For those of you who don't know....I've been just a bit obsessed with Antarctica for a few years now (this is a gross understatement). I'm absolutely thrilled to share that I'll be travelling there myself--to the Ross Sea no less!--this January. I've obtained a scholarship that allows me to travel at a greatly reduced cost. While I am able to cover this, it is, as a dear friend put it, "an excellent life decision, but a poor financial one".

Which brings me to my ask: I am fundraising to help cover some of the numerous extra costs associated with going to Antarctica, among them an odd extra night in a hotel room, cold-weather gear, snow goggles so I don't get snowblind, insurance, Electronic Travel Authorisations for Australia and NZ, etc. I totally understand if you want to give this one a pass--lord knows there is so much happening in the world right now--but if you were planning on getting me a birthday or Christmas present, I'd love if you'd consider donating here instead!

Tell us more about your obsession with Antarctica.

It all started three and a half years ago when I set foot on the RRS Discovery, a museum ship in Dundee, Scotland. I was doing my PhD in a nearby town and initially visited Discovery as a tourist. The ship is famous for taking Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton to Antarctica in the early 1900s--and from my first visit I was deeply interested in the historical and scientific stories of the ship. I started reading everything I could on polar history, wrote a LARP that took place on an icebound ship, and began volunteering as a member of the Ship's Crew. Eventually this turned into a part-time job, doing such glamorous work as caulking, polishing brass, sanding, varnishing, painting, stripping paint, litter picking, and more! My favourite thing to do, though, was always to share the ship's story with visitors.

Since then, I've only fallen deeper down the icy crevasse that is polar obsession and the polar community. I've analysed primary documents at the Scott Polar Research Institute and the National Library of Scotland, travelled to Norway and Ireland to visit the polar ship Fram and the South Pole Inn, respectively, and given talks at the Royal Geographic Society and the Shackleton Autumn School--winning the Icebreaker award at the latter in 2024.

I've even brought the Antarctic into my professional life, recently publishing a paper on relational studies of Antarctica and outer space in the journal Endeavour!

Tell us more about this trip.

Well, it's truly the trip of a lifetime and a dream come true. It'll be a 28-day cruise to the Ross Sea, stopping at several subantarctic islands and getting a chance to see whales, emperor penguins, and Ross Ice Shelf, and the historic huts from the early expeditions. This is a remote place very few people get to go, and I'm so privileged and honoured to have received a scholarship to help me get there. As part of the scholarship, I will be producing a mini-podcast series on the ever-enigmatic question "why do people want to go to Antarctica?", so everyone will get a chance to listen to this product of the trip!

What will this money be going towards?

Going to Antarctica involves a lot of expenses beyond the ticket price and flights. I also have to purchase:

Anything you can provide would truly be appreciated. Thank you for listening to my story, and feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions!