We've traveled quite a bit - not as much as some, but likely more than others. These trips have taken us throughout the US, Europe and Asia. For these past trips, we didn't find it necessary to do much preparation in respect to clothing. Most of the items we packed came from our closets. Our upcoming trips to Africa and Antarctica have upped the challenge a bit. Moreover, watching the weather from videos covering the ice trapped ship, Akademik Shokalskiy, it might be best to be prepared for some very cold conditions.
We will be traveling to South Africa during the region's winter. Our Antarctica and South America trips will be over the local summer. While the range of temperatures we'll run across will be wide, we need to keep our luggage weight to a minimum due to regional air carrier restrictions. This has caused us to reconsider our approach to travel clothes for these two trips. Light and washable is our clothes mantra. Below are a few items I recently picked up.
Lightweight baselayer clothing In South Africa, the winter temperatures can range from 42F (evening) to 73F (days). The summer temperature in Antarctica can range from 20F to 30F days. With this in mind, I've added a couple of pairs of baselayer shirts and pants for night and early morning African wildlife safaris. These baselayer items will likely be worn throughout the Antarctic trip.
Midweight outerwear clothing I also will be bringing a Primaloft insulated vest and jacket. These clothing items can still maintain body heat if they become wet - while down insulated clothing loses most of its warmth capability when wet. The Primaloft insulated clothes dry relatively fast - whether washed or dampened by rain. The expedition company hosting our Antarctic trip will be supplying a
triple layer waterproof parka for us to use and retain after the trip.
Accompanying these items will be a polar fleece mid-weight sweater, mock turtle neck shirts and maybe a neck gater.
Light colored, bug repellant shirts I've read that it's best to wear light colored clothing in Africa. Apparently, darker colors appear to attract insect life. While in Seattle, I picked up a couple of Columbia long-sleeved insect blocker travel shirts that were on clearance at half-price.These shirts should also be useful in Chile and Argentina.
Medium-sized folding duffel bag As we depart Antarctica for side trips in Chile and Argentina, the heavy Antarctic parkas will no longer be needed and become somewhat of a burden. Thus, we need a large enough duffel to pack two bulky jackets for airport transit. REI sells duffel bags that collapse into a small bag. I've been warned that the expedition parkas often take on an offensive penguin poop odor and I'll pack a few plastic bags to contain any odd odors.
Waterproof pants, hat, socks and gloves In addition to the parka, the Antarctic expedition host will supply boots for landings and ice floe visits. However, we will need to supply our own waterproof pants and gloves. After considering pants with a chemical water repellant treatment, I decided to go with Gore-Tex NorthFace Freedom Shell waterproof pants. While more expensive, I opted for being better prepared for really wet weather. These pants have belt loops so that you don't have to solely rely on a velcro closure. Similarly, I purchased two pairs of Gore-Tex gloves with separate liners. Not being sure how long it will take for gloves to dry on board the ship, bringing two pairs seems a prudent decision.
For socks, I've purchased a couple of thick Carhartt Merino wool winter boot socks and a couple of thinner wool socks as liners. The apparent need to wick moisture away from your foot led to the selection of wool socks and avoiding socks with a heavy reliance on cotton
Finally, I just picked up a Carhartt Anmoore cap with a polyester/tricot lining and a spandex facemask that pulls out from the cap liner for really cold weather protection. This cap could also be useful when snow starts falling at Tahoe.
Binoculars I was planning on renting a pair of Swaroski 10x42 EL binoculars for our safari and Antarctica trip. The retail price for the EL is high and with our only periodic use of binoculars I can't justify the purchase, nor for that matter, a pair of Leica Trinovids. I've found an online rental source and the rental rate is typically around $15 per day, plus shipping in both directions, for the EL. Recently, I came across a Cornell Ornithology review that suggests the 2013 Zeiss Conquest HD 10x42 is highly rated for performance, sharpness and clarity, at a lesser price point. While still more costly than just renting the EL binoculars, after about three moderate length trips the total rental price would start to exceed the purchase price of the Conquest HD binoculars. This is causing us to rethink the rental route.
Enough of this cold weather discussion. We'll be traveling to Hawaii in a few weeks and looking forward to some sun.
We will be traveling to South Africa during the region's winter. Our Antarctica and South America trips will be over the local summer. While the range of temperatures we'll run across will be wide, we need to keep our luggage weight to a minimum due to regional air carrier restrictions. This has caused us to reconsider our approach to travel clothes for these two trips. Light and washable is our clothes mantra. Below are a few items I recently picked up.
Lightweight baselayer clothing In South Africa, the winter temperatures can range from 42F (evening) to 73F (days). The summer temperature in Antarctica can range from 20F to 30F days. With this in mind, I've added a couple of pairs of baselayer shirts and pants for night and early morning African wildlife safaris. These baselayer items will likely be worn throughout the Antarctic trip.
Midweight outerwear clothing I also will be bringing a Primaloft insulated vest and jacket. These clothing items can still maintain body heat if they become wet - while down insulated clothing loses most of its warmth capability when wet. The Primaloft insulated clothes dry relatively fast - whether washed or dampened by rain. The expedition company hosting our Antarctic trip will be supplying a
triple layer waterproof parka for us to use and retain after the trip.Accompanying these items will be a polar fleece mid-weight sweater, mock turtle neck shirts and maybe a neck gater.
Medium-sized folding duffel bag As we depart Antarctica for side trips in Chile and Argentina, the heavy Antarctic parkas will no longer be needed and become somewhat of a burden. Thus, we need a large enough duffel to pack two bulky jackets for airport transit. REI sells duffel bags that collapse into a small bag. I've been warned that the expedition parkas often take on an offensive penguin poop odor and I'll pack a few plastic bags to contain any odd odors.
Waterproof pants, hat, socks and gloves In addition to the parka, the Antarctic expedition host will supply boots for landings and ice floe visits. However, we will need to supply our own waterproof pants and gloves. After considering pants with a chemical water repellant treatment, I decided to go with Gore-Tex NorthFace Freedom Shell waterproof pants. While more expensive, I opted for being better prepared for really wet weather. These pants have belt loops so that you don't have to solely rely on a velcro closure. Similarly, I purchased two pairs of Gore-Tex gloves with separate liners. Not being sure how long it will take for gloves to dry on board the ship, bringing two pairs seems a prudent decision.
For socks, I've purchased a couple of thick Carhartt Merino wool winter boot socks and a couple of thinner wool socks as liners. The apparent need to wick moisture away from your foot led to the selection of wool socks and avoiding socks with a heavy reliance on cotton
Finally, I just picked up a Carhartt Anmoore cap with a polyester/tricot lining and a spandex facemask that pulls out from the cap liner for really cold weather protection. This cap could also be useful when snow starts falling at Tahoe.
Binoculars I was planning on renting a pair of Swaroski 10x42 EL binoculars for our safari and Antarctica trip. The retail price for the EL is high and with our only periodic use of binoculars I can't justify the purchase, nor for that matter, a pair of Leica Trinovids. I've found an online rental source and the rental rate is typically around $15 per day, plus shipping in both directions, for the EL. Recently, I came across a Cornell Ornithology review that suggests the 2013 Zeiss Conquest HD 10x42 is highly rated for performance, sharpness and clarity, at a lesser price point. While still more costly than just renting the EL binoculars, after about three moderate length trips the total rental price would start to exceed the purchase price of the Conquest HD binoculars. This is causing us to rethink the rental route.Enough of this cold weather discussion. We'll be traveling to Hawaii in a few weeks and looking forward to some sun.
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