Hi all,
I’m going to interrupt our fascinating story of SCUBA divers in Antarctica and our upcoming series on SCINI to fill you in on the progress with packing. Yes, we’re packing now and it’s difficult!!!
We have to have most of our stuff packed to ship down to the ice on August 10. That’s in a little over 1 month! We’re not leaving for another 85 days or so but most of our luggage is heading down early so we have room for science equipment, SCINI, and other technical stuff on our flight.
So right now I have to pack one bag of stuff that’s going directly to McMurdo, Antarctica. That’s the most challenging one with all my clothes and toiletries for about 10 weeks on the ice. I also need to think about another bag, called a Boomerang Bag, which is for our time in New Zealand where we’ll be awaiting a flight to Antarctic for maybe one day or maybe 4 days or maybe even more. Then I’ll need to keep in mind a tiny bit of stuff for a bag for McMurdo that we don’t want to mail yet which I will actually get to take on the plane. In addition to these three bags, I’ll need another bag for travels after Antarctica. Counting all of that, I’ve got 4 bags to pack for.
I also have to keep in mind that I’ll still be here for more than 2 more months and I’ll be camping and needing some of those things. Furthermore, I’ll be giving up my house as I can’t afford the rent while I’m gone. I’m actually having to move out at the end of July, and thus, I’m needing to pack some stuff that will go into storage and other stuff that I’ll have access to while staying at a friend’s house. I think I’ve got six piles going.
So to help me with these six piles, I’ve got about 4 different lists over here of what to bring. Here’s a link to one example.
Sitting here in my warm little house, I’m wondering what choice of pants would be most appropriate: regular long-johns, light-weight thermals, heavy-weight thermals, bike thermals, regular sweats, my windbreaker sweats, my REI fleeze pants, rainpants, insulated jeans, or my insulated pants. I can bring about 4 according to one list.
Which ones? How cold is it going to really be? What can be layered how? What else will I need?
Luckily, I don't have to worry about Extreme Cold Weather gear as we'll pick that up in New Zeland and there will be a store with some stuff. But it's still hard to think of so many different situations and to imagine how cold it'll actually be.
So what do I do? I'd lay down and hide under my covers except my bed is full of stuff!
Thankfully, my fellow ICE AGED team members are kind, patient, and local and I can get them to come over and help!
Sadly, this illustrates what it’s like to be a newbit to Antarctica!