Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/01/2014 - 13:59
Forums
Soil Ecology in Antarctic Dry Valleys

How often are you able to contact your family? It it hard to be separated from them for so long?

Thu, 01/02/2014 - 09:50

Justin Kendhammer

Hi,Of course family and friends are important to us. I was able to send out emails almost every day I was in Antarctica. Sometimes the hardes parts were the transitions from one place to another. For instance, my calling card would not work from my first hotel room. I promised my wife I would call to let her know that I had arrived. I ended up using my credit card for a very expensive ten minute call from New Zealand. While at the station we had access to phones in our rooms and we could contact people in the US as if we were calling from Denver, so no crazy fees, just regular long distance with the calling card. While we were in camp it was email only except for the very spotty satellite phone service.So, yes I did miss family and friends but in some ways it helps remind me of how important they are.Thanks for the question.JK