Being my first journey to the great southern continent, this has been a whole new adventure that I’ve not experienced before. To say it has been phenomenal would terribly understate the experience.
Friends, family, and strangers have expressed a wide array of responses when discussing this journey, from its inception to where it stands today. Most of the responses conveyed positive amazement, a few expressed questioning confusion, and whilst I haven't heard it directly, I’m sure there’s one or two that think I’m downright silly and have made a very poor decision... oh well.
As an expeditioner people look at you, make their internal judgements and hold you in that place within their psyche. To match the mostly positive and amazed commentary, people would hold you as a heroic figure of sorts, pushing outside the boundaries of what would be considered normal, sane, and safe. I can understand why people would come to this conclusion. Having travelled the journey so far, I can conclusively say I know who the real heroes of this grand adventure are.
The real heroes of our journey are our families... those who remain at home. They are the unseen foundation, who weather and toil through the hardest of seasons. They don't see the amazing sights we're lucky to enjoy, they don’t experience the surreal Antarctic adventure, the light is not shone on them during this journey, and yet they continue.
Your spouse runs the household on her own, whilst working a full-time job, with pre-teen children who have expanding interests and commitments in their own lives. Sorts all the daily chores, meals, house maintenance, bills, and one naughty dog who likes to chew things. Whilst the expeditioners help as much as possible from afar, our portion of the burden carried is minimal compared to what has been added on the whole.
On top of this you have growing children and raising them is tough at the best of times. The true impact of our daily efforts often remains unclear, revealing itself only with the passage of time. Steering around the lumps and bumps of the journey while dealing with your own character imperfections, you hope you are having a net positive effect on their upbringing. Navigating their needs and emotions is an epic odyssey in and of itself. But to do so on your own with the layers of emotions, questions, and misunderstandings of this journey is long and exhausting to say the least.
The kids themselves have their own path to walk. For most this will be the longest time spent apart from one of their primary caregivers. Working through levels of grief, loss, and confusion is a lot to ask of a child. It takes special forethought, guidance, and effort to navigate this well. You miss their key milestones, the things that are important to them... you can't make that up. How do you deal with this as their parent? How do the kids process and outwork this themselves? It is not easy task for those involved.
So it I say it again with absolute certainty, the families of expeditioners are the real heroes in our story and I would like publicly acknowledge them for their ongoing hard work and sacrifice for us to be here.
To the spouses, partners, and children who make this journey possible... Thank you so much! We see you, we acknowledge you, we are SO grateful for you.
The work you've done and continue to do is hard, but you are doing your best and you're doing a bloody good job. The frustrations, shed tears, and sleepless nights are exhausting, and yet you beat on with determined resolve. The doubts, anxiety, and loneliness require and build a strength and tenacity to rise above, and you find it time... and time... and time again.
To the extended friends and family who gather round and support those at home, you play an integral part in keeping our worlds functioning smoothly.
To those who keep life running, keep our family growing, and ensure the things that matter stay healthy while we are away... we salute and honour you. You have our utmost respect and gratitude.
You are the true Heroes of our story
I don’t have photos to reflect this side of the journey as I have not walked it. I can only offer a few from the Antarctic side of the story…
Jared McGhie
Carpenter, Davis 77th
