I’ve just finished packing. I’ll get a few hours sleep before I head off to the airport. I’ve spent the last two days talking to the boys at Omar Ibn Al Khattab High School and Middle School (I hope some of you guys are reading this now). I spent all morning today and yesterday talking to somewhere around a thousand students. I thought I’d have a hard time talking about climate change and CO2, about making the link between Qatar and Antarctica. But no, they get that stuff. It came surprisingly easy to them… I mean, sure, the Qatar Antarctica link isn’t too clear. That's definitely something I’ll be trying to learn more about while I’m there.

I’m playing around with the video camera right now… trying to get this video I took of myself packing all my anti-cold gear to fast forward… I got asked a lot of questions on what I’m going to wear in the Antarctic. What are you going to take one huge jacket? Now I’m no expert, but from what the guy down at the store tells me the trick is to build up an extension of your own skin. Similar to how the animals have adapted. Here’s my (his) strategy:

First Layer: Wool Undershirt, something nice and warm but breathable
Second Layer—Shirt made of wicking. This is the same stuff that’s in quick dry sports shirts, it basically draws the moisture away from the skin.
Third Layer—Fake Fleece—this is keeps you warm
Fourth Layer – Down jacket. This is basically a big fluffy comforter (blanket) that fits around your body.
Final layer—Water and wind proof jacket.

Pretty much the same kind of strategy for the bottoms, the gloves, the socks and even the head. I’m sure this guy knows what he’s talking about. The hard part though is trying to get all of these things to fit into a bag. Some of these things are really bulky, especially that down jacket (I suppose I could just wear it all the way there, I’d probably sleep really nicely on the airplane in that jacket).  Anyway I’ve put together a little video of the packing that you might be able to see.

Ok I’ve now got a few hours to sleep (less than when I started writing this blog but its going to be a long trip, so plenty of time for that).  What do I feel about Antarctica… well its still quite far away, at least four more days. All I really see right now are airports, check-in, customs, passport and baggage claim.