Packing List

I am planning on updating this list when I get back to say which items were worth taking & which could have been left at home. 

I found it harder than I thought I would to decide what to take with me to Antarctica. I read some other blogs, as well as the comprehensive recommended packing list from Oceanwide Expeditions (www.oceanwide-expeditions.com/blog/what-to-pack-on-your-antarctic-cruise), but am still not sure whether I’ve packed the correct things!

I love packing and usually start putting things aside a good few weeks before going on a holiday. However, I always end up packing too much for the children, and never enough for myself. I aim for a capsule wardrobe when I go abroad, but inevitably wish I’d brought one more dress or that particular pair of shorts. So far, I have never packed perfectly for myself – but if there’s really a desperate need for something, then there are always shops nearby. But in Antartica, this is not going to be the case! And with temperatures averaging -38°C at the moment, I really do need to make some sensible decisions – not only with clothes, but with equipment as well.

On top of this, the advice from Oceanwide Expeditions is to take a suitcase that can collapse down as small as possible (so no hardshell cases) because in the majority of cabins, the luggage has to be stored underneath the beds. I have ended up borrowing a holdall on wheels from my parents, which should do the job (see below).

So, here is the final content list for my suitcase! Fortunately, I already had the majority of items from previous skiing trips – and borrowed most of the extra items. My family were amazing and bought me the Joby tripod, polarising lens, wool gloves and head torch as Christmas presents. The only thing I did upgrade myself was my ski jacket, which I managed to get in a Mountain Warehouse sale in January. While I was trying it on at home, Adam pointed out that a white and grey jacket may not be the best colours to wear to a place which will be predominantly white and grey… However, inside the jacket was a little label. Reassuring or slightly terrifying – you decide!

Cold Clothing:

• Salopettes (waterproof ski trousers)
• Ski jacket 
• Thermals x 3
• Silk leggings
• Silk gloves
• Waterproof gloves (you can fold the tip of the thumb & forefinger back on mine so that you can take photographs / use a phone more easily)
• Wool gloves
• Wool hats x 2
• Ski goggles
• Sunglasses (see below)
• Neckwarmer scarf
• Neck tube (mine had a bit of wire stitched in so that you could pull it up over your face and pinch it onto your nose to prevent it from falling down)
• Thermal / ski socks x 5
• Bamboo socks x 7

Oceanwide Expeditions provided rubber boots for everyone to wearing ashore.

The sunglasses I’m taking with me are of the side-shield variety. As you can see in the photo on the left, I rocked this look when I was 9 and am not about to let a little thing like fashion-sense stop me now!

Boat Clothing:

• Jeans x 2
• Vest tops x 2
• Short sleeved t-shirts x 4
• Long sleeved t-shirt 
• Zip-up fleece
• Jumpers x 3
• Converse-style trainers
• Fluffy-lined boots
• Pashmina
• Pyjamas
• Swimsuit (we were told there might be a polar plunge opportunity…)
• Comfortable underwear!

Equipment / Other Stuff:

• Camera (mine is a Canon 600D with a 16-300mm lens)
• Polarising camera filter
• 2x teleconverter lens
• Tripod
• Joby mini tripod
• Binoculars
• Mobile phone
• Waterproof mobile phone cover
• Headtorch
• iPad (I wasn’t originally going to take this, but you need to pay extra for access to wi-fi on the ship- and you need to use the wi-fi to use the onboard entertainment system, so I thought downloading a few things to watch offline instead would be a good idea. You can do this by using the Netflix, Amazon Prime & YouTube apps. I think iTunes do it too – but you have to buy the tv show/film)
• Kindle
• Laptop (I am planning on off-loading my photos from my SD card straight onto the Mac so that I can free up space on the card & have some fun editing the photos whilst I’m there)
• Headphones
• Anti-sickness everything! (ginger capsules, tablets, wristbands)
• Small first aid kit
• Notebooks & pencil case
• Currency (this was quite tricky. Onboard, they accept Euros or US Dollars, as well as card payments. However, I’ll be spending 24 hours in Ushuaia before boarding the ship – and I can’t get my hands on any Argentine pesos in the UK. Apparently, its to do with the rapidly rising inflation in Argentina – but it means I have no pesos in my pocket before leaving. The information I managed to find was conflicting: some sites said that taxis etc accept US dollars, others said pesos only. So at time of leaving, I have got a mix of Euros and US dollars and am hopefully going to change some into pesos when I reach Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini. I know exchange rates are awful in airports, but I can’t see an alternative at the moment. Will update!)