Saskia’s ready for the Magnetic North Pole

Thanks to Quechua we didn't have to look for all our equipment on our own. And thanks to Luke we have a great list about all the needed gear. „Okay, no problem“, I've thought when I got it.

But the time for worries was still to come.
Right after receiving the list I started gathering the things. I'm somebody who loves packing weeks before leaving. This gives me somehow the feeling that it's going to start soon. When I now look back I'm really relieved that I did it like this. Otherwise I would have some problems now – because some of the gear took more than 5 weeks to arrive.

The best example are my shoes: I ordered the required boots in a shop nearby. Thinking about nothing bad I phoned the shop after 4 weeks (they had told me it would take 10 days to order the shoes), but they calmed me down telling me the shoes were on their way. After some more days without receiving the shoes my father started to worry, just 2 weeks left until the expedition starts! When he phoned the shop once more, the desaster was perfect: No way to get these shoes anywhere in Germany, all sold out. Okay, what now!? My whole family started to search similar boots on the internet. So we ordered 6 different pairs of boots hoping that one of them would fit. And luckily this has happened. In the third package I got I've found my personal perfect „north-pole-expedition-boots“. They look a bit different to the ones Luke has suggested but nevertheless I think they're perfect. Made for temperatures down to -40°C. This should be enough!

Well, now all my equipment is complete and I can't wait for the beginning of the expedition. I'm ready. Ready for an exciting adventure!

Saskia