Third Trip South

In just over a month I'm heading to Antarctica for the third time, and I'm in full-on overthinking mode: planning packing, figuring out what I'm going to do in Buenos Aires, rethinking my camera gear, and working out how I want to document the trip better this time.

The Itinerary

• Dec 12: Fly from Cleveland to Buenos Aires with a 10 hour layover in JFK
• Dec 13 to 14: Land in Buenos Aires and have a couple of days to myself, no plans yet
• Dec 15 to 16: Join Quark's Buenos Aires pre-expedition extension (Tigre Delta, eco reserves, and the city center)
• Dec 17: Last day of the pre-expedition extension, end at the hotel for departure
• Dec 18: Charter flight to Ushuaia and set sail
• Dec 19 to 20: Drake Passage
• Dec 21 to 25: Antarctica, including Christmas Day!
• Dec 26 to 27: Drake Passage
• Dec 28: Disembark in Ushuaia, return charter flight, and fly home
• Dec 29: Back home

What's Different This Time

There are a few big differences compared to the last two trips:

• Different company. Instead of Intrepid, I'm booked with Quark on the Ultramarine.
• More time in Buenos Aires. On the first two trips I booked my own flight to Ushuaia and spent time there, or at least intended to. This time I'm taking Quark's charter and putting the extra days into Buenos Aires instead.
• A roommate. For the first time I'm not in a solo cabin. I'll be sharing a room with a stranger. Not particularly worried on this front; I've never met anyone going down there I didn't get along with, and the trade-off is a balcony cabin instead of just a window.
• A helicopter landing. Assuming the weather holds, I'll get not just a short flight, but an actual landing further inland in Antarctica. There are precious few reviews of this, so I've got no real idea how it'll go.
• An extra day in Antarctica, and my third Christmas down there.

Both of the first two trips were completely different from each other. The travel, the weather, life on the ship, the people on board, the things I saw, the things we did, and, most importantly, me. I changed. I expect the same will hold for this one.

With about a month left, I'm getting excited. The trip is taking over more of my thoughts every day, not just what's to come and what I'll experience, but getting ready for it.

Most of the packing I'm pretty set on. I'm getting some new clothes, but everything's relaxed enough that I'm not really caring what I take, as long as the basics are covered. The camera bag is another story. I'm spending more time than I'd care to admit working on it.

Documenting It For Real

For a few years now I keep saying to myself that I'm going to document my trips better. Come back and be able to put something together to remember them by: maybe a photo book, a video, a blog post, whatever form I'm in the mood to create, so I can relive the trip once I'm back home.

This time, I'm going to focus on actually doing it: recording the entire trip in photos, video, and journal entries that capture what I'm thinking and feeling each day. Getting out of my comfort zone, putting aside the irrational fears I have around doing things like that in public. There's something about being perceived as a vlogger or influencer that gives me pause. Whether it's a preference to stay in the background while traveling, always thinking people are paying more attention to me than they actually are, or wondering what people will think about what I'm doing, I'm not sure. Probably a combination of all three.

The reality, though, is that no one cares. We're all living our lives, and as long as we're not hurting others, we should be doing the things we enjoy.

I'm giving it a real shot. After all, with as many other places as I still want to see, how many more chances am I going to have to make it down there?

The Journal Kit

Journaling is the easy part. I'm just taking a few things I love using:

• Midori A6 lined notebook in a leather cover. Small, fabulous paper, and I'm starting with a fresh one this trip to see if I can keep a dedicated travel journal.
• A bit of washi tape for anything I want to stick in.
• A few of my favorite fountain pens: the Traveler's Company brass pen with black waterproof ink for sketching, a brass Kaweco Sport with a medium nib ground to a stub, and a limited edition Conklin 1898 Spectra Fusion White that just reminds me of winter and feels like the right fit for Antarctica.

The Camera Bag

The camera gear took a little more thought. It's based on what I missed on previous trips, and what I took but never or rarely used.

• Sony A7RV with the 100-400mm lens. This should be fantastic for both wildlife and more compressed landscapes. The autofocus is a huge step up from what I'm used to, and 100-400mm covers my most used focal lengths from the first two trips. I suspect this will be my most used lens by far.
• Fujifilm GFX100RF. My Buenos Aires camera, life-on-the-ship camera, and landscape camera. I love medium format, and having an aspect ratio dial on the camera really appeals to me. I took normal zoom lenses on the previous trips but rarely used them, and last time I took the X100VI but wished it was just a bit wider. The GFX100RF's fixed 28mm-equivalent lens gives me that bit extra, and with 100 megapixels I can easily crop in quite a bit, which covers the gap between 28mm and 100mm.

A small(ish) kit that covers everything I need without overwhelming me with choices.

Adding Video

I always wish I'd shot more video once I get back, so I wanted to add a few things for it. I'll use the Sony for some, particularly wildlife, but I decided to add two smaller cameras too.

• DJI Osmo Pocket 3. I've had this one for a while, and I really enjoy using it when I remember to. I think it'll be great for documenting Buenos Aires and life on the ship, even off the ship if the weather's decent. But it's too delicate to use on zodiacs or when it's snowing or raining. So...
• DJI Osmo Action 6. This will be my zodiac and excursion camera, for anything where conditions might not be great, and for putting underwater to see what we can see from that perspective.
• iPhone 17 Pro. It's always on me anyway, and it does great for video and quick shots. Even the zoom is nice, so it's a pretty versatile option for everything, though the others will have better quality all around.

What's Next

There's still time for me to change my mind, but for now I'm set on what I'm taking. So now I'm turning to how I want to spend those first couple of days in Buenos Aires on my own: likely wandering around cafes, having a fantastic dinner or two, and seeing a few museums. Then there's what to do with that 10-hour layover. The TWA Hotel at JFK is looking awful tempting, and it beats 10 hours in a lounge.

We'll see how it shakes out over the next few weeks, a lot more to think about and 32 days to go.