Shackleton's Car

I now have less than three weeks to go untill my final trip to Antarctica, and my thoughts have now started to drift towards "what shall I take"?

Last time I went I took way to much crap, lots of things I didn't use. Books I didn't read and games I didn't play. There where things I kicked myself for not taking, a belt being one.

So I have decided to do some research into past explorers and "the equipment they could have done without"!

For anyone who knows the story of Ernest Shackleton and his amazing tale of Endurance, I am sure that you like me would be shocked to find out he took a car with him on one of his trips.

When he left for the Antarctic in 1907 on his Nimrod expedition, he carried on board his ship an Arrol-Johnston car. It had been donated for free and according to the company press release " it would sprint to the Pole".

This was the first time that a car had been taken to the Antarctic, but in the event it took a lot of time and energy to keep it going, for little reward. It would overheat leaving Shackleton and his men standing around in the freezing cold waiting around for it to cool down.

Needless to say I won't be taking a car, but I am wondering if I should go heavy on the tech, laptops , cameras, GPS devices etc or just travel light iPhone and not much less, the less barriers between you and the experience the better :-)

Posted via email from shadowcast posterous