Preparing for Antarctica

November, 2007

GETTING READY TO GO TO ANTARCTICA

The older I get, the more I make a big production out of things.  I used to be able to just get up and go somewhere and not be bothered with the details of the trip (i.e. - packing, having enough money, having the right clothing, not knowing exactly where I am going, etc).  But those days are over.  Now I plan a little bit more before I go.  And I made a bit deal about going on this trip.  Going to Antarctica was a big production for me.

FINDING JUST THE RIGHT TRIP- This was difficult.  I have been looking at trips for about a year.  I first started looking in January 2005 when my father asked me if I would go with him later in the year.  I said I would consider it but I really did not know how I could do that.  Trips to the Antarctic are between November and March and I am in working in a high school then.  I could not just take off 17 days to go exploring somewhere.  But he really wanted to go so I thought that some time in the late summer I would speak to my boss and see what he thought.  Then my dad died suddenly in March and that was the end of that dilemma for me. I put the idea on the back burner.  This trip would have to wait until I retired.

Then I decided to go on sabbatical in 2007 and realized that I would be free during the height of the tourist season in Antarctica.  So I decided this was it.  This was my chance to go.  So I began surfing the internet.

There were plenty of trips but the difference in price were so dramatic that it was hard to determine what was a good deal and what was just cheap and not worth it.  And then on the other end, what was money well spent and what was just too, too much money.  So I went back and forth and back and forth and as I struggled with my indecisiveness, trips began to sell out.  That really helped in my decision making.  There was one trip for 30 days with 46 passengers.  I really wanted to go on that one but then I began to worry that I could possibly be sea sick for 30 days.  I would die.  But I worried just long enough for that trip to sell out so that put my mind to rest. I decided not to look for any more 30 day trip.  I made a decision based on time of year.  I booked the trip on October 16 and I think I got the last available space that left 5 weeks later.

          THE CAMERA- in the last few years, I have begun to take photos and I love it.  I have been to such remarkable places and I may never see much of these places again.  I just started taking photos five years ago when I went on African safari.  It was the day before my trip and I was telling Jaye that I didn’t have a very good camera.  My aunt had just died the day before and I knew she was going to leave me a little bit of money.  So Jaye chastised me and demanded that we go to Best Buys immediately and get a camera worthy of this great trip.  She marched in, went right up to the counter and told one of the sales clerk, “give her the best point and shot camera you have.  Money doesn’t matter; she just came into a shit load of money yesterday.”  I left with a great little Olympus film camera with 70 mm lens.  With this camera, I took pictures with the confidence of a professional photographer.

A few years ago, I ventured out and bought a 35 mm SLR film camera.  I was stepping out.  I also bought a 300 mm lens so now I was full of myself.  Plus, I was beginning to receive lots of feedback about my photography.  So I even went so far as to display a gallery of my photos in a conference room at work.

But now, the whole world has gone digital and it is getting harder to get my film developed and I wanted to take lots and lots of pictures on this trip but I just could not jump into the digital world.  I thought the quality still was not there and the cameras were still too high.  I had set a goal to buy digital in three years after I bought my last camera.  In setting that goal, I had thought that the quality of the camera would improve and the cost would go down.  Well, the quality has improved but the cost has not gone down, unless I still wanted to buy another film camera.

So I needed to be pushed to buy this camera.  I had looked at them a number of times, but I couldn’t close the deal with myself.  So I called Jim Staudt to help me.  I knew he would shame me and badger me until I had something good.

He immediately got on the phone to his brothers and they proceeded to get on the internet and compare prices.  If I had gone to my family for this advice, they would have suggested that I save my money, buy a few of those throw away cameras and don’t worry about photos. Hence, I do not bother to call any of them for advice.

So I went up to New York City and Jim eagerly took me to a place in Manhattan that sells so much volume that the sales people do not bother to try to sell you anything.  You just go in this store and tell the guy behind the counter exactly what you want and he punches numbers in a computer and in a few minutes, your merchandise comes up from a dumbwaiter and your things are bagged and sent to the front counter where you pay for everything. “Next.”

Anyway, I love my new camera.  I bought a Cannon Rebel XTI with 10 megapics, 16G of memory, 6 rechargeable batteries, a disc reader, two lens covers, technical manuals, warranties etc.  I didn’t know what we were getting.  I just let Jim do the ordering and every once in awhile, the sales clerk would say, "are you sure this is enough" and then Jim would increase the quantity.  And I got all of this for $1200 which is four times the cost of my great little Olympus camera.

          THE GORE TEX PANTS- the pre-departure literature strongly suggested that I purchase snow pants for the trip.  So off I went to REI to look for snow pants.  The cheapest pair there was $90 and they seemed too bulky for me.  And when would I ever wear them again after the trip.  And I hate snow pants and they are too expensive.  I was sure I could find them cheaper somewhere else.  So I left the store without the pants.  I did however pick up an inflatable tandem kayak for $45, a set of waterproof binoculars for $30, a large waterproof sack for $10, a wind resistant vest for $10 and a few other nickel and dime things; all of which were not necessary for my trip to Antarctica.

