How do you pay for things at the South Pole?

In case you wondered how you would pay for things at the South Pole, I can help you out now.  :)

I just recently learned that it is NOT possible anymore to pay at the South Pole with personal checks, and they also do not take credit cards or debit cards. That leaves only cash. And with cash I mean US dollars. South Pole is an US American station after all, so the currency there is US dollars.

I won't need cash to pay for accommodation, or for my meals. That is all included in my deployment deal. I will need cash for fun stuff. Like things from the souvenir shop (oh yes, there is a souvenir shop at the South Pole!), or all the postcards I plan to write, or even the booze plan to drink in the evenings. Carefully considering all these things I could spend money on, I better take quite some cash with me!

Camera

I finally bought a really nice digital SLR camera. I was toying with the idea since a while, but always put that wish on hold because of other things I needed to pay for more urgently. But I really, really wanted to get a good camera for the trip south, and so about two weeks ago I strained my budget to buy a new Canon EOS 60D.

Last week Friday it arrived on the mail and since then I barely can keep my hands off of it. :)
I should have bought the thing ages ago...

Anyway now I desperately try to learn quickly how to take awesome pictures with this camera. I'll get a lesson from a friend of mine this afternoon. He is a photographer, and he gave me good advice on what SLR camera to buy in the first place. I got some advice on cold weather photography from another friend a few days ago. Obviously I have to be concerned about condensation in the camera and the possibility of frying some parts if I am not careful. Hopefully that won't happen! I just GOT the camera! I don't really want to ruin it within the first month it is in my possession...

Tickets!!

I got my tickets on Friday. FINALLY!

I will leave Denver, December 2nd, 2.55pm, and will fly via Los Angeles, Sydney/Australia, to Christchurch/ New Zealand. Not such a bad route. I expected worse...
I will then be in Christchurch until the 6th, get a briefing on how to survive in cold climate, get the cold weather gear (that they lend you), and then I'll fly to McMurdo on the 6th. If everything works out as planned. We'll see.

I also got my brand new SLR camera on Friday! :)
I tried it out over the weekend and the pictures looks just amazing. What a difference to my small snap and shot camera.
So now I am all set to actually start the South Pole adventure!

More forms...

After I did not hear anything about my travel plans last week (although I did inquire), I decided on Tuesday to go talk to the Antarctic travel coordinator here at NOAA to double-check that I am still on the list. As a result I got an email yesterday from the travel agency organizing the travel for all the NOAA people going down to Antarctica. And I learned that they are missing three forms from me. And that they can't do anything until I submit those forms.
Honestly?! And when exactly would I have learned about those missing forms if I would not have inquired?? Maybe the day before I would have had to leave?

Anyway, I submitted the forms now, and I know a little more about my travel dates. The preliminary dates are now:

Denver/Colorado - Christchurch/NZ: December 2nd 2012
Christchurch/NZ - McMurdo/Antarctica: December 6th 2012
McMurdo/Antarctica - South Pole/Antarctica: December 7th 2012

South Pole/Antarctica - McMurdo/Antarctica: December 20th 2012
McMurdo/Antarctica - Christchurch/NZ: December 21st 2012

Everything after that will be way to vague to think about already. I heard that the weather in Antarctica was pretty bad for quite a while so hat travel to the Pole is delayed at the moment by about one to two weeks. So the dates above will most likely not coincide with the actual days of me traveling somewhere, but at least I have a rough idea of the dates now.

But that means I will leave Boulder in about two and a half weeks!!
I'm getting excited!!

No news

Ok, it is the beginning of November, and I still have no clue about my travel schedule. I can only guess so far. Well, I give them (=the responsible institution issuing the tickets) until the beginning of next week, then I will carefully inquire...

At least I slowly get more information about small travel details (where to sit on the military airplane that will bring us from NZ to Antarctica), what kind of clothes to bring, what kind of entertainment (seems like I need an iPad for the trip...) etc. I might actually know enough to survive before I have to leave Boulder...  ;)