By Gavin Francis

Antarctica is the only continent that remains largely untouched by humans. The few brave souls who venture there to learn its ways come back with riveting tales about the animals who call Antarctica home and the icy landscape that stretches far beyond what the eye can see. Gavin Francis’s experience is no different. In his late twenties, Francis volunteered as a doctor at an Antarctic research base where he learned the true trials of a deep, frozen winter. In a world where people are forced to become intimately familiar with each other, relying on radio for outside connection, and where money seems to lose its importance, some even go mad. Francis details his feelings of both freedom and confinement, wisdom and inexperience. While Antarctica might not be on everyone’s list of vacation destinations, there’s no doubt that the icy continent inspires a sense of wonder in all.