Midnight Sun, Marathon Miles, and Orb Monitoring

I chase three things obsessively: travel, running, and reliable internet. In late June, I hit the trifecta.

I flew to the Arctic Circle to run the Midnight Sun Half Marathon in Tromsø, Norway — a surreal race under a sky that never goes dark. During the adventure, I hopped between four different accommodations — from modern hotels in town to a rugged, remote lodge on an island.

The plan? Work part-time while soaking in the midnight sun. That meant joining calls, pushing code, helping users, and staying responsive… all from places where reindeer outnumber people.

Each stay promised "high-speed internet." But as every digital nomad knows, that can mean anything from "flawless fiber" to "stand outside and pray to the signal gods." And with no easy way to know the truth ahead of time, I was in the dark (ironic, given the 24-hour daylight). If only Orb had been running at those hotels, rentals, or airports — I could have scoped out the Wi-Fi quality before booking.

Still, everywhere I went, I used the Orb app to do a quick reality check before diving into a Zoom or committing code. Popping open the app on my phone or running my iPad in sensor mode for 5–60 minutes ahead of a work call or a resource-heavy task was so informative.

The good news?

Norway's connectivity is outstanding, even in the Arctic wilds. But what made it truly stress-free was knowing — really knowing — whether the network could handle my workload, stream my favorite show, or navigate me back to civilization.

What I Learned

Orb made a huge difference. Instead of guessing, I had real-time insights.

Should I walk to the hotel lobby for this video call? Or is the cabin Wi-Fi good enough? Orb answered that before I even opened my laptop.

But imagine if Orb were already installed in places like airports, hotels, vacation rentals, and even fjord cruise boats. I would have been able to plan work blocks with confidence before I ever left home.

No surprises. No scrambling for backups. Just clarity.

TL;DR

If you're traveling, you can use Orb to better understand your connectivity while on the road, in the air, or at sea. If you operate a hotel, vacation rental, airport, cruise ship, or tourist attraction, Orb can help ensure you're providing a reliable internet experience for your guests.