Does your research or work involve an expedition to Antarctica? Mine did. Or, maybe you are just curious. Here are suggestions to prepare you for your Antarctic expedition!

Below I share 31 items to pack if you have to take a trip (I have a book on this as well) to the bottom of the planet, along with tips on the essentials for the trip and very important note on hikes that could save your life!

I was in Antarctica for 2 months during the period of October – December of 2016 to launch and support a NASA-funded balloon mission to detect ultra-high-energy neutrinos (ANITA-4).

What you need to pack for your Antarctic expedition

1. TISSUES. If you use tissues to blow your nose, bring ’em. There are none on the continent but you WILL produce insane amounts of snot (sorry to be gross, but ’tis the truth)

2. Plenty of normal street clothes, like what you wear every day. In McMurdo you can do laundry once a week, but if you are traveling to field camps probably not as often. Bring them jeans, shirts, tops, blouses, skirts, whatever you regularly wear. I made the mistake of not bringing enough clothes :/

3. Several leggings for wearing under clothes. Layering up is always a good idea. Plus, you cannot have enough leggings if you live in a place that gets really cold in the winter. So if you buy some leggings to bring to the ice, it won’t be like buying something that you won’t use later. These look promising.

4. Couple pairs of thermal underwear (e.g. from Cabela’s) for when staying out for longer periods of time. Definitely for hikes. Remember, if it is nice in McMurdo it does NOT mean it will be nice everywhere and weather in a desert can CHANGE very quickly and drastically. Learned the hard way. Do NOT underestimate the desert when going for hikes.

5. Long thick socks (Costco has good deals). They gotta be long and they gotta be thick. Do NOT bring ankle-length socks. I won’t get into what happened to me on my Antarctic expedition when I wore the wrong kind of socks.. :/

6. At least one warm hat, preferably one that preserves body heat (e.g. from Cabela’s)

7. Earplugs and/or noise-canceling headphones to mitigate military plane LOUD noise, roommate’s snoring, and loud talking. The plane rides are LOUD. You need some sort of ear protection. And, you will probably be with team members 24/7 during your expedition. Headphones will be your ONLY escape if you want some me-time.

8. Wipes for cleaning hands and other body parts on the plane or in a field camp. Military plane bathrooms are very interesting and may not have the stuff you are used to.

9. Good eye mask in case your roommate’s schedule is different from yours, plus remember 24-hrs sunlight during Summer there.

10. Slippers for going to the bathroom. Some dorms have community bathrooms. Others share bathrooms between two suites.

11. Good Body Lotion, it is VERY dry in Antarctica. You will need a lotion every day throughout your Antarctic expedition. I used Cetaphil and Vaseline.12. Bring your own favorite sanitary napkins and/or tampons. These items are not found easily :/

13. Bathing suit. There are saunas. Good to use these when you have been outside working and get really cold.

14. Workout clothes and shoes. There are 2-3 gyms in McMurdo.

15. Warm, fuzzy slippers for wearing in the dorm and common room. I also wore a warm, fuzzy house-gown (from Macy’s) a lot in the dorm and everyone else wished they had one.

16. Work gloves that you can grab screws with. Good to have these in addition to the gloves you will be issued. Throw in some hand-warmers if needed. You get free hand-warmers in McMurdo.

17. Decent-ish sunglasses, few pairs. You don’t want really cheap ones since you really rely on them. They might break so you might want a few. I bought one $100 Michael Kors pair that lasted me the whole season.18. Spare prescription glasses, contact lenses In case you break your glasses or lose your contacts, you want some spares so you can continue to see.

19. Washcloth and towel Bring your own because these will not be supplied.

20. Power adapter for your time in New Zealand

21. Lightweight boots or decent shoes for hiking and wearing around McMurdo and other stations. The hikes are over snow, gravel, and rocks, you don’t need anything extravagant but you probably want decent shoes. I say if you have a reliable pair of snow boots from Sorel or some such, bring those.
I have these and love them.

22. Some sort of music player, book, or something to keep you busy during rides to and from field camps during your Antarctic expedition. NO internet on your phone there, remember. You could play music on your phone offline, though, if you have some downloaded. Or, read a book.

23. Nice Clothes for holiday dinners (Christmas, Thanksgiving)

24. Good camera for taking pictures where most people have never been… get ready to see sights that are beyond beautiful and maybe take some snaps.

25. Backup hard drive (at least 1-2TB) You don’t want to go that far and not be able to bring your data back.

26. If you have space, a backup laptop. In case your laptop dies. There aren’t any laptop stores there.

27. Medicines. Lots and lots of cold meds, pain-relief type meds, digestion/diarrhea meds, general first-aid kit stuff are nice to have. You can get some meds there too but bring your own supply.

28. Any arts and crafts supplies or games, etc. you really want to have. You can check out musical instruments and ski equipment at McMurdo Station. There is an arts and crafts room. Games are available in the wine bar. There are two gyms, one with aerobic machines and another with weights. There are also yoga classes and a knitting community.

29. Movies and TV shows. There are VHS and DVD players in the lounges. There is a TV in the grantee’s rooms that plays movies regularly. I packed a 256GB flash drive full of movies and shows.

30. Party clothes. There are several dance parties throughout the summer season. There’s also a costume party on Halloween, but people just usually go to Skua (a place where people get rid of stuff and others pick it up for free.)

31. Some people buy whiskey in Christchurch at this whiskey wholesaler and then they have a nice bottle for the entire season. You can bring liquor in your luggage if it meets the weight restrictions (85 lbs).

Find more details on how to have a successful Antarctic expedition in my book, blog on the book below.

NEW BOOK! Antarctic Travel Guide – “How to Antarctica”