Antarctica: A Decision
Filed Under: Some of you weighed in on our decision to go to Antarctica. We don’t want to leave you hanging any longer.
So what did we decide? What did the process look like and what did we learn from it?
The upshot: we pulled the trigger. A week from today we’ll be on an eleven-day journey aboard an ice-breaker in and around Antarctica and beyond our second polar circle (the first one was when we got engaged in Norway). Although we had to act quickly in order to not miss the opportunity, we did not take our decision lightly.
It’s difficult to explain all of our conflicting sentiments, but here goes: excitement — Glaciers, whales and penguins, here we come!), disbelief (Can this really be happening?), fear (Ugh, Drake passage!), and calm (This feels right!).
We’d like to thank everyone for their input and thoughts — on our post, the Uncornered Market Facebook Page, and our personal Facebook pages. Thanks to all of this, we’ve been put in touch with new people and we’d like to think we’re just a little bit smarter than we were before.
We really do appreciate our community and its collective wisdom.
We’d also like to thank the Twitter community – our own network and the wider Twitterverse — for playing an integral part in the unfolding of this story. Since the odds of joining a last-minute March departure for Antarctica seemed stacked against us, we didn’t dive deep into an online research project to ferret out last minute offers. Instead, we relied mainly on Twitter. One tweet and one response was all it took to get the ball rolling.
The “Oh Shit” Moment: Online Buyer Beware
Although this may come as a surprise to some, not everything on the internet — Twitter included — is accurate or legitimate. So everything went smoothly with our Antarctica agent in Ushuaia, Argentina until it came time to fork over our credit card number. The problem wasn’t the agent, but us.
We stepped back: Do we really know who this woman is? Can we be guaranteed the tour we were promised? Could this be a scam?
Just call it a healthy dose of skepticism honed from years of experience on and off the road.
We went into investigative mode to confirm the legitimacy of our agent and the offer. We searched for our agent’s name online. We called the tour operator actually running the tour to confirm that our agent had a relationship with them.
Then came the moment when the tour operator indicated that while the agent was legitimate, there were no spaces available on the tour she was attempting to sell us. Either the whole thing was a scam or there was a mix-up (thus the great price).
Our hearts sank. We stepped back again. If a bait-and-switch was at work or an honest mix-up had placed our desired itinerary out of reach or out of our price range, we were prepared to skip Antarctica altogether this time around.
If the stars aligned, great. But if they didn’t, we weren’t going to force the issue.
As it turns out, a group had canceled their reservations, but our agent and tour operator had not fully settled the issue. I expressed my concerns about handing over our credit card number for such a large amount of money without a more solid guarantee. The agent completely understood and suggested we complete the transaction directly with the tour operator. Perfect.
Putting it all together
Within a couple of hours of booking our tour, we booked flights south from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia through El Calafate, sorted accommodation, and organized gear and clothing rental. (We had to laugh at ourselves as we searched for budget hostels after booking a not-so-budget tour.) Add to this the need to pack out of our apartment in Buenos Aires and make our way on a boat to Uruguay the next day.
Time to take a deep breath.
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Our flexible style of travel allows us to act on impulse and take advantage of opportunities when they arise. Sometimes, however, we miss out because we haven’t planned far enough in advance. But every now and then (e.g., Galapagos Islands and Antarctica), the stars align and we’re off on a new adventure.
The tour we took with Gap Adventures went south of the Antarctic Circle. We highlight this feature as most tours to Antarctica do not go this far south. You can read more tour details here. If you plan to book this or another tour with Gap Adventures, please consider starting the process by clicking on the ad above. The price stays the same to you and we earn a small commission. Thank you!
February 23rd, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Wow! That’s great, guys!!!! I am so excited for you both – can’t wait for all the cool pictures you’ll take and all the stories you’ll tell. Have a safe and wonderful tour!
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:03 pm
So… $3500 USD w/ airfare?
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:11 pm
I’m glad you guys went with your intuition. It should go a good adventure. I hope you guys have fun and get the most out of Antarctica!
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:13 pm
CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!! I know that you will not regret this decision EVER. I’ve gotta tell you though, I’m a bit jealous at the moment.
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Awesome!! Can’t wait to hear about your latest and greatest adventure!
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Hardcore. This is what makes you guys trailblazers. Have a GREAT time! Please don’t tell me everything’s melting.