So then I went to EMS and found that their snow pants were $120.  So I went off to Wal-Mart and found a pair for $44 so I bought them but I still wasn’t sure I wanted to bring them.  Then I went off to Ollie’s discount store and I found a pair of rubber bib pants for only $10.  I got a pair and I made sure that they were plenty large enough to accommodate a multiple of layering options for me.  There was only one problem with these pants; they were so large that I had to cut 11 inches off the cuff.  These pants were just too big.  So I kept looking.

I went to Gander Mountain and found nothing.  I went to the Sports Authority and I came home with another damn solo tent which again served no purpose for this trip..  I went to Target and Kohl’s and I checked out the Campmor catalog.  Then I decided to surrender.  I had enough of my stuff to keep me dry and warm.  So I stopped my search.

Then, one week before I was to leave, a ship in the Weddell Sea sank and all of the news stories told of passengers who had to escape in the middle of the night.  And they floated on that cold, cold sea for six hours in their pajama and had to find ways to stay warm in those howling winds of the Antarctic.  This story was too much for my family and they insisted that I stop being so cheap.  I had to buy the right equipment or else.

I went to ProBass Sports and I bought a pair of Gore Tex pants for $150 and I keep them at the bottom of my bed, while on the ship,  when I was sleeping and I wore them every damn day and never regretted my purchase.

          PACKING- I usually pride myself on how well and efficiently I pack.  I rarely over pack and I always leave room in the suitcase for souvenirs.  As a matter of fact, in the fall, I went to Poland with Jimmy for ten days.  He asked me to confine all of my belonging to one bag which could fit in the carry on luggage compartment in the plane.  He assured me that he was not bringing much clothing so I agreed.  We arrived at the airport and both weighed our bags.  His bag weighed 13 kilos and mine weighed 6 kilos. Even the ticket agent could not believe that I had the lighter bag.

When I went to Africa for a month, I was limited only to bring 25 pounds total weight.  That included my sleeping bag, clothes for winter, water purifier, camera, film, etc.  I stayed within that limit.  I used everything I brought with me.  And I was cold throughout the whole trip.

But anyway, I did not travel light on this trip.  In early November, I turned my living room into the Antarctica trip supply room.  Anything and everything that I thought I would need on the trip got thrown on the floor for later determination. 

In my younger days, when I was moving from apartment to apartment on a frequent basis, I usually did not have this much junk to move.  But I was going to be prepared for this trip. After multiple attempts at packing I finally left with one bag that weighed 50 pounds.  A second bag weighed 25 pounds and the backpack I carried weighed about 10 pounds. I was encumbered.

          THE BOOKS, ETC. –I can’t remember when I developed my interest in Antarctica.  But I have been reading up on this place for the last couple of years.  I think it all started with my interest in Shackleton but I am not really sure when that started to become an obsession.

  Anyway, I watched movies and read all that I could before I left. I purchased movies from Amazon.com: Survival Island (IMAX), Antarctica- an Adventure of a different nature (IMAX), Eight Below.   I read Crossing Antarctica; No Horizon is Too Far; Swimming to Antarctica,   I watched all five discs of the PBS special, The Endurance.  I watched Liam Neeson’s documentary on Schackleton. And then I watched them again and then I lent them out to other people so they could watch them and we could talk about them.  And when I got the discs back, I watched these movies again.

One Sunday morning, while still in bed,I rolled over my blackberry and noticed that I had received am email from Amazon.com. Right there in bed, I went on the site and the next thing I knew, I had ordered four books within a matter of minutes.  Then I just rolled back to sleep and the books arrived at my door by Tuesday.

I listened to Icebound, an audio book  by the doctor who had to perform surgery on herself.  I also bought the made for TV version of the story.  I purchased the audio discs of The Lost Men by Kelly Lewis.  I watched The March of the Penguins at least twice.

I bought The Lonely Planet’s Guide to Antarctica while I was in Poland.  I paid about 10% more than I would have in the states but I had never seen the book in the states so it did not occur to me that I could find it anywhere.  Quark Expeditions sent me a map of the contentment. And I poured over it before I left.

During the trip, we were warned by the expedition leader that our library on Antarctica would expand once we traveled here.  I hope that is not the case for me.  I have enough material on Antarctica.

In the end, I have never prepared so much for a trip like I did for this adventure.  And an adventure it sure was.  I was prepared.  I was mostly warm.  I was dry.  I had doubles of every important item just in case I dropped the first one in the water and I had the time of my life on this extraordinary journey of a lifetime.