A Cool Place to Visit

“Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Mark Twain

“Debbie Lee,” teased a friend in his Texas accent, “you’d just die if you couldn’t travel.” Guilty as charged. So, may I share a little about my latest adventure?

Although I love teaching, I decided in 2019 not to work full-time anymore. The reason? Make that plural: the reasons are because I wanted to read more, write more, travel more, see more movies, and go to the beach more. (I plan to teach part-time, during certain semesters.) I am actively working on those goals. A top priority, once I was no longer teaching five days a week, was to visit either Patagonia or Antarctica. Tourists can go to those areas only between December and March—summer in the Southern Hemisphere, of course— but not a realistic time to travel with regard to the US school year. However, because I am not teaching right now, I had the freedom to make one particular travel dream come true.

When I decided that going to Antarctica was exactly what I most want to do, I emailed a travel-loving buddy to ask if she wanted to go on this trip with me. Her response was instantaneous: Yes; let’s talk! We became a party of four: two live in California, one in Washington state, and I on the East Coast. We rendezvoused at the Miami airport and flew to Buenos Aires, where we stayed for a day and a night. Then we journeyed on to Ushuaia, the world’s southernmost city, where we boarded a ship to take us to the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands.

I have been within the Arctic Circle (loved it!) but this was my first time to South America and to Antarctica. Welcome to the astonishing world of penguins, sea lions, whales, and glaciers. Planning the trip, I was eager to see these natural marvels before our global weather crisis inflicts even further damage. Antarctica recently experienced its warmest day in recorded history. I am keenly aware that my carbon footprint contributes to the cause of global warming; nevertheless, my heart urged: go and see it! So I did. What a beautiful planet we have! Shall we join together to keep it beautiful?

(The accompanying photos are from Google images; I look forward to sharing my own shots with you in a future blog.)