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A little after noon on our last day in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Mike Etnier and I took some salvaged pieces of wood from window frames that we found near the dumpster out to the playground area between the apartment buildings. We are going to use the pieces of wood to make legs and braces for the screens

Today was a day of running errands. At 10 am, all of us except for Mike (who stayed behind with the key), met Alexander Rybin at his office at the Institute of Marine Geology. From there we decided to split into two groups – Ben, James, Colby and I went with Dr. Rybin to run our errands and Shelby

One of the things that we did today was that Ben and I went to the satellite communications company "Poseidon" to put more money on the satellite phones and to have our computers set up to use the Globalstar phones as modems. I need to use the satellite phone to upload my pictures, journals and

Well, we have spent the past two days hanging out in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - biding time until we need to start getting ready to move to the ship. On Tuesday or Wednesday, we will move all of our stuff to Korsakov, about 40 km south, where the Iskatel is now waiting for us. We haven't had any particular

All my bags are packed. I'm ready to go. I am 48 hours away from leaving to Svalbard. I have taken some time to enjoy the beauty of my local bioregion, drank in some sunsets, spent some time on our beautiful and plentiful lakes and otherwise enjoyed this home that is Maine. I am blessed to leave one

Today is the one year anniversary of my first arrival in Russia. One year ago to the day, after over 36 hours of traveling, I landed in the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk airport and discovered that only one of my bags had made it to Russia with me. Was it a happy anniversary? Read on! We got up at 6 this

Air Iceland flies twice a week to Constable Point, the local airport. There are, however, no roads from the airport to the town, which is about 55 miles away. Who is going to pay for a road that would sporadically see traffic in a town of 550 citizens? The only way into town is by helicopter, a five

Twenty four hours flies when all is new, and the sun never sets. Fried fish and couscous were prepared, and dinner was savored around a campfire. Long lost logs wash up on the beach with high tides, so although there are now trees taller than 4 inches above ground, there is plenty of fuel. The one

Harry Potter in Reykjavik? Residual memories of a midnight premier screening with my children come back to haunt me. This occurs when I rest on a bench or cushion my head on the backrest of a bus, or plump my pillow on a plane. I should have been sleeping the night before leaving, but no, I joined

Well, I am typing this journal entry from a hotel room in downtown Seoul, Korea. About thirty-six hours ago, I was at home desperately trying to finish packing.....let me tell you how I got here. On Tuesday, July 10 I spent about five hours staging gear, inventorying gear, arranging and organizing