The Traveling Widower

Tag: National-Geographic

  • How do you pack for Antarctica?

    I’m less than 3 weeks away from Penguin Day (November 16th), and I just completed my first test pack. I’m in big trouble. I’ve got too much stuff. Way too much for the suitcase I’ve used on every other trip so far. How come you might ask. Well, it’s complicated. First of all, I’ll be gone for almost 2 full weeks, so you need all the basics like underwear, shirts and socks (I plan on using the laundry service which helps a bit)

    And then there’s that weather thing. I’ll start out flying from Sacramento, to Los Angeles, and then on to Santiago where temperatures are similar to where I’m starting – high in the low 80’s. The next day, we fly to Ushuaia, Argentina where we spend the day cruising around the fjords before boarding the Resolution to head off to Antarctica. The weather in that port city can vary between 80 and 50 this time of year, and it will probably be nippy cruising around. I’ll probably want to wear a few layers, and heavier pants since we will be spending time out in the open, photographing the scenery and wildlife. 

    Then we board the ship and spend the next two days at sea navigating the infamous Darwin passage. It will be nice and cozy warm on board. There’s no dress code on National Geographic cruises, but I really don’t want to dress like a complete slob. Jan would be very unhappy if I go back to my old wardrobe habits (jeans, t-shirts, sweat shirts). And there will be times (many I hope) when we will be out in the viewing areas when there are photo opportunities of ocean beasties. Time to don windproof/waterproof layers. 

    Once we get to Antarctica, the fun begins. This is spring time in the land of ice and penguins, with temperatures averaging in the low 20’s (F). That’s really cold, but not that different from skiing in the Rockies. Activities will include kayaking on open inflatable kayaks, cruising in open Zodiac boats to view wildlife and scenery, and on shore “hiking” (snow shoes or cross-country skiing) to commune with the wildlife. Here’s where the packing challenges begin. This is sort of like packing for a ski vacation in, say, Canada, where you are flying to your destination, thus limiting what you can bring along. NatGeo provides the outer layer – a waterproof, hooded shell with a heavy fleece jacket. So you do not need to include that on the way there, but you get to take it home (if you want). Those will take up a lot of luggage space. Or I could just wear them on the plane. That could happen. Good thing I’m flying 1st class and will not have to battle for overhead luggage space.

    All the additional, required winter layers take up a lot of room in luggage. Insulated, waterproof pants are a must for most every activity. Those theoretically could be used for kayaking, but ski pants were not really designed for being immersed in water (which hopefully will not happen), so waterproof kayak pants are a better choice for that activity. And it would be nice to have something else to wear on board for evening gatherings. So that makes a minimum of three pairs of pants, other than what you wear for travel. I went a bit crazy shopping for this trip (hard to believe…it’s become a new hobby for me) – I bought North Face insulated pants, and a pair of fleece pants at the Colorado REI, and already had the kayak bottoms, and a pair of winter weight hiking pants that Jan bought me years ago. So that makes four for packing, although the fleece pants are also a thermal layer. And then I found a really nice pair of fleece lined pants, on sale, the other day. That would be overkill. Darn. I’ll save those for my January trip to Yosemite. 

    My pants dilemma – way too many!

    Thermal layers are thin, but still take up a lot of room in luggage unless you are a small size, which I’m not (tall, not wide!). You need more than one pair of each unless you want to do sink laundry, which is difficult in a small cabin, with a tiny bathroom. A couple of fleece sweaters for wearing on board take up a bit more space. And you need heavy, waterproof gloves, a hat, scarf/buff, and heavy boot socks – no flip flops on this trip. And, it would be nice to have another pair of lightweight, comfortable shoes for wandering around on the ship..sneakers would be a good choice since there is a nice gym on board. 

    And you still need room for all the odds and ends everyone carries on trips (meds, toiletries), and I’ll probably have some overflow from the camera bag. That’s almost worth another post, but I’ll spare you from another boring description of camera gear. Oh yeah, I also need to stuff a small pack in there somehow.

    This is why I always start packing a few weeks before the flight – I have plenty of time to reconsider what I really need for the trip, and can pare down to basics if need be. I do have one larger suitcase, and my next test will be to repack into that one, before I start eliminating items (except for the comfy lined pants….already out). We bought this particular piece of luggage for our one and only cruise so I know it will fit under the bed in my cabin. As long as the weight is under 50lbs, I’m good to go.

    My trips to warmer locals have been a lot easier to pack for, even with cramming snorkel gear into the suitcase. No gloves, heavy sweaters or thermal layers – just shorts, some shirts and a pair of beach shoes. The Alaska trip was relatively easy as well – just rain gear and the kayak stuff. I did bring my down sweater along, but never wore it. With the exception of the Churchill (Northern Lights) trip in 2027, all of my future adventures will be to relatively warm climates, so packing will be easier. Iceland will be in mid-summer – it may be wet, but not freezing cold. Patagonia will be a lot like the Alaska trip – possibly wet, but not freezing. Both the Baja Jones and the Run-from-the-bears Kodiak trips will be easy to pack for since there are limitations on luggage size and weight in the small single engine planes. I’ll be packing a duffel bag for clothing. 

