A Californian's Guide to Winter Wear
I’ve lived in Southern California my entire life. I rarely travel to cold places. In fact, on my visit to Madison, WI I bought a new sweater because the weather said an average of 45 degrees F. To give you a better idea of the weather I’m used to, it is November, middle of Fall, and today the high was 91 degrees F, blue skies, not one cloud in sight. This is the weather my closet has adapted to.
Average temperature at the South Pole while I’ll be there will be NEGATIVE 20 degrees F. I can’t even imagine what that feels like and my closet could never in it’s wildest dreams prepare me to work in those conditions. So, shopping it is.
After a few meetings, I had a recommended packing list. A lot of the things on it were familiar: water bottle, toothbrush, towel, phone charger. And a lot of the things on it were not so familiar: long underwear (what?), thermal sock liners (huh?), balaklava (come again? Like the greek pastry?). I had some research to do…
I THINK I’ve got most of the winter gear I need. I still have to triple check my list. I want to share a few foreign pieces of clothing I am now the proud owner of. Of course, my extreme cold weather gear is not included on this list because I’ll be issued that during my stop in New Zealand. Plus, that is enough for its own blog altogether...
Long Underwear
A.k.a thermal underwear a.k.a what you’ll wear closest to your body to keep you dry, warm, and in my case colorful. There are two kinds of long underwear I bought.
Low-Weight Thermals These are not so warm, but being the very first layer, their main function is to wick away moisture.
Medium-Heavy Weigh Thermals Warmth is the name of the game here. I actually wore these to bed one night when the temperature dipped to 68 degrees F (Brrr, I know!) and I woke up sweating. Great. They work.
SOCKS
A.k.a socks
I bought three kinds of socks.
Sock liners Very thin, like my low-weight thermals, these are meant to wick away moisture and keep my feet dry.
Thermal socks I might have just gotten these because they looked so warm and cozy…
Wool Socks These are the winners. They are incredibly insulating.
Balaklava
A.k.a ski mask
I have to be honest, I bought this on accident and am now returning it. I will be issued one in NZ, but since it has an interesting name I had to include it. A balaklava is sort of like a ski mask. It goes over your head and covers everything except your eyes.
It’s not often I treat myself to so much new clothes in one week and I’m having fun color coordinating all my stuff...
[https://youtu.be/_WAaYK0Znq4]
The rest of my packing list has been pretty straightforward for any international trip: toiletries, wall-socket adaptors, paperwork, regular clothes. I did request an Extreme Cold Weather kit to use for outreach events before I deploy. I’ll explain what some of it looks like in my next blog!
Where’s the craziest place you’ve traveled to? What did you have to pack?
Talk soon, friends. Jocelyn
Comments
Add new comment