Back from Antarctica

Wowee...

Am I really back? It is hard to imagine that I have been home, safe and sound at the Shirzad compound in Madison, New Jersey for the past 2 days... hibernating in good old suburbia and spending quality time with my parents and grandmother. It is harder yet to attempt to convey in coherent terms my emotions regarding the IAE5 Expedition to Antarctica.

I guess there are experiences in life where it helps to have "been there" and in some ways this was one of them. Although it lasted only 3 weeks in total, it felt like an eternity. The dramatic nature of the actual journey to Antarctica and the trials and tribulations of merely getting there lengthened the feel of time and space. The uniqueness of the landscape, immeasurable in its beauty and raw power, constantly offered fresh perspective on life as well as infinite opportunities to rediscover harmony with one's surroundings. Most importantly, the people sharing the journey and the countless laughs and inspirational moments we experienced rendered real time a fairly meaningless entity, and expedition time the only acceptable standard to measure the profundity of our moments. You could say that expedition time, like dog years, has a slightly exponential feel to it.

The friendships forged on this trip are for life. It feels strange, even now, to be back in the real world and not have my sister-in-arms Tiffany to play with or call out to ("Girlie, let's dance!"), or Kyle to pretty much do everything with, including debating the merits of observational film (not to worry - more of that to come, somehow somewhere). Luckily, I will be seeing some of these amazing characters soon, like wonderful Nicky back in London in a few weeks time, dearest Joanne in Cardiff and the Norwegian Dream Team Toby and Knut in Finse, Norway at the end of March. And I just know I will visit Becky and the gang in California before the year is up... and last but not least, John Luck in D.C. who is the hippest photographer and writer around.

I guess this is all to say that the 2041 expedition was fantastic. It was also fantastically overwhelming and might take a bit of time to process and share properly. So hang tight while I organize some images in the coming days and attempt to gather my impressions of this Great Continent. These first pictures are just a glimpse at our friends and a bit of scenery. Plenty yet to come...

xx