Ouch! Clothes Shopping for Antarctica

When planning for a vacation of any sort, the correct clothing is essential. What became apparent as we shopped for my Antarctica cruise last night is:

  1. I don’t get out in the cold much, &
  2. shopping for clothing can be expensive!
Clothes for Antarctica

Be sure to budget for clothing.

While the Vancouver/Whistler area is world-renowned for its fabulous skiing & snowboarding, the reality is that the snow is in the mountains. The snow report for Mt. Seymour, for example, a mountain on the edge of the suburbs, is currently reporting 114” of machine groomed snow at the base. However, as I look out the window, there is no snow at all and a single rose bud is stubbornly struggling against the winter in our garden. While I still have never received a scientific reason that satisfies my understanding as to why (anyone? I have my theories), every Vancouverite knows that the higher you go up into the mountains, the colder it gets. Simply staying in the valley, you can avoid the snow for all but a handful of days each winter. And until recently, when I discovered the joy of snowshoeing, I really didn’t play in the white stuff. We tend to be beach folk in our house.

So, when I finally took inventory of the clothes I had versus the clothes on the packing list provided by Quark, it became apparent that I needed to go shopping.  The list they provided follows, so you can see what you are getting yourself into, but, if you go, be sure to use the packing list provided for your own trip. I was asked to have: