"He pointed to the leap into the unknown Iād taken at eighteen and all that had come with it: physical, emotional, and financial discomfort, work, tests of endurance, discovery on what I was capable of, thrills, joy, growth and the way this choice had changed me. It has been, so far, the grand experience of my life, the one that took me from the shores of everything I knew and showed me how much of life is out of my control"
I'm so glad I met you through Substack, I'm always so blessed to remember you're my soul sister in motherhood. š
Oh, thank you, Courtney. I'm glad too. I remember the first time I read your essays and realized how much we had in common even though our experiences are separated by a few decades. Some things are universal.
I want to go to Antartica so much! Big dream of mine. As a marine biologist I know many people that have been there, I even have a friend working there right now. I hope one day Iāll go, but same as you said itās not the most ethical thing to go as a tourist.
As a marine biologist, you may yet have opportunities to go and add value while you are at it. I can imagine how fascinating it would be for you to work there. Do you keep in touch with your friend or are they too maxed out trying to make the most of the limited time?
I usually see updates on Instagram. The one there right now posts a lot, so I'm keeping up with many nice photos and videos. She was on the North Pole a while ago as well, where she encountered many whales and polar bears. :)
I had some other friends going before as well; it's always a few months of campaigns for specific research.
Antarctica conjures up two things for me; cold and wondrous natural beauty. Since I don't do COLD, I will never do Antarctica. I will be content to watch a video, and I will still be chilled while viewing it. My Antarctica is an African Safari & I was all set to go this past August but a bankruptcy interfered and Vantage Travel cancelled our month-long trip and absconded with $35,000. My spouse, Jorge, and I took a pause, then signed up for another African Safari scheduled for next August. I refuse to allow anyone to crush my dreams. I plan to celebrate my 75th surrounded by the BIG-5.
I think it's really important to go on that Safari trip for you. It shows resilience to absorb the earlier financial hit and still press on. I know you won't regret it and we all want pictures when you return.
At present I can only leave a comment on how deeply engaged I was by your writing. My Antarctica -- and oh! what thoughts came tumbling inchoate and wordless in my mind then! -- must wait. I want to say, though, that I find your writing so pellucid, so natural in rhythm, precise and free of artifice ... I am gob-smacked. My highest encomium, truly.
Roads taken and not taken (or ships, I guess), is an exercise I sometimes play with in my writing, using fiction to live another life--being a singer for instance. I can no more carry a tune than I can swim in an icy ocean (or any ocean), but I do appreciate the perspective and exploring "what if... ." We do each have our own Antarticas. Thanks for sharing yours. And Yes! to Midge Raymond's "My Lost Continent," a beautiful book.
Writing about roads not taken in fiction is harder for me, I think. I'm more apt to think of it as material for an essay. I notice though that the protagonist in my first novel went through life saying "in my next life I will..." and I'm noticing that the women at the heart of the novel I'm working on each find themselves grappling with the idea that this life is all we get. So clearly, this is an idea very close to my heart.
My first impression of Antarctica came from Annie Dillard's remarkable essay "An Expedition to the Pole," in which she details the harrowing, life-threatening conditions endured by 19th century European explorers on treks to both Antarctica (Sir Robert Falcon Scott, Roald Amundsen) and the Arctic. (Dilllard: "When Scott's Captain Oates sacrificed himself on the Antarctic peninsula because his ruined feet were slowing the march, he stepped outside the tent one night to freeze himself in a blizzard, saying to the others, 'I am just going outside and may be some time.'" ) My second impression came in January of last year, when my son Gabe, then 42, finished 17th out of about 150 runners in (Yes) the Antarctica marathon, now an annual event. Things are much tamer now, and, sadly, a bit warmer. Still, I'd rather hear about the adventures of others than go there myself.
I had no idea that there was a marathon in Antarctica. I don't know what to think about it! In any event, to have finished so well after traveling so far must have been a life-changing experience for Gabe. I have never read the Dillard essay but now I will.
Questions for Jim: Is it true that you have to have your appendix removed before traveling to Antarctica? How does 6 months of darkness effect mental health? How do people cope?
Great post Betsy. Right now my Antarctica feels like return to normal life since Iām sick and stuck mostly in bed. I have always wanted to teach for a year in Japan and recently Iāve been learning more about writing residencies and thinking I would love to do something like that.
I now have Antarctica by The Weepies stuck in my head. I encourage you to listen. Itās a good song.
Thanks for the song and for the questions! I'll make sure they get answered next week. I'm curious to know how things work with teaching for a year in Japan. Why Japan do you think?
