Amazing and wow! I used those words more often during my Antarctica adventure than I could count.
Now that I’ve been home from my bucket list trip for a couple of weeks it’s the right time to reflect on 
my feelings and the personal impact of taking this journey.
I feel very humble and such a small part of the earth on which we live. The Antarctica landscape is massive and mostly untouched by humans. It is also very diverse and for a nature lover I never tired of spending time appreciating nature’s art. Two weeks spent not watching any television, movies or videos were not missed at all.
Unplugging and leaving work behind during this adventure definitely recharged me like no other vacation I’ve taken. On most vacations I still check-in and stay connected to my business. For this trip I planned in advance to be 100% out of touch and depended on my team to take care of business. Jamie and Macy rose to the challenge and for the first time in over 15 years I cleared my mind of all responsibilities. This allowed me to fully focus on my adventure and absorb the special environment that is Antarctica.
The discovery at each landing or zodiac ride brought a sense of anticipation of what new and wonderful view or animal would we get to see next. We were rewarded with nesting shags, leopard seals, fin whales surfacing next to our zodiac, seeing glaciers calve and hearing the roar seconds later, the snap, crackle, pop sound of ice melting in the sea and a 360 zodiac ride to video the panoramic landscape.
By far my favorite activity was just sitting quietly and observing penguins. They always gave me a smile or giggle whether they were walking on their highway, diving into the sea, caring for a chick, building a nest, stealing a pebble or puffing themselves up big to rejoin the rookery. My favorite moments were the two rare instances when they dropped down and slid across the snow on their bellies. (For penguins there was not a lot of snow during our visit and this movement is one they use in heavy snow as it’s more efficient).
I’ve always admired penguins and my joy in them increased as I observed how curious they were of us. There was the penguin that joined our campsite after we spent the night on the ice checking out our tent nests. Another penguin stood watching the polar plungers possibly wondering why their swims out to sea were so short and applauded by their bundled mates.
In the end having a bucket list and saying yes to my Antarctica adventure made me a better business owner. I’ll share details on that in a webinar soon, but most importantly it allowed me to spend two weeks just being me. I was able to fully engage in activities that brought me joy: appreciating landscapes, observing wildlife in their natural habitat and the challenge of documenting it all in photographs.
Most of you will probably not have Antarctica on your bucket-list, but spend a few minutes thinking about what adventure do you dream of spending two weeks doing without any other responsibility?
Are you ready to take the first step to making that adventure a reality?
Well, if I made Antarctica a reality you can make your adventure come true as well. The first step is knowing that you have control to make the decisions in your life that will set you on the path. Our life is a journey and to me adventure is our reward for all the days we spend being responsible and in our routine.
As entrepreneurs we tend to allow our businesses to create a permanent connecting cord that ties us down. Don’t miss out on the wow or amazing opportunities waiting for you, gather up your courage and cut the cord.
You and your business will survive and in my experience both will be better off as a result.