Antarctica

Men Wanted: For hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success. – Ernest Shackleton

Cool quote. Sounds exciting. Unfortunately, unless that adventure included me chilling on this bad boy, I probably wouldn’t have joined Shackleton. I remember this quote from a top secret project I started at Slalom about three years ago. And while the project got shelved for another time, the quote has been stuck with me since. Why would Shackleton’s ragtag group of adventures ever risk life and limb to visit Antarctica? I’m sure they had their reasons. Notoriety, money (albeit crappy wages), good story, prepping for a life as a stunt man? Not sure.

What drew me to Antarctica is much simpler than that and can be narrowed down to a few reasons. The obvious one is that I’ll get one step closer to checking the “visiting all 7 continents” box off my bucket list. But probably the most exciting reason is that I get to visit an isolated, and somewhat untouched, part of the world.

It’s a place free of anything man-made, a natural beauty that must be visited before its ecosystem and wildlife are endangered and possibly lost forever. The 5th largest continent, only about one percent of the total landmass is visible and by far the most unexplored area by mankind.

Aside from that, it gives me a break from work and allows me to unwind. I highly encourage people to take breaks occasionally. Stop and smell the roses every once in a while; and while it doesn’t have to be a trip to Antarctica, you should consider your next trip (either solo, with a loved one, or with friends) to be someplace you haven’t been to. You can keep it local by visiting a nearby town, or branch out a bit and pick the cheapest “not-to-far” getaway using Skyscanner.com’s “Everywhere” search. Go ahead and try it, you’ll be surprised where you can go on the cheap (thanks Susie!).

But I digress. I’m really excited for my trip (which starts on December 7th – more details to follow) and hope that there will be a bunch of memories that I’ll be able to share with friends and family for years to come. For my next post – packing. And guess what? I hate packing. I can tell you right now, there’s nothing packed and I’m less than two weeks from leaving. I’m going to need a few beers in me before I even set aside a pair of underwear. Stay tuned.

P.S. – Special thanks to the love of my life, Alicia, for allowing me to explore and see things I never thought would be possible. You mean the world to me, Ms. B&B.