A year in the "real world"

Valentine's day was my anniversary of getting on the plane and heading back to New Zealand. I celebrated by going with some of my friends to the New Hampshire showing of the Bamff Mountan Film Festival. The first time I saw the annual tour of outdoor-themed films was in Antarctica so it seems fitting. The winning films tour the world so I recommend going to see it if there is a showing nearby.

Antarctica has been on my mind daily for the past year. It is a place full of amazing, smart people with great stories. People who literally are willing to trade the world for adventure. People who pull together to keep very devoted scientists and each other alive. I've been part of small communities for most of my life from my home town in northern Vermont to a very small tight-knit college and now a small research company in New Hampshire. I've also seen the communities of thru-hikers on the Long Trail/Appalachian trail, International students studying abroad, Old VW enthusiasts, motorcycle riders, SCUBA divers and so on. Antarctica seems to forge stronger relationships than any other community I have been a part of.

I still keep in touch with ice people, usually the comment "do you miss it?" creeps into the conversation and the answer is almost always "Yes!" of the handful of people I keep up with, one is planning to go back in a few months, five have already been back, and one of them is spending a winter at McMurdo.

I don't have any plans to return...yet. At the moment my engineering career and starting a "real life" are more important than going back to the bottom of the world. So since it's been a year I figure this is a good point to reflect on what I've accomplished since my boots left the 7th continent.

What I've done in the first year post-ice, A partial list:

• Completed a 8 day ~100 mile hike in New Zealand
• Been Skydiving from 15,000 feet
• Bungee-jumped off the highest platform in New Zealand
• Traveled through two world heritage sites
• Been SCUBA diving on the Great Barrier Reef
• Walked through lava caves in Australia and in Hawaii
• Seen Volcanic eruptions
• Learned to ride a Motorcycle in Hawaii, obtained a license and ridden about 1000 miles
• Learned to drive a stick-shift and bought a new car
• Drove my old VW over 1500 miles accumulating many new stories
• Taken several hikes in the deadliest mountain range in North America
• Read several books for fun
• Moved into a new apartment in New Hampshire
• Worked for 7 months (and counting) at an engineering job that I truly believe in
• Expanded my cooking repertoire
• Tried snowboarding
• Tried skate-style XC skiing
• Watched several classic movies I've been meaning to see
• Taken several business trips
• Toured a crash test lab and watched an automotive crash test from less than 20 feet away (wear your seatbelt!)
  
• Ridden in what is arguably the world's fastest electric car in California
  
• Volunteered for a presidential campaign in New Hampshire
• Voted in a New Hampshire "First in the nation" Presidential Primary
• Been issued license plates bearing the motto "Live Free or Die"
• Spent a day in a wheelchair
• Attended two film festivals and a silent movie
• Been to a party at an inventor's house
• Attended a graduation, two weddings and a funeral
• Spent a couple of days on the couch doing nothing at all :)

Earlier today I climbed one of New Hampshire's highest peaks and felt at home in 60+ MPH winds with a wind-chill of negative something cold. In the process I used crampons for the first time. At the moment work is busy but I'm doing things I enjoy other than work so (knock on wood) life is good.

Take care everyone and thanks for reading!

Cheers

Adam