Welcome to Antarctica!

I'm headed to Antarctica, my number one travel bucket list destination, but the adventure of Antarctica begins long before you get there.

First, you have to get to Ushuaia, Argentina.

It's definitely an adventure hub, there are a lot of really cool things you can do launching from this city, and it's known as the gateway to Antarctica.

In Ushuaia, I boarded the Seabourn Venture thanks to Seabourn, who's hosting me for this trip.

I've always heard that their Antarctic experiences are incredible.

But before you get to Antarctica, you have to between the southernmost tip of South America and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica.

And it's known to have the roughest seas in the world.

And the stretch we're going to be crossing is nearly 600 miles.

We're about 13 hours into crossing the Drake Passage.

I think we hit it around 2 a.m. last night because I woke up to things in my room starting to slide back and forth.

But so far, so good.

From what I understand, we're having a really easy Drake crossing, so I've been able to enjoy it a little bit.

I was just out on the bow watching albatross soar around the ship, which is incredible.

These birds have wingspans up to 12 feet.

And for some reason, they like following the wake of the ship, so they're actually hanging around us, which is very cool.

After two days of sailing across the Drake Passage, seeing the Antarctic continent emerge on the horizon was so exciting.

And I was kind of surprised by how dramatic it was.

In some ways, it felt like we'd arrived at another planet.

And the expedition team wasted no time getting us out on shore.

So the way this works is the ship hangs out offshore of a landing site, and then expedition leaders bring passengers to shore in zodiac boats.

And the tentative itinerary of the sailing is to travel along the Antarctic Peninsula, making shore landings every day dependent on weather conditions.

The thing I was most excited about for this trip was the wildlife, especially penguins, because Antarctica is home to some of the largest penguin colonies in the world.

And it did not disappoint.

Every single shore landing had penguins.

We saw all different types.

We saw chinstrap penguins, which are named for the obvious.

We saw Adelie penguins.

And then the most common penguin we saw was the Gentoo.

And there were so many special moments.

Like one landing was at this incredible spot called Brown Bluff, where these snowy cliffs hung over a beach, and there were penguins everywhere.

And this young Gentoo penguin was napping with a tuft of feathers in its beak.

I didn't realize penguins napped like this, and it's one of the most precious things I've ever seen.

We also saw lots of chicks, even some twins.

I was giddy getting this shot.

And do you see this?

This is a baby penguin butt with this little nubby tail.

I mean, it was all just magical.

Something I didn't realize is that while adult penguins swim, it's important for babies to stay dry because their feathers aren't waterproof.

And that's one of the biggest survival challenges for parents, especially when they get an unusually wet season, because they not only need to find a dry place to build their nest, but once the baby is born, they need to keep it covered from rain and snow.

Penguins are really social animals, and it's cutest they are as babies.

They go through a really awkward phase growing up.

I mean, you think you had some bad looks in your teenage years?

Look at this guy.

And then you have this one whose parent is trying to groom it, and it's running away like, stop, you're embarrassing me.

They also create what's known as penguin highways, which are dedicated trails that you can see them all walking on in a line.

I just made it back to the ship.

These landings are so amazing.

It is incredible to see so much wildlife in such a remote wilderness.

To protect all of this wildlife and the environment, there are a lot of rules we have to follow to be able to do these shore landings.

We have to be really careful about what we wear and what we bring on shore.

And once we're on land, we can't set anything down.

And before we go out, we walk through these disinfecting tubs.

And this is to make sure that we're not spreading disease from bird colony to bird colony or throughout the wildlife or the environment.

Very cool experience, and I'm just so happy to be here.

The most magical thing is happening right now.

We're sailing in this area where we're surrounded by giant icebergs and mountains, and it's snowing the lightest, fluffiest snowflakes, and we're surrounded by whales.

They're in every direction.

I couldn't have dreamed up a more beautiful setting.

With such incredible conditions around us, the expedition team prepared the zodiacs and got us out on the water.

And this afternoon was probably my favorite of the entire trip.

We sat on this all around us.

This was the most ethereal experience of my life.

The camera can't even do it justice.

So something very cool and unique about the Seabourn Venture is it has two custom expedition submarines, and guests can sign up to go on a submarine experience.

I didn't even realize technology was here yet, and these submarines can dive nearly a thousand feet, giving you the opportunity to see wildlife, plant life in depths of the ocean where very few humans have ever been.

Another excursion available on this sailing is kayaking.

Early one morning, I went out with the expedition team to kayak among icebergs.

And before this trip, I'd never considered cold weather climates for kayaking, but it was such a cool experience.

Oh my gosh.

Look at that.

So it's another beautiful day in Antarctica, and today we're doing something a little different.

We're stopping in Port La Croix, which has the world's southernmost post office.

And apparently there's a little gift shop there where you can buy postcards and postage and mail letters.

Port La Croix is a former British military base, and it's also nicknamed the Penguin Post Office because it's home to a Gentoo penguin colony that has made the place their own.

I just loved seeing them all in front of this house with the red door.

Some of the photos I got here felt like they could be a penguin family holiday card.

This afternoon, we're sailing through the La Mer Channel, which is known to be absolutely beautiful because it's a very narrow channel with steep snowy cliffs on either side.

The La Mer Channel is nearly seven miles long.

And as if it wasn't special enough on its own, a lone orca showed up and swam alongside the ship as we sailed through.

Something that's been so handy on this trip is the suites on the ship have drying closets, so when I get back from excursions, I can hang all of my wet stuff up in here, like my gloves and beanie, turn the radiator on here in the back, and everything gets so toasty and dry.

The Seabourn Venture is a luxury expedition ship designed for diverse polar environments, and you can see this reflected throughout.

The interior design is so beautiful.

There are maps and explorer-themed touches all around the ship.

There's the bow lounge that has screens with the ship's location.

This is one of my favorite spots on the ship.

It's also a great place to watch for wildlife.

There are mudrooms where every passenger gets a personal locker to keep excursion boots and other gear.

There's a gorgeous sauna, which was amazing for warming up after returning from shore.

There are lots of heated whirlpools and a swimming pool, which are perfect for taking in the scenery while sailing.

And of course, there are so many restaurants and dining options to choose from.

I think my favorite was sushi in the club, but you will never go hungry on this ship, and the suites are super spacious with balconies, walk-in closets, and full-size bathrooms.

Today in Antarctica, we are sailing into an active volcano.

We've made it to Deception Island, which is the caldera of the volcano.

I believe it last erupted in 1970, and they do monitor it to see how active it is, and apparently it's low risk right now.

However, the ship has an emergency plan in place if the volcano erupts today.

We're now headed back to Ushuaia, and I'm so happy to have had such a wonderful experience on this trip, and so sad it's coming to an end.

Thanks for coming along with me on this one.

I've had so many moments on this voyage that surpassed my dreams.

In a way, Antarctica always felt untouchable.

I didn't grow up ever thinking I would come here, and now that I've made it to my number one bucket list destination, what's next?