The Carpe Diem Story

As this year comes to a close I am taking a moment to pause and reflect on my southern hemisphere season so far.  Here is a short list of  things I have gotten to do for the first time ever.   ManHaul- Race against the Kiwi station pulling a sled with a person sitting on it.  An Antarctica experience for sure.  USA women won the race!   Eclipse- about every 400 years Antartica is able to see a solar eclipse.  Got to watch it out on the sea ice with about 100 people from station. Tug-A-War- Another event against the Kiwis base.   Felt like I was in elementary school again at a Sports Day. USA won both men’s and Women’s event   Dance Group-as someone who has never been apart of a dance class it has been fun to be apart of the Hip Hop Dance group.  We have a performance hopefully last in January.   Christmas Choir- I love singing but singing with a bunch of amazing women is even better.  Add Christmas Carols-Gillian ...

I have final made it to the continent of Antarctica.   Up until this point I have only touched Ross Island.   These past two week I have had the chance to be stationed at Antarctica’s only “truck stop”, a refueling station at Marble Point.   Helicopters have been coming here since the 90’s to get fuel.   The main purpose of the camp is to help out with the operation of field camps and research that is being done in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. It has been a fabulous adventure getting out of McMurdo and seeing other parts of the southmost continent.  I even got to fly on a Helicopter to get here.  It is only 45 mins from McMurdo Station but worlds different.  My days are filled with testing the fuel, filling up helicopters, getting drums of fuel ready for field camps and helping around camp with cooking, cleaning or other projects.  Once the helicopters go to bed I get to close down the pits and start exploring.   Since I am on the continent th...

  Aloha Friends and Family,  I have arrived safe and sound back in Antartica.  Not a phrase you hear every day.  I have been back for over two weeks and finally I feel like I am getting the hang of things.   This season I am working for a new department which is called Fuels.  Our job is simply put:  moving fuel around all of station.  I have learned that plenty of things use fuel here.  Almost every building on site has a generator or heater that uses fuel.  We also get to fuel up the airplanes.  Furthermore our department helps out field camps with their fueling needs.  In a couple of weeks I will be heading to the field to spend two weeks at a Helicopter refueling station.  Apparently where I am going is very beautiful and there are places to hike.  In comparison to last year, this job is a lot more physical and I spend a lot more time outside.  I was apprehensive about spending that much time in below free...

Aloha from the 14th floor of the Crowne Plaza in Christchurch, New Zealand.  I am on the down hill slope of my time in isolation before heading back to Antarctica.  I have spent a small portion of my life in isolation these past two years and I have learned a few tricks.   Unpack your things-you will be living in that place for a least two weeks. Make it your home.   Treat yourself- flowers, ice cream, whatever gives you joy Move around everyday-workout, do dance videos, stretch or do yoga, walks laps in your space, go for strolls in the allotted outdoor space.   Show yourself grace-you might have a list of things you want to get done in quarantine.   It might not all get done..that is ok.  Talk to friends and family- reach out to people you haven’t talked to in a while.  You have time to reconnect.  Sit in silence-we live in a busy world silence is rare Listen to music or podcasts Watch Comedy-stand up, sitcoms, movies- your choice ...

  Au revoir l’été (Goodbye Summer) I really don’t know why I decided to start off in French but now you know how to say summer en francais.   As I get older it feels like time goes by faster and faster.  Do you remember when you were a kid and put on time-out for 10 minutes? Those 10 minutes seemed like an eternity while now as an adult 10 minutes are gone in a blink of an eye.   That is what happened this summer-it was gone in a blink of an eye.   “This year was the first year in the long time where the Kenai Backcountry Lodge shined.” This was something my manager said the last week of summer.  It was also eluded to during our end of season discussions with our Operations Managers.  As a first year employee this was very encouraging to hear.  We have two other lodges that we work with at Alaska Wildland Adventures.  Even though we work for the same company there is of course a bit of a competition between the lodges but I am n...

