"You are the only tiny little thing out there in this endless sea of light," he says. "So that makes you feel small. But then when it's whiteout, it's the opposite: It's super myopic, insular. All I can see is my compass a couple inches away from my nose, and the contrast of those two things is so stark, but what is ever-present is that you are just a product of your own thoughts, your own mind."