According to my countdown app on my iPhone, I have 11 more days until I leave for my Big Trip to Antarctica and Buenos Aires, Argentina . Rather than waiting for my upcoming adventure to commence before I started writing, I thought now might be a good time to provide some insight into how I'm preparing for this trip. I hope you don't mind.
First of all, I've been trying to brainstorm a name for this excursion. A few ideas I've been kicking around: Antarctica & Buenos Aires (ABA), Argentina/Antarctica Adventure (AAA) Spencer's Adventure Down South (SADS), but I think the front runner is the "Big 5Six" trip (this will be my fifth and sixth continents). Of course, if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
Like most big trips, much of my planning took place months ago. I secured my spot for the Antarctica tour back in January, made the flight reservations in March, and the hotels rooms in BA and Ushuaia have been booked. Also, since the Antarctic portion of this vacation is traveling with a touring company (Quark Expeditions), much of the logistics have already been taken care of.
All that has been left has been doing some research on Buenos Aires and Antarctica, and to figure out what to pack.
This trip is unique because I need to pack for both winter and summer locales. Obviously, Antarctica will be chilly, but BA will be in the low 80's. In that regard, it feels like I'm packing for two trips. Therefore, over the past month or so, I've been compiling a list of things to bring. Most of it is the regular stuff (clothing, toiletries, shoes for each climate) focused for each continent, but there are a couple things for Antarctica specifically that I've added to the list in researching this trip that I normally wouldn't bring. One, a dry bag. This will be used for the Zodiac rides we'll be taking to and from ship to land. It will line the inside of my backpack, and I consider it my $20 insurance policy for my camera gear. The other item is removable shoe insoles. Since we'll be trudging around Antarctica in Wellies (aka rubber boots), the insoles will help with comfort and warmth. It's things like this that I wouldn't have thought about had I not done some homework.
The last item that I need to bring for this trip has to do with my camera gear. However, it's something that can't be stored in my backpack or duffle bag. In doing my research for this trip, I've learned that I need to go armed with the knowledge of how to use all my camera gear and ideas of what type of photos I want to shoot. That may seem like common sense to you, but in all my travels, I've never done any prep on how to use certain features of my camera/gear, nor have I planned photo shots ahead of time. Hence, this lesson is particularily important for this trip since I have a new camera body. So I've spent a couple hours here and there familiarizing myself with the new functions of my D300s. After all, I would much rather fiddle with the settings of my Nikon while at my house than for the first time in the midst of a penguin colony. And as for photography ideas - I've been taking note of wildlife and scenic photographs that I like over the past couple months, and have a sense of what I want to do once I step foot on the ice/rock/penguin poo. I have even set up my tripod in various stances to determine different camera angles.
So overall, I feel like my prep is coming together. Sure, I still have 11 days before I leave, but I've already begun to pack in the past week. (You should see my bedroom. Half of the floor has been taken over by this Big 5Six trip.) Why so early? Partly because by nature I'm an early packer, and partly because I wanted to see if I could fit all my gear into a duffle bag and roll-on case. I think I will be able to, but I haven't actually tried yet. We'll see how it goes.
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