Packing it all in

I had the pleasure of giving an assembly today at an incredible new school who are a model of how to use the Fuchs Foundation Antarctic Expedition to the full: Crawley Down Primary School in West Sussex.

1. This morning I gave an assembly to the whole school. The students listened brilliantly and asked excellent questions. Press were in attendance.
2. After the assembly a group of students gave me experiments they want me to perform in Antarctica (friction tests, reaction times, weather comparisons etc).
3. I will send back the results from the ice.
4. The results will be analysed during a Science Week, which revolves around the Poles. A TV crew will record the students using the expedition.
5. The students write an article on the school's involvement for a children's newspaper.

The students get an incredible educational experience, the school gets lots of publicity and I get sponsorship money and motivation (from the enthusiasm of the students)... a win, win, win situation!

My other task today was to complete some incredibly complicated packing: What can I not buy in South America as that needs to be in my hand luggage? (Answer: my boots). What won't I need until Antarctica? What will I need in Punta? What don't I need as I'm 5kg over my luggage limit?!

I think I'm about there, although some weight still needs to be lost. I will drop the kit with the expedition leader tomorrow at our testing in Portsmouth and meet back up with it on Friday for final checks. The whole process was quite therapeutic, it made me think through all the complications of travelling in Antarctica and what kit I have to cope; this was far better than the general worrying I had been doing... I admit, in this case, detail is better than the big picture... this expedition is changing me!