October 19, 2007
Endless Summer
You would think that as a polar explorer I might try to avoid places where the temperature exceeds 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Never assume. Especially if you can imagine yourself surrounded by miles and miles of ice and snow. If you stop moving, you are freezing. Life is sifted down into three basic things: moving across the ice to stay warm, eating to stay warm or trying to keep as warm as possible while sleeping. Hanging out, relaxing, sitting casually somewhere are definitely not part of the equation.
One of my biggest fantasies during my North Pole expedition in '06 was not of gourmet meals or a warm bed, but just simply being able to sit outside without freezing my you know what off.
Enter Hawaii. I was asked to speak on the big Island of Hawaii at the Hawaii Preparatory Academy. As part of my responsibilities, I would also participate in an environmental fair a week after my speaking engagements at the school. That left roughly 7 days to...
Now don't jump to any sort of rash conclusions here. My main priority being here is to work. I scheduled some other lectures on Oahu at the Mid Pacific Institute and managed to get quite a bit of office work done as well. But who I am kidding here.
This is Hawaii. For a kid from Minnesota who spends most of his life behind the protective folds of four layers of long underwear, the chance to experience Island life doesn't come often. On the agenda this afternoon, snorkeling and maybe more surfing (or trying to surf).
In another two months northern Minnesota will be snow covered and cold. I will most likely be out somewhere training for my Save the Poles expedition. In two years, I will be in Antarctica. Every day, I will be very cold, tired and hungry. With limited food, only so many clothes and one sleeping bag, it is right then that I will need to remember surfing with my friend Lukas and floating on a seemingly unending warm ocean.
Never assume. Especially if you can imagine yourself surrounded by miles and miles of ice and snow. If you stop moving, you are freezing. Life is sifted down into three basic things: moving across the ice to stay warm, eating to stay warm or trying to keep as warm as possible while sleeping. Hanging out, relaxing, sitting casually somewhere are definitely not part of the equation.
One of my biggest fantasies during my North Pole expedition in '06 was not of gourmet meals or a warm bed, but just simply being able to sit outside without freezing my you know what off.
Enter Hawaii. I was asked to speak on the big Island of Hawaii at the Hawaii Preparatory Academy. As part of my responsibilities, I would also participate in an environmental fair a week after my speaking engagements at the school. That left roughly 7 days to...
Now don't jump to any sort of rash conclusions here. My main priority being here is to work. I scheduled some other lectures on Oahu at the Mid Pacific Institute and managed to get quite a bit of office work done as well. But who I am kidding here.
This is Hawaii. For a kid from Minnesota who spends most of his life behind the protective folds of four layers of long underwear, the chance to experience Island life doesn't come often. On the agenda this afternoon, snorkeling and maybe more surfing (or trying to surf).
In another two months northern Minnesota will be snow covered and cold. I will most likely be out somewhere training for my Save the Poles expedition. In two years, I will be in Antarctica. Every day, I will be very cold, tired and hungry. With limited food, only so many clothes and one sleeping bag, it is right then that I will need to remember surfing with my friend Lukas and floating on a seemingly unending warm ocean.