Antarctic

I remember planning my very first overseas hiking trip to Scotland in my early 20s. I had planned to hike a specific stretch of the West Highland Way Trail which—with a couple of diversions—would take 12 days. I bought all of my gear. I trained. I booked time off work—my entire two weeks’ vacation. Then my dream trip and I hit a wall: my allotted two weeks wasn’t enough once I factored in flight arrival times and the necessary train journeys within the country to get me to the trail ahead and back to the airport in time. In short: I had to abort a much dreamed-about trip because I didn’t have enough travel days in my budget. Being strapped for time is a universal conundrum faced by many travelers. Over the years I’ve watched as many (too many) friends have postponed or outright canceled their dream trips because of time restrictions. Luckily for polar travelers who dream of going to Antarctica to see whales, penguins and unforgettable ice formations, there’s an excellent solution for time-crunched folks who long to set foot on the Antarctic Peninsula. It’s called “Fly the Drake.” Total time-saver: It’s the fastest way to reach Antarctica! Quark Expedition guests arriving at King George Island. Photo credit: Jimmy MacDonald It used to be that a trip to Antarctica would take weeks—if not an entire month. If you didn’t have heaps of time on your hands, a voyage to the Antarctic wasn’t a viable option. Quark Expeditions, in response to travelers who were […]