Many Travels This Year...

NonStop

New member
Probably the most busy year traveling I've ever had. Earlier on this year I went to Kefalonia with my dad and stayed with my sister's family who live out there, had an awesome time. Then on the 24th I went to Barcelona with a mate for a few nights, had a really good time drinking at bars and stuff, and then on the 6th I'm off too Amsterdam for 2 nights with my Uncle.
 
This has been a "nonstop"year for me also. I am just now finishing a 6 month itenerary in Alaska,which has been incredible,the whales,Bears and Eagles have been abundant,the hiking also has been phenomenal. In one week I leave for a new itenerary to asia.The cruise ship leaves from Seattle,Washington,goes to Alaska,Russia,down to Japan and China,having overnights in Shangai,Beijing and too Singapore,Bali,Australia for a week,over to Fiji,Somoa and then finally to Hawaii and ending in San Diego. The cruise ship life has been the most exciting time I could have ever imagined. I have gone around the world in a year in a half meeting amazing people and seeing astounding places. When I get to Asia I will post some pictures,after my contract is done in late november I will then be flying to Thailand to explore the jungles there. My next contract I hope will start next summer and will go to South America,its one of the last places on my list of adventures concerning world travel,it is hard for me now to even imagine settling down on land permanetly,although I know someday that life will beckon,just not now. :hat:
 

Spikes & Lava

New member
I'm not going anywhere until November 2008. Until then I'll be staying here at the bottom of the world, which is not a shabby place to be-cold, but very interesting. Come November I'll be hitting the road for however much travel I can squeeze in between becoming unemployed and whatever the next job ends up being.

Last year when I got off the Ice I spent about a month in New Zealand hiking, caving, surfing, and getting used to humidity and a regular circadian cycle again. In Auckland I hopped aboard a brig (the Soren Larsen) and sailed to Easter Island over the course of 37 days and 4,500 nautical miles. I got to spend about a week on E.I., and then jetted off for two final weeks in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay before returning to the most bizarre and difficult to adjust to destination: The U.S.A.

The great thing about working down here is the lack of expenses, so I should have a pretty decent travel budget saved up by the time my 13-month contract terminates. I'll have only gotten 6 days off in 13 months of working 70-100 hour long weeks, so I'm gonna need a bit of decompression time before my next work gig begins.
 

Spikes & Lava

New member
I'm not on any ship in the Antarctic right now. I'm working as a science technician at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station at about 9,300 feet elevation running a bunch of experiments for various institutions back in the real world. A lot of the projects deal with space weather, and the interaction with the space environment and Earth's upper atmosphere and magnetic field. I've got some seismic work and auroral studies as well.

In my other capacity I serve as the fire chief for the volunteer fire brigade, which has been pretty challenging. Gear isn't really designed to work at temperatures this cold, so we have to be really careful about that. Bodies-unprotected-don't do too great either.

Sailing on the Soren Larsen was my first time to sea on a tall ship, and I in essence paid to be a deck hand on the vessel.
 
magnetic field search

Sounds like cool research,anything interesting being discovered down there? I will be in South America and Antarctica in December, Is there Auroborealis near the south pole?
 

Spikes & Lava

New member
Yes, we do get auroras here at the South Pole. They are present all the year long, but they aren't bright enough to be seen in the daytime sky, just like all the stars in the sky (except for the Sun). There actually has been a lot of auroral activity this week, but we haven't been able to see it with the naked eye since the sun is still above the horizon.

Borealis is actually derived from the term "boreal", which refers to things in the north. In Greece the north wind was personified by the character Boreas, hence Aurora Borealis are found in the northern hemisphere.

The term "austral" refers to things in the south, hence: Australia. Our auroras here at the South Pole (and Antarctica in general) are referred to as the Aurora Australis, since they occur in the southern hemisphere.

The sun will be down and it will be dark enough that in about a 5 weeks' time we might get to start seeing auroras in the night sky. I haven't seen a sunset since early October, so it will probably be a pretty moving sight.
 

vaxer

Moderator Emeritus
This year I went one week to New York for business and I took a one week vacation in Moscow. Both were very interessting in there very own way.
 