How funny that I was just yesterday chatting on Facebook with Midge Raymond, whose brilliant novel My Last Continent you included here. That book definitely made me want to visit Antarctica. I'm much more likely to go to the north pole than the south...but who knows? Looking forward to the next installment.
It's a really well-written novel. I enjoyed reading it a few years back (2017 possibly?) when I was on a panel at the San Diego Festival of Books with Midge Raymond. I became very interested in her own connection with Antarctica.
Oh Betsy, a truly great piece. Who cannot be mesmerised by Antarctica and I had not reached the words of your cousin when I was thinking that my second wife was my Antarctica; I never expected ten years into a marriage to a woman I had known for twelve years and two children as evidence of the fact, to abandon her, which is what I did and would again, not because my family reassure me I had good reason (in the words of my wife of 46 years and 48 together, a good reason does not make an excuse for something to be acceptable), but because in 1975 I imagined a future the size of a continent with a woman I had known not a day-and-a-half (yes, that quick!). It was the moment I made polar decisions at the same time. I was full of happiness and guilt. No moment in my life matches it - my Antarctica moment for sure!š°
Thank you so much "Bunny"! Your Antarctica was a life with another person which could only come if you were willing to torch the life you'd been living. That's a lot to think about. It certainly sounds as though you lived intensely and deeply and without regrets. Not sure life offers better than that.
Betsy! I love this piece (as I do all of your writing!) I so enjoyed The Quickening and will check out the other books pronto. I feel truly honored that you included my piece with such powerhouse reading recs. I can't get Antarctica out of my head. Being there just before the pandemic was one of the most fortuitous and transformative events of my life. There is nothing like feeling like a tiny speck in the universe before going into a situation over which you have no control.
Love this metaphor. I often find myself dreaming of this opportunity I had in my early 20s, to travel and stay in the French West Indies and tutor a young kid... I didnāt go, but often think of it. Thanks for getting my wheels turning, this piece was inspiring! And I also look forward to exploring more about Antarctica and the works you shared. Thank you!
"He pointed to the leap into the unknown Iād taken at eighteen and all that had come with it: physical, emotional, and financial discomfort, work, tests of endurance, discovery on what I was capable of, thrills, joy, growth and the way this choice had changed me. It has been, so far, the grand experience of my life, the one that took me from the shores of everything I knew and showed me how much of life is out of my control"
I'm so glad I met you through Substack, I'm always so blessed to remember you're my soul sister in motherhood. š
Oh, thank you, Courtney. I'm glad too. I remember the first time I read your essays and realized how much we had in common even though our experiences are separated by a few decades. Some things are universal.
Thank you for such a nice Saturday morning read.
You are very welcome! I am glad you're here.
I want to go to Antartica so much! Big dream of mine. As a marine biologist I know many people that have been there, I even have a friend working there right now. I hope one day Iāll go, but same as you said itās not the most ethical thing to go as a tourist.
As a marine biologist, you may yet have opportunities to go and add value while you are at it. I can imagine how fascinating it would be for you to work there. Do you keep in touch with your friend or are they too maxed out trying to make the most of the limited time?
I usually see updates on Instagram. The one there right now posts a lot, so I'm keeping up with many nice photos and videos. She was on the North Pole a while ago as well, where she encountered many whales and polar bears. :)
I had some other friends going before as well; it's always a few months of campaigns for specific research.
Antarctica conjures up two things for me; cold and wondrous natural beauty. Since I don't do COLD, I will never do Antarctica. I will be content to watch a video, and I will still be chilled while viewing it. My Antarctica is an African Safari & I was all set to go this past August but a bankruptcy interfered and Vantage Travel cancelled our month-long trip and absconded with $35,000. My spouse, Jorge, and I took a pause, then signed up for another African Safari scheduled for next August. I refuse to allow anyone to crush my dreams. I plan to celebrate my 75th surrounded by the BIG-5.
I think it's really important to go on that Safari trip for you. It shows resilience to absorb the earlier financial hit and still press on. I know you won't regret it and we all want pictures when you return.
At present I can only leave a comment on how deeply engaged I was by your writing. My Antarctica -- and oh! what thoughts came tumbling inchoate and wordless in my mind then! -- must wait. I want to say, though, that I find your writing so pellucid, so natural in rhythm, precise and free of artifice ... I am gob-smacked. My highest encomium, truly.
You are very kind. Thank you. Wherever your thoughts take you, may they bring you back to where you are with new insights.
And so they did, today. Thank you.
Roads taken and not taken (or ships, I guess), is an exercise I sometimes play with in my writing, using fiction to live another life--being a singer for instance. I can no more carry a tune than I can swim in an icy ocean (or any ocean), but I do appreciate the perspective and exploring "what if... ." We do each have our own Antarticas. Thanks for sharing yours. And Yes! to Midge Raymond's "My Lost Continent," a beautiful book.
