Fly into Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world and the jumping-off point for almost every Antarctic expedition on earth. Your transfer to the group hotel is included.

Take the evening to settle into this beautiful little city at the bottom of the map, tucked between the Martial Mountains and the Beagle Channel.

Tonight, the sixteen of us gather for the first time over dinner in Ushuaia. Most of you will have been talking in the group chat for months, so this is the night you put faces to names.

Begin the two-day crossing of the Drake Passage, the stretch of open ocean between South America and Antarctica. It's named for Sir Francis Drake, whose ship was blown south past the tip of South America in 1578. Rounding Cape Horn at the bottom of South America is some of the most storied sailing on earth.

The Drake is the roughest stretch of sea most people will ever cross. You won’t know if it’s going to be glass or a real swell until you’re out there. 

This is also where the trip's community really forms. The expedition team runs presentations on the wildlife, ice, and history you're heading into. You'll be out on deck watching albatross track the ship, in the two-story library, in the sauna, at the bar. It will be the perfect time to bond with your crew.

Cross the Antarctic Convergence, the biological boundary where the Southern Ocean begins. The water temperature drops within a few miles, and that's the moment you're in Antarctica.

You'll have four days around the peninsula and the South Shetland Islands with no set schedule. Each morning the expedition team looks at the ice, wind, and sea, and decides where the ship can go that day. Most days you'll get out for a Zodiac cruise among the icebergs, a shore landing, or both, and over four days you'll have several chances to get ashore. The team builds each day around the weather.

The following is not guaranteed, but some examples of where you may go. Deception Island is a flooded volcano, and the ship sails right into the middle of it through a narrow gap called Neptune's Bellows. Cuverville Island has a beach covered in nesting penguins. Port Lockroy, tucked into the peninsula, is home to the most southerly post office in the world, and you can actually mail a postcard home from it. If the ice cooperates, you might slip through the Lemaire Channel, a mile-wide passage walled in by cliffs on both sides.

Over four days, most people see gentoo, chinstrap, and Adélie penguins and seals lounging on the ice. Whales are possible too, but November is early in their season, so it's a bonus rather than a given.

Once during the trip, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in the Polar Plunge, where you’ll jump off the ship into the freezing cold water. Plenty of people who swore they wouldn't end up doing it, with the rest of the group on the deck cheering you on.

Begin the two-day journey back to the Americas across the Drake.

When the sea cooperates, this is the stretch for the sauna and the jacuzzi, for a long lunch that drifts into a longer afternoon in the library watching the swell roll past. When the Drake is livelier, head to your cabins, read books, and reflect. This is the final step in your right of passage. Either way, the expedition team gives their final talks, and the photo journal of the voyage comes together.

On the journey home the schedule falls away, and the last two days at sea belong to the group.

The ship docks between 7:00 and 8:00 am. You'll have a final breakfast on board, say goodbye to the expedition team, and step onto solid ground for the first time in over a week. Your transfer to the airport or into Ushuaia is included.

This doesn't have to be the end of your trip. Tierra del Fuego National Park is right on Ushuaia's doorstep, an easy addition if you stay an extra day. You are also a short flight from some of the most spectacular places in South America. Be sure to connect with other members in the WhatsApp group if you want to continue your journey for a few days in Patagonia, enjoy wine and steak in Buenos Aires, or see the falls at Iguazú.

You'll leave with your expedition parka, a camera full of photos, and the people who were standing beside you the first time you saw the 7th continent. Antarctica is the first ultimate bucket-list trip we're leaning into, so stay close to the community as the next one's already in the works.