Frozen fizz

Very interesting Spikes,Do you ever get insomnia and what do you do for fun,you must have the coldest beer in the world?
 

Spikes & Lava

New member
I don't have insomnia down here, but I don't seem to require much sleep. I usually only sleep about 3-4 hours a day, but seem to do fine with that. I don't know how the transition to total, constant darkness will affect me, though.

For fun I work a whole lot in my various jobs, read a lot of books, watch movies, play music, work out, write in my blog/journal, practice Russian, hang out and talk with folks, etc. It's pretty important to keep yourself busy to avoid becoming "toast" too quickly. It's boredom that really gets people.

As to the beer, yeah, it can be pretty cool very quickly if you set it outside. You have to be careful not to let it go too long and freeze. The heat got turned off to a storage building that had a bunch of beer for the station in it this summer. Needless to say, most of it was ruined and we were without the cheaper stuff (mostly Speight's and Canterbury Draught from New Zealand) for quite a while this summer. Oh, and a word of warning, never drink liquor that has been left outside. Since it won't freeze you don't know how long it's been outside, hence how cold it is, and drinking something that is -30F (that's actually a pretty nice day compared to our temps now) will really put the hurt on you. This isn't coming from experience, but the thought of that happening just really brings up some very bad images in one's head.
 
Cruising

The Cruise ship that I work on goes to Anarctica in November,its a place that I never thought about going, but now that I am it intrigues me. I hope I get to see some Southern lights as you described. That would be the highlight of the cruise,thanks for the tips on the beer,never had a New Zealand brew before.
 

Spikes & Lava

New member
npj,

I hate to burst your bubble, but in November you're probably going to have pretty much constant sunlight for the duration of the cruise. The auroras are only bright enough to see at night. But, perhaps while you're further north they might be visible during a short night period. I really don't know how day/night works in places further north from here. Even so, I'm sure you're going to see a whole mess o' wildlife if you're cruising along the coast of the southern continent. Here at Pole we had one bird fly by during dinner that had followed a traverse crew in from the coast, and that was the only living, non-human thing I saw the whole time here at 90 south. On my few days of R&R (my only non-work days for 13 months) at McMurdo Station we did get to see skuas, a seal, and three Adelie penguins from a very long distance out on the sea ice. I'm sure you'll have an absolute blast where you'll be!

If you're looking to try Kiwi beer, give Monteith's a shot. They have a good chocolatey dark that I enjoy from time to time. One can't drink too heavily here at 10,000 feet above sea level, especially since it is so dry and you can wake up with a MASSIVE hang-over even from just a couple beers if you don't get good and rehydrated right away. I even had a hang-over from the one time I used the sauna and didn't get enough to drink before hitting the sack. Cheers!
 
S&L,thats ok if I dont get to see them,I will most likely see some in Alaska towards the end of the season. In Alaska they can be seen starting in September and going through the winter. The Auroras in Alaska I have not seen yet either,I having a feeling this year is the year though since I will be there in September. From what I heard there is tons of wildlife where the ship goes in Anarctica,loads of curious penguins is the norm from what I hear. 10,000 feet is up there bro,I had no idea that the south pole would be at 10,000 feet,thats mind blowing,I understand why you wouldnt want to drink down there or.... up there?

Al, Thanks for the tip on the brew,I will check it out when I am in Australia in October. :hat:
 
Still on vacation until April 27th when I embark on another 9 month contract on Holland Americas luxury cruise ship. Right now I am in New Hampshire,tons of snow and its late march,amazing snowboarding and sledding. I am now getting excited for the cruise which goes from Florida to Mexico via the Panama Canal, up to alaska,Russia,Asia,Australia,south america and antarctica. Ive got two new journals that are eager to be filled. After the cruise is over I am going to explore the Amazon. I will be in Alaska when "Crystal Skull" premiers,I will have to see it in Juneau at the little theater where I saw 3:10 to Yuma. There is a nice pub right next to the theater to celebrate the premier before I head in and check it out.:whip:
 

whipem

Member
Feel a bit out of place on this thread as just a college student...but I will be most likely studying in Beijing for a semester in two years. Looking forward to it...the only other international traveling I've done was a week in Spain about a year ago during spring break (and that was generally with a tour group).
 
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