27 December 2016 Getting Packed

I leave for Antarctica this Friday so a lot of my time this week is going to be dedicated to getting packed. There are a lot of things that I need to bring. It's not like I can just run to the store if I run out of something. Well, that is not quite true. McMurdo Station does have a store but I'm not going to count on them having my brand of shampoo (my boyish good looks take a great deal of maintenance.) Of course I will need to take my PolarTREC issued laptop to write my journals and store photos. A camera is a no-brainer (also issued by PolarTREC). Although there is no cellphone service in Antarctica, I will be bringing my cell phone. It should serve me well on the trip to and from Antarctica but also it will be my backup camera, voice recorder, alarm clock, and media player for the next month. I am not all that worried about clothing. I will be issued extreme cold weather gear when I reach Christchurch, New Zealand. They don't issue long underwear but I live in Michigan so I have some. The ECW gear will probably be a little heavy because it's the middle of the summer in Antarctica right now so the temperature at McMurdo is around 30 F. So typical Michigan winter gear should suffice. I will probably bring down a pair of winter work gloves though because some of the work I will be doing might be physical with a bit of an industrial flavor. Moving the Neutron Monitors involves moving the 200 lb lead shields that each detector tube has.

There are a lot of little things that I need to pack. I'll need an adapter to charge my phone in New Zealand. New Zealand operates on 220 V as apposed to the 110 V US standard. McMurdo itself is a US base so it is wired to the US standard. Maybe I'll donate that to PolarTREC after I'm done for the next person. I've also been encouraged to consider the climate when packing. Not so much because of the cold but because of the dryness. Lip balm, moisturizer, water bottles, and the like seem to be of primary importance. Antarctica is a desert so it helps to keep hydrated and to protect your skin. Sunscreen is also highly recommended not only because of the day I'll spend in sunny New Zealand but because of the long Antarctic days during which a lot of sun can reflect off the ice (note to self: find my extra pair of sunglasses.) There are a lot of moving parts to this trip so I have to be prepared.

Oh and expect most of the pictures I send to show me in a hat. Water and energy are both at a premium on base so showers are not an every day thing. This isn't really a problem because the dryness of the climate should keep sweat from sticking to me, particularly with a base layer designed to wick moisture away... but my high maintenance haircut will probably suffer, especially because I'll be leaving my hair drier at home. I expect to be rocking more or less continuous hat head while I'm deployed. Oh, the sacrifices one makes for science!