TUCKER- Antarctica was my absolute favorite place on this entire trip. Between the beautiful views and the great food, it was all amazing. One of the best things about staying on the boat was all of the people. There were a few other kids on the boat who had traveled with their parents as well. We played hide and seek, card games and even had a snowball fight. We had so much fun. Another cool thing about the boat was the staff. The staff were so nice and helpful to me and everyone else on the ship. We were happy to talk to the staff and I even played some chess against them. The staff were so ready to help us understand what was going on. I am so happy I got to experience this and meet all these amazing people. This was a trip of a lifetime. 

Tucker went first, and we all stood on our tippy toes to watch his jump. Count down; 3, 2, 1. He jumped. Everyone cheered, and Tucker came up with a scream, a funny look on his face, as if it was frozen in shock. Dad went next with a very solid jump. Both of them came back shivering, with half shocked, half exhilarated expressions. Mom went next, and we were all so proud of her since we may our may not have done some light (or not so light) peer pressuring. (For the record, she is glad she did it.) Apparently she had stayed under a little longer than necessary because it was her understanding they would pull her up. That was not the case, and she was up and out swiftly after.

CARMEN- While on the expedition ship we met a ton of different people, including some other kids. When we weren’t on expeditions on land or on zodiac cruises, me, Tucker, and Ava were most likely having fun with the other kids. Their names were Noah, Ariel, Silas, and Emmet.  We would play in the pool, play hide and seek, Uno Flip, cards, and a game called Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza. Just to keep ourselves busy.  One of my favorite expeditions was to an old abandoned whaling station, were whaling ships would boil and prepare thier catches for selling.

At the beginning of March he reached out one last time and found out about a ship, the last of the season, that had extra space and heavily reduced prices.  We didn’t know then, but end of the season ships usually have difficult weather.  Since we would be in Buenos Aires at that time, we could easily make it down last minute, without much planning.  And that is how we ended up on the World Navigator, a beautiful expedition ship with amazing crew and staff.  We called the ship home for 10 days and loved every minute of it (well almost every minute).  

The World Navigator was a beautiful ship and much more luxury than I had expected.  When I read about these ships growing up, they were bare bones research vessels.  Our rooms were comfortable and beautiful.  The ship staff was from all over the world, smart, fun and kind.  The expedition and research team was incredibly knowledgeable and talented.  I didn’t know what to expect, but this was beyond anything I could have imagined.

They called the 5 to 10 foot waves the “Drake Lake” because they can reach a tumultuous 30 feet.  I am prone to carsickness and I struggle even with the lower waves.  Walking down the hallway was a challenge.  How kitchen and wait staff do their job in this environment is beyond me.  I spent most of the two days in bed, watching the programs from the auditorium on the TV, eating green apples and taking ginger shots between my dramamine.  On the return voyage, another traveler shared a patch with me which helped the seasickness but had the terrible side effect of blurred vision.  I could not read anything for two days which was terrifying.  

The captain chooses a landing spot and the expedition team goes out first to set up a course to follow.  When your group is called, you outfit yourself in thermals, waterproof pants, hats, sunglasses, gloves and boots.  We took a combination of zodiac landings and zodiac cruises.  On the landings, we were able to see penguins, seals, abandoned whaling stations, research stations and unparalleled beauty.  Throughout the journey, we learned about icebergs, ice calving, whales, seals, katabatic winds, climate change, ice shelves, historical expeditions, shipwrecks and more.  Expedition staff had a wealth of knowledge and experiences one can only dream about or read in National Geographic.  I could not be more grateful that we ended up getting to do this part of the trip.  

If I had died in that moment it would have been alright. Standing in our room in the World Navigator staring out at those mountains of other-worldly blue ice, it was immediately clear to me that anything else this trip had to offer would be icing on the cake. It had not always been easy, but our crew had made it to every continent and the feeling for us and every other traveler on that ship was pure joy. 

This moment was the beginning of a deep sense of gratitude that has not gone away sense. So many things have to go right for a trip like this to come together. Finances, relationships, physical ability, geo-politics, natural disasters, etc… The fact that our initial trip was side-lined for a pandemic provided us with a continuous feeling of just how lucky we were to be able to enjoy one more country, one more unforgettable experience, even the hard ones. Nowhere made me feel this so strongly as Antarctica. It has always been on my bucket list. Not really the bucket list you tell people about, but the one you keep to yourself, wanting it too much to discuss openly.

There was such a deep respect for the privilege of being there by everyone on the ship. The perfect culmination of all that we had experienced to that point. I had been hesitant to use the phrase “once in a life-time”, which so many people used when talking about our trip. But standing there, entranced by the ancient blue glaciers and the majestic life that surrounds them, it was finally clear to me that “once in a life-time” was exactly what we had experienced. I am so very grateful.