40 Below: An Antarctic Birthday Quest #1 (It starts...)

So, you may be wondering, why Antarctica now? 

For the simple reason that I turned 40 in November and it is my seventh continent. I love remote places, and extreme environments. Antarctica ice landscapes are all of my favorite colors. And I have questions, chief among them: Why does life still flourish in these places? I am here to find out and see it happen in real time.

First glimpses of South Georgia Island

Though this trip has been years in the making, dreamed of for a long time, the uncertainty around everything else in my life for the last year created tensions which threatened this trip, made it feel gratuitous amongst other important factors. Sometimes it reached such epic proportions as a two-month South American adventure, sometimes it teetered on the brink of annihilation in my head. I finally committed to a company, an itinerary, and dates. In a year with few fixed points (not least of which – income), this still felt right to commit to.

In between committing to this trip and departure, I got a new job which fortunately still allowed for me to go. And simply having a gainful, permanent employment situation lined up freed me to more fully enjoy the time away instead of constantly thinking about where I would work next or how I would pay my mortgage after a lot of time away.

dilapidated whaling station on Deception Island
(alternate title: How my body feels at 40)

 wearing silly clothes and ready for adventure!
(alternate title: How I feel at 40)

One odd thing for me at 40, I am more adventurous now than I have ever been. The more advanced in years, the bigger the adventures, the more remote the destinations. I have always been a person who likes a challenge, and it is certainly a factor that I enjoy difficult things a lot more than easy things. Paying my mortgage matters, but also having more life experience has helped me get perspective on the correct allocation of my limited resources, to properly analyze the risk with a more mature set of criteria which allows for more breathing room and more options.

So, my 7th continent for my 4th decade. My brothers campaigned hard for “Aunt Arctica” as the title for my trip.  My nephew, who you would think would have inspired the journey with a title like that, was mostly interested in what trains there would be down there, and if we could play trains when I got back.  

I picked a long, exhaustive itinerary for the region including not only Antarctica but also the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), and South Georgia island. A friend said South Georgia island was the most beautiful place he had ever been, and I pay attention when someone like him says something like that (thanks, A!).

Most itineraries that included that island were the longest ones, 20+ days. Which is at the threshold of paid leave for most jobs. It was always going to be a tall order. But they do have itineraries that are as short as 6 days if you’re just looking for a quick trip to Antarctica sometime. 

So here it is: an account of the longest, most difficult journey I could think to take me into middle age. 

Let's dive in, shall we? 

I've got jokes! 

Day 1 (almost) – Thursday February 23rd, 2023

I was supposed to leave this day, but my first flight out of the gate was delayed so I missed my connecting flight, and then didn’t end up departing until the next day.

Friday February 24th, 2023

DC  to Ushuaia

24 hours, connections through Panama City and Buenos Aires (which was VERY lively at 1am), and lots of awful plane food later, I made it to Ushuaia.

Beautiful Ushuaia

Saturday February 25th, 2023

Ushuaia, Argentina

What a magical place. I knew I was going to love Patagonia. I tried to add on Chilean Patagonia to the front of this trip but the job offer I got in December unfortunately precluded me from being able to extend this trip any longer.

It looks strangely similar to parts of Alaska that I saw, specifically Anchorage with Turnagain Arm and the massive peaks surrounding it. Ushuaia is situated on the Beagle Channel and is a lovely city nestled among huge mountains that are snow-capped year round. I arrived, checked-in to my absolutely beautiful and very fancy hotel included with the cruise, checked-in for the cruise itself, and then immediately left to go explore Tierra Del Fuego National Park. Oh, I also stopped and had breakfast at the hotel since I was supposed to have arrived the night before it was already paid for and that was a GREAT idea. It was a massive buffet of anything you could possibly want to eat, served in a dining room with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city and with a view of the bay and the mountains all around. Stunning. 

I walked along Lake Acigami and had a beautiful, windswept, somewhat rainy afternoon hiking alone in the gorgeous Argentinian wilderness. It wasn’t until taking that walk that I really felt myself start to unwind. Thoughts were rising to the surface, and I started to feel the joy and the unbounded freedom of a walk alone in a gorgeous natural landscape. It was cold and drizzly but punctuated by brief moments of sun. I walked to the Chilean border and then turned around and walked back to the channel again. All the way surrounded by mountains and cloud formations and mossy forests.

Lake Acigami

I had a thoroughly exhilarating afternoon. I took a shuttle back to town, had dinner at a little pub and then took another shuttle back to my fancy hotel where I finally met my roommate for the trip.(Sidenote: I’ve decided that I will just call the characters in this story different fruits and vegetables as I meet them along the way, based on their personalities.)

Tierra del Fuego National Park

Because I am nowhere near the financial position of most of the people who take this kind of trip, I decided to share a room with a random roommate. My roommate shall henceforth be known as Cosmic Crunch Apple. She’s a 65-year old lady from Manchester, England and sweet as can be, but a little spacy. But she’s so nice and I like listening to her accent from the north country. I’ve gotten used to the posh ones from the south by now (😉). I was exhausted that night because I hadn’t slept at all on any of the planes. I basically spent 27.5 hours wide awake with no entertainment other than War and Peace to read because the in-flight entertainment wasn’t working. I don’t know if even Tolstoy himself could read War and Peace for 27.5 hours straight.