the business of disposing of space junk, then perhaps you'll be sending people to the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility, also known as Point Nemo. This is the spot in the ocean farthest away from any land and where the United States, Japan, Russia, and several countries in Europe  drop their decommissioned space equipment, since debris is less likely to hit the human population. It is unusual when we have to leverage boats for travel to and from a destination but in this case we might need to add Dramamine or Scopolamine if supporting someone going to this location.

4.) St. Helena: Until 2017, visitors needed to board a five-day boat trip from South Africa to get to St. Helena, however now there is an airport where you can catch a flight every other Saturday to from Johannesburg. This is where Napoleon was exiled in 1985 and where Jonathan, a Seychelles tortoise who is Earth’s oldest known living land animal at 190 years old lives!

5.) Tristan da Cunha: This little birdie would not have told you about the island of Tristan da Cunha, (aka Inaccessible Island) which is another 1300 miles south of St. Helena and more challenging to get to. Your employees would also need permission from the Island Council to visit. This uniquely pristine ecosystem, has allowed the world’s smallest extant flightless bird, the Inaccessible Island rail, to evolve and thrive. 

6.) Big Ben: Big Ben, on Heard Island, is the tallest mountain in Australia is over 9,000 feet above sea level. Because of the remote location and harsh conditions, very few people have attempted to summit Big Ben. Getting and being there is extremely challenging. 

7.) Ny-lesund, Norway: This is the world’s northernmost year-round settlement, located just north of Longyearbyen, in the Svalbard archipelago. There is a research station finely tuned instruments that measure the Earth’s slightest movements so no WiFi or Bluetooth allowed. You will also need to avoid approaching the town’s dog yard; the dogs here are trained to alert the town at the first whiff of a polar bear (although you can observe them from a safe distance).

8.) Siwa Oasis: Maybe the most likely location presented for someone to actually get to is the Siwa Oasis, which is 350 miles through the desert southwest of Cairo, Egypt. While the 200 springs and thousands of palm and olive trees now bring in tourists, there are around 20,000 people that speak the Siwi language, a dialect of the Tamazight language spoken across North Africa, and it is much more common in homes than Arabic. It can take up to 12 hours to reach the Siwa Oasis by car or bus from Cairo, or three hours from the nearest Egyptian airport, Mersa Matruh. This may be the place on the list most apt to be visited by Indiana Jones as you can visit Cleopatra’s Spring and the Temple of the Oracle.

They say that considering the "extremes" is helpful in the design thinking process so maybe these locations can help us to explore aspects of our global mobility program experience. If you're looking for more on destinations...try one of these:

Mobile EX: The impact of the destination location

ICYMI: A global mobility update with big changes in 10 countries!

20 Safest Countries For LGBTQIA+ Travelers

Which countries are the safest for mobile employees?