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:47 pm
That’s so exciting! You know you won’t regret a decision like that. That kind of spontaneity is what we’re looking forward to on our new nomadic adventure. So, how much does it cost to go to Antarctica? Have a fantastic trip. I can’t wait for the photos.
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Wow I’m jealous but really excited for you! I can’t wait to read your posts on Antarctica
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Totally looking forward to the photos from Antartica! Be safe guys!
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:39 pm
How exciting!! I think this is definitely the right decision. Had I been in your shoes, I know I would have forever regretted giving up a chance to go to Antarctica, even if I would have wound up saving money and seeing more of S. America because of it!
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:17 pm
Glad to here that you decided to go. Should be a great adventure.
February 24th, 2010 at 12:34 am
Audrey and Daniel, what a spine tingling adventure! I have read very little on Antarctica since my main interest are tropical locales. Your take will be interesting, peppered with your usual vigor and sense of thoughtfulness. Can’t wait.
February 24th, 2010 at 5:02 am
Congrats! Can’t wait to hear how it went and see the pictures!
February 24th, 2010 at 5:56 am
Get ready to see something really unique! Make sure not to forget anything, nor wire nor battery, there’s nowhere to get them there.
February 24th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
I am glad that everything worked out for you with the agent and the Antarctica tour. I can’t wait to read all about it!
February 24th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
As photographers you may know Michael Reichmanns website already (if not: have a look around). I liked his Antarctica pictures: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/locations/antarctic-archive.shtml. There’s also a lot of background info on the related Antarctica pages. I envy you! Have fun and show us the pictures afterwards
February 24th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Best of luck to you guys. You have a unamimous cheering section out here
and we’ll all be waiting for what we know will be some wonderful photos.
February 24th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
OMG! We’re so excited for you (and super jealous, naturally!)!!! Can’t wait to hear all about it and see LOTS of pictures! Happy travels!
February 25th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Can’t wait to read and hear about it. I’m glad everything worked out and you have that calm, this is the right decision kind of feeling.
February 25th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Thanks to all of you for your awesome support and excitement for us! It’s hard to believe we’ll be heading south in a couple of days to start this adventure. We’ve got some pressure now to take great photos to share you all
@Craig: Yes, there was a tour option at $3,500 but it didn’t go past the polar circle so we chose the longer option that was a bit more.
@Erin: The answer to your question about the cost of an Antarctica tour really has a million answers! From what we’ve seen, a tour (10-11 days) to Antarctica can cost anywhere from $3,500 for a last minute cancellation to $10,000 for a small boat in the high season (Jan/February). The season, size of boat, how far ahead you book the tour and many other factors affect the price.
February 26th, 2010 at 9:56 am
[...] Antarctica – A Decision : Audrey and Daniel (Uncornered Market) have pulled the trigger and decided to travel to Antarctica – WOW I can’t wait to read more about this new adventure they are off on! [...]
February 26th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Good choice
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Yay!! Congrats on the decision and I look forward to what are surely going to be amazing photos when you get back. Safe travels and can’t wait to hear about your experience!
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:33 pm
@Taru: Thanks. It looks that way so far.
@Shannon: Thanks for the well wishes. We’ll be blogging and tweeting along the way. Gap Adventures has kindly provided us internet along the way.
Follow our Antarctica trip as we go:
Stream of select photos (we’ll upload more when we got back on unfrozen land):
http://www.uncorneredmarket.com/photos/tag/dna2antarctica/page1/
Twitter hash-tag for the trip:
http://twitter.com/search?q=%23dna2antarctica
Our Facebook fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/UncorneredMarket
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:55 am
What an amazing opportunity!! Can’t wait to follow the tweets and the pics!
March 16th, 2010 at 11:41 am
Hi everyone, we posted the first of a series of stories about our Antarctica journey and will continue for the next few days (penguins up next!). You can check out the list of stories here (from old to new):
A Journey to Antarctica
September 19th, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Where did you rent clothes from in Buenos Aires?
September 19th, 2011 at 5:44 pm
@Katie: We didn’t rent winter gear from Buenos Aires, but from Ushuaia instead. The name of the place was Jumping Rental Ski at #128 on 9 de Julio street – a large selection of jackets, boots, waterproof pants, etc.
Some Antarctica tours are now providing jackets and boots, so be sure to check the details of your tour before renting gear. Have fun!