Yes, I know. Space is the final frontier. But since it is highly unlikely that I will get there in my lifetime (unless they open a nursing home on the moon), Antarctica is it for me.
The first thing my sister-in-law said when I told her we were going is "Are there hotels there?"
It's a good question. I think she asked because she didn't think there were any there, but she wanted to make sure. She knows that Chris and I don't camp.
But no, there are no hotels on Antarctica. There are also no restaurants, no malls, no hospitals, no police stations, no penguin-themed water parks, and no micro-creameries. The only humans who live there do so on research stations. It really is a frontier.
Oh, and no Internet. Did you get that? NO INTERNET.
Some years ago I took my first trip to Hawaii. As we crossed the Pacific Ocean, it struck me how remote and isolated Hawaii is from the mainland. If anything went badly on the continental US, we would be stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Of course, a tropical paradise is not the worst place on which to be stranded, but at the time, that line of thinking gave me the willies (fellow claustrophobes will understand).
But Antarctica is the real deal. Remember the Russian vessel that was stranded in ice earlier this year? Every one got home safe and sound. Still, when I remarked about this story to my friend Ann, she said "GO! And don't worry! The worst that can happen is that you end up on CNN."
It will be an adventure one way or another.