Antarctica Did That For Me

What makes you feel alive in your life right now? Antarctica did that for us.

We’re your hosts, Keri Nelson and Cassa Grant...

Thanks for joining us! We’re old friends who met in Antarctica, and have spent years of our lives living and working there. The lessons we learned about life in Antarctica can help you start you on your journey to finding your own adventures, both far away and close to home. Understanding life at the end of the world can help you open your imagination, stir your heart, and start you on your journey to finding your own adventures…

(#1) 7 Surprising Things Antarcticans Do Differently

In this episode, we discuss the surprising things that Antarcticans do differently. The mindsets and qualities that set Antarcticans apart, like saying yes to new opportunities, being willing to be uncomfortable, and the ability to pivot and improvise.

(#2) A Day in the Life of an Antarctican

Antarctica needs plumbers. And drivers. And janitors. And builders. In this episode, we discuss our personal experiences working in Antarctica. We go into our first jobs in the continent, including being a janitor and a shuttle driver.

(#3) How Do You Get to Antarctica?

In this episode, we go over how to get to Antarctica and the different ways to experience the continent. You’ll hear some of our personal journeys… how we ended up in Antarctica and the initial skepticism one of us had.

(#4) The Ultimate World Cruise and Antarctica Winters

The Ultimate World Cruise offers guests 9 whole months of vacation - and 9 whole months of being stuck in one floating building with the same people, same food and same routine. What do the Antarcticans say? "Been there, done that."

(#5) Explain yourselves, Antarcticans (Who the heck are we?)

Our goal: connect with people who are looking for more in life and want to make a positive impact in the world. We're a podcast for everyday people with a little adventure in their hearts.

(#6) Antarctica Sucks

We love Antarctica, or we wouldn’t have kept going back year after year. But there are aspects of being there and working there that, well, sucked. In this episode, we dig into the challenges and drawbacks of living and working in Antarctica. The extreme cold and harsh weather conditions can be physically challenging, of course, but they weren’t the only challenges we met.

(#7) Socially Antarctica - How Social Media Shapes Antarctica's Story

Social media shapes our world, and Antarctica is no exception. We explore the role of platforms in shaping the way people connect and share information, as well as building genuine communities.

(#8) Taylor Swift, Flat Earthers and Antarctica

What can Taylor Swift fans teach us about Flat Earthers, and how can Swifties show us the way to a new, adventurous life? Episode 8 of Antarctica Did That For Me brings together a few topics that might seem disconnected, but that we’re fascinated with.

(#9) My Oh My, Antarctica Skies - The Solar Eclipse and Antarctica

What makes us raise our eyes to the sky? It's something we're used to in Antarctica, as there are unique phenomena on the 7th continent that can only be seen in polar regions.

(#10) Things I Know How to Do Now Because of Antarctica

Have you ever thought you knew what an experience was going to bring, and then turned out to be WAY off? Going to Antarctica for the first time, there were things we both thought we “knew” about what to expect… but we never expected the unique skills we’d build from being “on ice.”

(#11) Antarctica School

A high level overview of what's going on in Antarctica... including the Antarctic Treaty and the purpose of scientific research in the region. We discuss surprising science projects happening in Antarctica, such as the IceCube project and research on volcanoes. Then, we delve into life at McMurdo Station, the continent's largest base, covering topics like housing, food, and recreation. We also explore the operations and logistics involved in supporting the station, including transportation, supplies, and waste management.

(#12) Everywhere There's Signs - Sign Culture in Antarctica

If you've heard that lyric "signs signs, everywhere there's signs", that's no less true for the 7th continent. You can get away from the world when you work in Antarctica, but you can't get away from signs. Antarctica's vibrant sign culture includes official signs, instructional signs, community signs and more, creating a cacophony of words and instructions for Antarctica residents.

(#13) Mental Health and Antarctica Winters

Five months of total darkness… the same people day in and day out… no fresh food for six months… Antarctic winters are no joke. But one of the scariest things about signing up to spend a winter in Antarctica is considering what it might do to your mental health.

(#14) Weird Things We Brought to Antarctica

From bagpipes to jello to cedar shingles… we discuss the weirdest things that we and other Antarcticans have brought to the ice. People bring a variety of items to Antarctica to make their stay more comfortable and enjoyable. We’ve categorized them into themes- here’s a sneak peek: "The winner of this category was not just one, not two, but THIRTY Santa suits."

(#15) Midwinter in Antarctica - Waiting for the Sun

Midwinter Day: it's the only holiday in the world that’s celebrated across an entire continent by every person who lives there, and it's happening in Antarctica right now. In the deepest, darkest part of the yar, Antarcticans look for ways to see the light at the end of the tunnel - a big deal when you haven’t seen the sun for a few months.

(#16) Love On Ice - Romance in Antarctica

"Relationships in Antarctica feel bigger, the highs are higher and the lows are lower."- Keri Nelson This episode of Antarctica Did That For Me is all about L-O-V-E - or something like that.

(#17) Packing for Antarctica

Living and working at the bottom of the world doesn't happen without a little planning and careful packing. But we're not just packing for who we are, we're also packing for who we want to be (a person who reads an entire collection of Encyclopedias?)

(#18) I Am Antarctican, Who Am I?

How do you define yourself? Is it through things like: where you live, your job, your family? Is it with places you've been or people you know? How we create identities for ourselves, even in Antarctica.

(#19) Eat Drink Antarctica

If you had to go 4 months without your favorite foods, how would you cope? What about 6 months? A year? When it's cold and you're lonely and far away from home, comfort food's important, and that's especially true for Antarcticans.

(#20) Imposter Syndrome and Antarctica Adventure

Ever heard the words “Who am I to do this?” rattling around in your head, even when you’re crushing it? Yep, us too. Because if there’s one thing that doesn’t get left behind when you go to Antarctica, it’s self-doubt!

(#21) Chasing Illusions: the Mystique of Antarctic Mirages

We explore Antarctic mirages (which are called Fata Morgana) tricky optical illusions that mess with your mind and make you see things that aren’t really there.

(#22) Leadership Lessons from Antarctica

From the hierarchical “my way or the highway” approach of Captain Scott… to the more democratic style of Sir Ernest Shackleton, we discuss the leadership secrets that can make or break an expedition in the world’s harshest environment. We also dig into what we learned about leadership from our co-workers during our time in Antarctica, an environment that can bring out the best and the worst in folks.

(#23) Telling the World About Antarctica: An Interview with Matty Jordan

Matty Jordan is one of the most well-known Antarcticans active on social media today. He's used short videos to share information about the continent to hundreds of thousands of people, giving them their first introduction to Antarctic life. Matty and Keri spent this summer season working at Scott Base together, and sat down for an interview about sharing this continent with the rest of the world.

Keri

Cassa

Keri

Cassa

What makes you feel alive in your life right now?

Antarctica did that for us

We know the way we felt when we learned we could work in such a wild and adventurous place… if your heart jumped when we brought up the possibility of an adventure like that, this podcast is for you. We believe you don’t have to go all the way to Antarctica to satisfy that huge spark inside of you. We believe we all can nurture that sense of adventure and wonder in our everyday lives too.

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