Well, the day has come to leave for the long journey south. I’m trying not to think about how I will be 9,000 miles from home! It’s a bit scary to be that far away from my family!
In true Lisa luck, it’s snowing in Wisconsin today. I am hoping that does not disrupt my travel plans, but only time will tell.
The final preparations have gone well – I think I’ve probably overpacked, but it’s tough to tell since I’ve never been to Antarctica. Someone pretty cute crawled into my suitcase while I was packing!
The wooden coins came in and have been distributed to the students and staff at my school. I can’t wait to hand them out to the people I meet on this expedition and learn about the songs that remind them of home.
I collected all of the questions from my bulletin board, and I was so impressed with the questions the students (and adults!) came up with.
I also had the students make a bucket list of things I needed to learn, see, or do before I left Antarctica. They came up with some good stuff that I will share as this adventure gets underway. I also made a Hawaiian-lei-style necklace of all of the students and staff from our school. I am hoping to find some moments to wear that while out exploring so that the students will see themselves in Antarctica when they look at my pictures after the fact! I included my family on my necklace, too, as I wish they could join me for my journey.
The students were greeted to a new look to our bulletin board – they all drew pictures of what they thought Antarctica looks like, and I took pictures of the students with a green screen behind them. Then I combined the images. The students have loved looking at them this week.
While I’m gone, the students are going to keep track of the weather at home, while I record the weather where I am. We’re going to see how the beginning of Antarctic summer compares to the beginning of the Wisconsin winter.
So, I am (hopefully) off. I am really excited because my good friend, Limitless Space roomie, and Zero G mentee is going to meet me at my layover in Dallas. Having someone waiting for me there is helping with the anxiety of the upcoming travel days. Nothing like a friendly face to greet you making all of the uncertainties die away!
I will blog as often as I am able. If nothing else, I will be able to post them all when I have wifi signal. I can’t wait for the Antarctic part of this adventure to finally get here – I feel like I have been waiting years for this, as I first applied for this experience in November of 2022, after having learned about it years before Covid. I can’t believe it’s going to happen!!!! Talk to you all soon from the flip side of the planet!
Car Full of Harmony 
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