 |
| Andrew, Lindsay and Jon pre-Antarctic camping experience. |
Loyal blog readers will remember that while I was on my Antarctic Adventure, I met two fellow frugal travelers, Jon and Lindsay.
Everyone on the vessel was given a name tag. When I misplaced mine, naturally the universe had something planned. My roommate on the boat found my tag and brought it with him to one of our landing briefings. Holding it in his hands, Jon, sitting next to him, looked down to see my name. I can only imagine the light bulb moment Jon must have had. When I strolled into the room, Jon inquisitively asked, “Do you know Rick”?
This was the first time I had been called out by a stranger and identified as the son of The Frugal Travel Guy. Strangely, it was kinda cool! At meal times, we shared stories and I learned how Jon and Lindsay were finishing up visiting all seven continents in one trip. It was really cool knowing they used techniques from Dad’s blog to be able to do it all in first- or business-class, staying in hotels in which they could redeem points for their stay. I was lucky to meet people using my Dad’s techniques while they were traveling.
So what do you do when you get some crazy frugal travelers together? Go camping in the Antarctic! I’m sure we’d all agree that we travel for the experience and the journey. So what better way to experience it than by camping with some other crazies?
Jon, Lindsay, myself, and 26 other crazy souls left the comforts of our converted Russian Research vessel and made landing in between a glacier and a penguin colony. We were provided a sleeping bag, a foam mat, and a sheet. We were instructed to make our beds deep enough into the snow to protect us from the wind. Of course I went Bear Grylls, “Man vs. Wild” and dug the deepest trench in which I had a surprisingly warm slumber.
The sun set after midnight and rose again by 3 a.m. — dusk to dawn without the darkness. Camping in Antarctica was a truly amazing experience. I am even more grateful that I got to share it with John and Lindsay.
I traveled to Ushuaia, Argentina on a Oneworld Award from Sydney via Qantas and LAN. To my knowledge, none of the expedition operators in Antarctica accept miles for trips. Therefore, I booked with Quark Expeditions and was very happy with my experience. Highly recommended! Considering how much of the world I have seen for little or no cost, this Antarctic experience was worth every cent!
