Antarctica in Shackleton's Footsteps with Jonathan Thompson

Take a freezing journey to Antarctica with legendary travel writer Jonathan Thompson, following in the footsteps of the great polar explorer Ernest Shackleton for the 100th anniversary of his Endurance expedition. The Endurance is one of the greatest adventure tales ever told. With both poles already discovered, Shackleton's plan was to do something even bolder and more ambitious. He planned to cross the entire Antarctic continent on foot, a distance of more than 1800-miles, across the coldest, most unforgiving place on Earth. But disaster struck almost immediately. His ship got stuck in the ice and started to break up beneath him, forcing him to abandon it and begin a desperate trek to save the lives of his crew. He had little chance of success. What followed was nothing short of a miracle.Hear Shackleton's story interwoven with JT's own journey. Highlights include: Crossing the Drake Passage, the most dangerous stretch of sea on the planet Ice camping on Antarctica itself, something very few people have ever experienced Visiting scientific research bases and sampling the Ukranian base's home-brewed vodka Exploring enormous penguin colonies Hiking and cross-country skiing in one of the remotest places on Earth Kayaking among seals, whales and enormous pale blue icebergs Taking the infamous 'Polar Plunge', a freezing dip into Antarctic ocean through a hole cut into the ice itself Through it all, learn what it's like to take a bucket-list cruise to the bottom of the Earth, discover the untouched beauty of the last truly wild continent, and be inspired by one of the greatest adventure stories of all time.Follow Jonathan Thompson:@JT_Travelshttps://www.instagram.com/jt_travels/https://twitter.com/JT_TravelsOriginal music by Alistair Nisbet. For more information contact: https://www.facebook.com/allynisbethttps://www.instagram.com/ally.nisbet/To book this trip for yourself, visit: http://www.armchair-explorer.comThe Armchair Explorer podcast is adventure storytelling with beats, original music and cinematic effects. Each episode one of the world's greatest adventurers tell their best story from the road. No long-winded interviews, just straight to heart of the action.Host Aaron Millar is a multi-award-winning travel writer, journalist and author. He contributes regularly to The Times of London, National Geographic Traveller (UK), and many other national and international publications. He has presented travel documentaries for National Geographic TV, written two books for London publisher Icon - 50 Greatest Wonders of the World & 50 Greatest National Parks of the World - and is the 2014 and 2017 British Guild of Travel Writers Travel Writer of the Year. Aaron grew up in Brighton, England but is currently hiding out in the Rocky Mountains of Louisville, Colorado. @AaronMWriterhttps://www.instagram.com/aaronmwriter/https://twitter.com/AaronMWriterFacebook: @armchairexplorerpodcast Mentioned in this episode:Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities across the network, see the link below.Voyascape Podcast NetworkCheck out the Smart Travel PodcastThis week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel at the Link below:Smart Travel Podcast