Writing about roads not taken in fiction is harder for me, I think. I'm more apt to think of it as material for an essay. I notice though that the protagonist in my first novel went through life saying "in my next life I will..." and I'm noticing that the women at the heart of the novel I'm working on each find themselves grappling with the idea that this life is all we get. So clearly, this is an idea very close to my heart.
HI Betsy, Thanks for this in my email feed, it arrived just at the right time.
I love when something I read comes at the right time. I am happy that this week my words came to you when it felt right. Thanks for telling me.
Truly beautiful and haunting piece! I am going to be thinking about it for a long, long time
Thank you. I hope it haunts you in a good way! :)
My first impression of Antarctica came from Annie Dillard's remarkable essay "An Expedition to the Pole," in which she details the harrowing, life-threatening conditions endured by 19th century European explorers on treks to both Antarctica (Sir Robert Falcon Scott, Roald Amundsen) and the Arctic. (Dilllard: "When Scott's Captain Oates sacrificed himself on the Antarctic peninsula because his ruined feet were slowing the march, he stepped outside the tent one night to freeze himself in a blizzard, saying to the others, 'I am just going outside and may be some time.'" ) My second impression came in January of last year, when my son Gabe, then 42, finished 17th out of about 150 runners in (Yes) the Antarctica marathon, now an annual event. Things are much tamer now, and, sadly, a bit warmer. Still, I'd rather hear about the adventures of others than go there myself.
I had no idea that there was a marathon in Antarctica. I don't know what to think about it! In any event, to have finished so well after traveling so far must have been a life-changing experience for Gabe. I have never read the Dillard essay but now I will.
Questions for Jim: Is it true that you have to have your appendix removed before traveling to Antarctica? How does 6 months of darkness effect mental health? How do people cope?
Great post Betsy. Right now my Antarctica feels like return to normal life since Iām sick and stuck mostly in bed. I have always wanted to teach for a year in Japan and recently Iāve been learning more about writing residencies and thinking I would love to do something like that.
I now have Antarctica by The Weepies stuck in my head. I encourage you to listen. Itās a good song.
Hi Mary, FYI - I just copied and posted your question over on this week's post comments so Jim could address your question.
Thanks for the song and for the questions! I'll make sure they get answered next week. I'm curious to know how things work with teaching for a year in Japan. Why Japan do you think?
How funny that I was just yesterday chatting on Facebook with Midge Raymond, whose brilliant novel My Last Continent you included here. That book definitely made me want to visit Antarctica. I'm much more likely to go to the north pole than the south...but who knows? Looking forward to the next installment.
It's a really well-written novel. I enjoyed reading it a few years back (2017 possibly?) when I was on a panel at the San Diego Festival of Books with Midge Raymond. I became very interested in her own connection with Antarctica.
I loved her book of short stories so when I saw she'd written a novel I got it right away. It's so good!
Oh Betsy, a truly great piece. Who cannot be mesmerised by Antarctica and I had not reached the words of your cousin when I was thinking that my second wife was my Antarctica; I never expected ten years into a marriage to a woman I had known for twelve years and two children as evidence of the fact, to abandon her, which is what I did and would again, not because my family reassure me I had good reason (in the words of my wife of 46 years and 48 together, a good reason does not make an excuse for something to be acceptable), but because in 1975 I imagined a future the size of a continent with a woman I had known not a day-and-a-half (yes, that quick!). It was the moment I made polar decisions at the same time. I was full of happiness and guilt. No moment in my life matches it - my Antarctica moment for sure!š°
Thank you so much "Bunny"! Your Antarctica was a life with another person which could only come if you were willing to torch the life you'd been living. That's a lot to think about. It certainly sounds as though you lived intensely and deeply and without regrets. Not sure life offers better than that.
Betsy! I love this piece (as I do all of your writing!) I so enjoyed The Quickening and will check out the other books pronto. I feel truly honored that you included my piece with such powerhouse reading recs. I can't get Antarctica out of my head. Being there just before the pandemic was one of the most fortuitous and transformative events of my life. There is nothing like feeling like a tiny speck in the universe before going into a situation over which you have no control.
Love this metaphor. I often find myself dreaming of this opportunity I had in my early 20s, to travel and stay in the French West Indies and tutor a young kid... I didnāt go, but often think of it. Thanks for getting my wheels turning, this piece was inspiring! And I also look forward to exploring more about Antarctica and the works you shared. Thank you!
Haha Iām not a fan of discomfort!
Wow its interesting how one decision can affect years of our lives for better or worse