“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing”

Helen Keller

The very act of creating this website and starting this blog was an adventure of sorts. My domain name, “roughseas”, said something of the years leading up to that time, as well as the journey I was about to embark upon. Past and future. For which was it the metaphor?

Well, on the Antarctic expedition, the only rough seas I encountered were the real ones! Going on my Antarctic adventure was fulfilling a dream. A dream which should have been shared. But one which I ended up doing on my own.

Two years later, I was preparing for another expedition. The next expedition was to the Arctic. My bookshelves swelled a little with research beckoning to me. Charts had been put up. Excitement was mounting.

But it was not to happen. COVID-19 changed the world. For a couple of years, it was simply a case of deferring the expedition to the following year. However, the war in Ukraine altered things further. Needless to say, an expedition into Russian controlled waters was out of the question.

The Arctic expedition was cancelled for the foreseeable future.

It is now 2024, six years after my Antarctic expedition. The world has learned to cope with the many evolving strains of COVID. However, political unrest and environmental uncertainty continue to be global challenges. Notwithstanding this, people are travelling again.

And so, I am off to the Arctic! Needless to say, the trip will not be in the Russian Arctic, as was the previous plan.

So, you’ll just have to read my new blog to find out where I am going, and to keep up with my planning antics (and with my reading, of course).