  Aloha Friends and Family,   I am going to take a moment to talk about where I am living and working this summer.  I am currently living at the Kenai Backcountry Lodge which is situated on the North Shore of Skilak Lake in the Kenai Peninsula.  The main lodge was built in the 1930’s by two gentlemen Hank Lucas and George Nelson.  They homesteaded here in the early 1900’s.  They both were big game hunters and guides in the Kenai Peninsula.  They also had a fox farm here on property because raising foxes was a lucrative employment at the time.    Other than the main lodge there are 9 cabins on the property which are were our guests sleep during their stay.  There is also a shop, a bathhouse, a gazebo and all the staff housing.  Living on this property is an Alaskan take on glamping.  Our “tents” we live in as staff have a hard floor and roof but the walls are all canvas.  There is no running water or electricity into our...

Busy, Fun and Full would be the words I would use to describe my May month at the Kenai Backcountry Lodge.  Myself and the other staff got to the lodge early to get the property ready after almost two years of no guest.  I was able to put my years of landscaping, wood chopping, dish washing and bathroom cleaning to work.   Even though lots of hours were spent working we also had time to play.  We went on hikes up to the tundra, kayaking trips on the lake and overnight camping trip.  Some of our favorite activities at the lodge are having beach campfires in the midnight sun, swimming in the glacier filled lake and wildlife hunting from our front decks.   Guest started to arrive at the end of May.  My job as one of the boat captains is primarily to pick up the guest at one end of Skilak lake after they have rafted down the Kenai river.  After loading them on the vessel, Alaska Nellie, I deliver them to our backcountry lodge.  After two days of ...

After many weeks of planning and days of travel I have finally made it to Alaska.  One thing is for certain that traveling during covid times is not for the faint of heart.  You have to be willing to wait in many lines, fill out copious amounts of paper work and do a covid test or two. During my migration north I was able to visit with some Ice Friends (Antarctica) in Seattle.  The visit was full of sunshine, paddle boarding, trail running, hiking and of course great conversations.  As for the drive up North...it was long but totally worth it.  My dad was able to join me for three out of the fours days of driving.  You would be happy to know that we are still talking to each other after traveling 72 hours together.  We were able to see beautiful scenery and wildlife in BC, Yukon and Alaska. Finally the story comes to Alaska.  I had a couple days in Anchorage to recuperate and getting some things squared away before heading to w...

Aloha Friends and Family,  It has been a few weeks since I have reached out and shared the going on of Gillian McPherson's life.   I have spent a few weeks in Maui defrosting while preparing for my next adventure.  I have enjoyed plenty of time with friends, beach days and sunshine.  It has been nice coming back to a place where I am extremely familiar with how things work. I know plenty of people told me about ice brain when leaving the ice- it is a real thing.  It is basically the same feeling your have at the end of finals week in college.  Your brain in done, toast..finished.  You know it is not firing as fast as you would like but you can't do much about it.  Now after being off the ice for over a month I can confidently say that my brain has defrosted completely and I feel like my cognitive processes are back to normal.   That being said I had a few people ask if I will continue writing and sending emails over the next couple of months ...

I am back on another rock enjoying the warm sunshine, salt ocean, fresh fruit and veggies and the company of good friends.   I just wanted to thank everyone for reading my updates and responding with such kind words or keeping me updated with what is going on in your lives.  I feel like I know a bunch of you better through this process.  One last story before I sign off...as you have heard before the people in Antarctica are amazing.  One special thing they do when you leave is called a hug line.  It is when everyone who is staying and can leave work comes up to the building where you catch your shuttle to the air field.  They all stand in a line in the loading bay of the building and as you get checked off the manifest you run this gauntlet of people who are surrounding you with hugs as you leave.  It is just so heart warming and special that people take time out of their work day to come say goodbye.   Some of you might be asking what is next fo...

  As I look at the calendar I cannot believe that I have less than a month left here in Antarctica.  This experience has blown my expectations out of the water.  I have enjoyed it so much that I hope to be back next Austral Summer.   Since my last email I have transitioned to working the night shift here at McMurdo.  I have never had the chance to work the night shift but is it really night when the sun is up 24 hours a day? (The next sunset is Feb. 20th).  There are only about 20 people on station who are working the night shift.  Some of them have been working together on nights since October.  They are a funny, tight knit group.  Our "lunches" which are at midnight are always a comical affair.  I have to honestly say that I do enjoy working the night shift.  It was a nice change at the end of season when things could have started to get monotonous.  I just sleep when everyone else is at work and get up when they get off...