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 ...