It’s done, the trip is booked. On December 21, 2019 I will board a plane from London to Buenos Aires and begin an adventure that will take me through the Patagonian Andes before embarking on a ship to Antarctica. If I was a frugal person I’d have invested the money, used it for a down payment on a house, or saved it for any one of a million rainy day savings opportunities. But no, Antarctica it is.
My mother and I have talked about going for years — I don’t remember how it first started but it was about ten years ago that she and my ex-husband began tossing the idea around in earnest. But then divorce happened, and I had other adventures to distract me. Until now.
The full trip is a little over three weeks’ duration so we picked one that falls over the Christmas and New Year’s breaks to reduce how much time I need to take off of work. Christmas Day is my mother’s birthday and we’ll spend it in Bariloche, Argentina. We’ll celebrate the new year on the M/V Corinthiana, a 98 passenger ship — somewhere in the Drake Passage on the way to Antarctica.
I know the trip is still four months away, but there’s actually quite a bit to do to prepare:
- Because we’ll be at sea in a remote area for many days we have to get a doctor’s note and checkup. That is due in the next month as it has to be provided 90 days before departure.
- I also want to get a prescription for travel sickness patches before we go.
- And then I have to check on shots, Yellow Fever isn’t required but it is recommended for Iguassu Falls.
- I need gear! We are travelling with a company we’ve used many times before, Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). OAT will send us a parka as a gift before the trip and they will provide boots for us when we need them, but I still need to find good quality gloves, waterproof pants, and of course layers of clothing.
The need for a medical exam makes it feel very real! I gotta get moving.
See here for the next entry in my Antarctica story.
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