Introduction:

In my mid-twenties, I promised myself that I would visit all 7 continents by age 40. I kinda thought that would happen naturally, without any special effort on my part. Alas, I now find myself precisely age 40, and I've only been to 5 continents!


So at the end of 2007, I booked a flight to Argentina, the most common jumping-off point for voyages to Antarctica. I've scheduled about a month to find a stand-by berth on an expedition ship. I depart Argentina on February 7, 2008, for Melbourne, Australia. If all goes as planned, I will celebrate my 7th continent on February 10. And if I'm not too hung over, I will celebrate my 41st birthday on February 11. In Spanish, they call this timing "justito." I'd call it "cutting things close." Welcome along for the ride!


A note regarding photos: if you have trouble viewing the slide shows, try this alternate link: http://picasaweb.google.com/travelinsider .


Monday

Saturday December 29: Trust But Verify (that they are really trying to find your luggage):

I've made 30 calls to airport to find my luggage, but had zero luck getting the bastards to answer the damn phone. Finally, I had to take a little bicycle trip to the airport, so I could, ehem, get their attention. They freaked out a bit that I had come to pay them a visit. Which was good, since I was really ready for a change of clothes. Yep, turns out my luggage had been found, and sent to USH, where it was laying on the top of a mountain of lost luggage, each piece labeled "RUSH." Wonder when I would have gotten it if I had just waited around.

Posted by Michael McColl at 16:30

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