    Since travel has become the focus of my life (Bromberg 2.0), I’m going to have a lot of opportunities to improve on my packing skills. My house will likely continue to develop into an REI outlet store as I find more specialized toys and clothing for the specialized requirements for each adventure. I’ve already got my eyes on a line of hard duffel bags for the Kodiak trip. I’m waiting for someone to invent spray on clothing. It could happen. 

  • A Day in Petersburg – Banana Slugs, Bogs and a harbor cruise

    After five days of photographing from bouncing Zodiacs or the windy front-deck of the Quest (our ship), it was nice to pull into dry land for a day. Petersburg is a small fishing town, established by an entrepreneurial Norwegian who started a fishing business in a spot that reminded him of home, and then invited all his friends and family to emigrate there. It’s a remote town, on an island that is accessible by boat or plane. It does have an airport that can handle a 737, and Air Alaska flies a milk-run here twice a day. It’s a really cute town in an incredibly beautiful place. At any rate, we docked here, and we all had multiple options for off-ship adventures – 3 or 4 different hikes, a bicycle ride around town and a Zodiac cruise thru the harbor. With a sore knee, and a variety of aches and pains from sleeping in an uncomfortable bed for 5 nights, I opted for 2 relatively short hikes, with the possibility of swapping the afternoon one for a Zodiac ride around the harbor. 

    I did spend some time in the morning discussing the cavitation problem with my cabin neighbors – they were equally as pissed and exhausted from lack of sleep. The general consensus was that we should have been informed beforehand, and maybe should be offered something like a credit we can apply to another trip. I’m not holding my breath for that. The photo above shows me pointing to my luxury cabin portholes on the steerage level. It is a very nice cabin, as long as you are hard of hearing. 

    We had local guides leading all the hikes – ours was a young woman who grew up in the town. Her graduating class size was 30. In grade school, you have a mandatory survival skills class, where you learn to forage in the woods in case you get stranded. Seriously. They take the entire class out to the woods, and grade them on how they find food, make fire, and make a shelter, and survive for 2 days. The students have to stay until they pass (just kidding). Funny, we were never taught these skills growing up in Brooklyn. She had a lot of great stories about living in a small, remote community. It’s a really different life style. 

    We ran out of luck in terms of weather to some degree (another unintended pun) – cool and foggy, but at least it was not raining and it cleared up later in the day. The hike was more interesting than I thought it would be – the land around here is very boggy – they do get lots of rain. There are large areas that are mostly tree-less, but covered with a lot of low, interesting plants including some carnivorous ones.

    They eat bugs, not people. And you don’t want to go wandering through these areas unless you want to sink down in muck. The trail meandered through the bogs into some really beautiful dense forests. Also filled with strange plants, some of which you definitely do not want to touch- many nasty thorns, worse than rose bushes. I would not suggest bushwhacking around here. There was not much else to see since once we reached the view point the distant mountains (border with British Columbia) and the Frederick Sound were socked in with fog. But there was a nice metal bench, made by a local artist. Too wet to sit on but nice to look at.

    Metal bench near Petersburg Alaska

    I did find a few things to photograph, including the first banana slug that I’ve seen in the wild. Woo hoo.I really liked the moss covered, rotting tree stump as well.

    Banana Slug

    My knee held up OK on this hike, but I decided not to push my luck, and did swap out a second hike for the Zodiac tour of the harbor. That turned out well – I never knew much about commercial fishing boats, and we learned a lot from our boat driver (who was from the area). Now I know what a purse net is, and how it works. Important information for living in Sacramento. We also cruised through an extremely large flock of gulls (3 types) which hang around the fish processing plant, and checked out a rotting, abandoned fishing boat, and went by the processing plant where they suck out salmon from the boats. Quite the adventure.

    Sunken fishing trawler in Petersburg harbor
    Fishing trawler in Petersburg Alaska
    Fish processing plant in Petersburg Alaska

    It was nice having a “light” day for a change. I wish I had spent some time in the town – there were a few interesting shops and a good restaurant or two. There was one shop run by a local Native American that sold unique t-shirts which the crew wore for dinner that night. Cute, but I have a draw full of interesting t-shirts at home. My favorite is a custom one I had made commemorating my Half-Dome hike with a line for a Terminator movie – Old But Not Obsolete.

    There are gobs of whales in the channel year round, with over 200 during the summer. and there is a lot more to see in the area – glaciers, bears, moose. It might be worth another visit on my own in the future. This would classify as an off the beaten path adventure.

    One more location to go – a day in a fjord with another glacier. And then we disembark in Juneau on Sunday and fly back to my boring life in California. But it will be good to get home – I miss my bed and shower. Plus my hummingbirds have probably emptied the feeders by now. They are probably pecking at the windows.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petersburg,_Alaska