Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all.

Years ago my teacher forced me to read a book that not only did I not appreciate, but actually hated with every fiber of my being. As a child I was permanently scarred to the point where people talking about Antarctica brought up bad memories. It was only within the last year and a half, when my younger sister read the same book for the same teacher, that I really appreciated the magnitude of what I had read. During the years of Antarctic exploration, Ernest Shackleton will be remembered for his heroic story when he endured an entire winter as his ship become packed in ice and crushed. The miraculous part of his story is that every member of his crew lived to tell about it.



Yesterday, after extensive research on my future trip to Everest, I discovered that one popular adventure trek is around South Georgia Island and the Antarctic peninsula. I couldn't believe this name had popped up in my life again. But this time, instead of bringing dread and anxiety, it brought about a sense of adventure that I have recently been unable to squash. It's amazing to think of a time of exploration, when we really had no idea what lay outside of our immediate surroundings. I feel like personal discovery is becoming rare because anything we want to know we can look up on the internet. But as I embark on this project I find myself feeling as though the internet is inadequate: simply put I want more. I want these experiences. And even if I am not the first the land has seen, it will be the first time I have seen it.



Facts:
Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and driest place on earth.
Antarctica is 10% of the earth's land area
The center of Antarctica is the largest desert in the world.
No permanent human residents are known to have ever lived on the continent and even today only temporary scientific communities exist.
The continent has no government and is not owned by any country. Many countries have claimed the continent at one time or another. Currently, a treaty exists that grants the continent its independence from any such claims.
The polar bear does not live anywhere near Antarctica.



Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. - Robert Frost