Preparation

In less than a month, we’ll be casting off the port of BWI Airport, and embarking on the most mind-blowing  adventure I’d never have considered possible. Some days I’ll wake up and think: ‘whoa, this is actually going to happen.’ It becomes more tangible each day, as we transfer from thinking, “Who is going to guide us up Machu Picchu?” to “What do we need to pack?” As well as “What skills do we need to learn?”

As of now, one of the most important skills for me to acquire isn’t the ability to speak another language, or the ability to stay away from cultural taboos. In fact, it has nothing to do with other cultures. I need to become an expert kayaker.

  We worked out our trip to Antarctica about a month or so ago, when the trip was still hiding behind a thick fog of uncertainty. After a bit of scavenging, we found a great deal with a Russian cruise ship, the “Akademik Sergey Vavilov” that would take us, along with 150 other people, (including crew) to key points of interest around the continent. As far as I can tell, it’s a wonderful arrangement, but I’m a little apprehensive about the ‘excursions’ that the passengers are entitled to, because I’m going to be going on them with expert kayakers who know what they’re doing. This is because when we first booked this tour we were forced to fill out a questionnaire that would tell them anything from what allergies we might have to what excursions they’d want to place us in. Unfortunately, most of these excursions are going to be in kayaks, so we were asked if we were either beginner-level kayakers, or on the other extreme, experts.

So we’re experts.

Leland