2 . A Portland, Oregon man has become the first person to travel across Antarctica by himself without receiving any assistance.

Colin O’Brady has completed the 1,500-kilometer trip. He crossed the continent in 54 days. Friends, family and other people followed his progress through messages and pictures he left on social media.

O’Brady spoke with his wife Jenna Besaw by telephone soon after he completed the journey. “It was an emotional call,” she said. “He seemed overwhelmed by love and appreciation, and he really wanted to say ‘thank you’ to all of us.”

The 33-year-old O’Brady documented the trip on the social networking services Instagram. He called his journey “The Impossible First”. He wrote that he traveled the last 129 kilometers in one big, final push to the finish line. The distance took over one day to complete. O’Brady wrote, “While the last 32 hours were some of the most challenging hours of my life, they have quite honestly been some of the best moments I have ever experienced.”

The day before, he wrote that he was “in the zone” and thought he could make it to the end without stopping. “I was listening to my body and taking care of the details to keep myself safe,” he wrote. “I called home and talked to my mom, sister and wife. I promised them I would stop when I need to.”

Other people have traveled across Antarctica, but they all had some form of assistance. They either had better, more plentiful supplies or devices that helped move them forward.

In 2016, British explorer Henry Worsley died in his attempt to travel alone across Antarctica unassisted. Worsley’s friend Louis Rudd, also from Britain, is attempting an unaided solo journey in Worsley’s honor. He was competing against O’Brady to be the first to do it. Besaw told the Associated Press that her husband plans to stay in Antarctica until Rudd finishes his trip.

3 . You should see the photo. I’m sitting in red dirt, wearing an ugly purple T-shirt. My face is pink and my hair is wet with sweat. Flies buzz around my head. I’m on a school trip with 20 parents and 20 kids.

It was an odd choice for a holiday. I like sitting by the pool with a cola, not flies and frogs. I like being alone and quiet, not a busload of kids. I like freshly washed sheets, not dirty-looking blankets.

But here’s the thing about that photo: I am smiling！

The trip sounded good when I signed up. Guides would take us into the heart of the place, and I would see a new part of Australia, learn about local culture and bond with my youngest daughter. I would also bond with 40 strangers. I just hoped there would be good coffee.

In Darwin, we got onto a bus. It quickly became tiresome. The kids were loud and I hate making small talk. But later, when I looked out at the vast, empty land, I was surprised at and moved by its beauty. Our guide told us about the land and his culture. I felt far from home. At a national park, we enjoyed a natural swimming hole. Kids and parents had a great time. Then we got to the outback. The cabin I shared with my daughter was a brick cell, full of geckos(壁虎) and crickets(蟋蟀), but too dark to see them.

It didn’t matter. The next nine days were packed: waterfalls, lakes, community visits and a trip around Katharine Gorge. We even saw giant crocodiles(鳄鱼) and baby wallabies(沙袋鼠).

On our last night, a water pipe broke. We awoke to a mess. Usually, I would have complained and asked for a refund(退款), but it just seemed normal to be dirty. Indeed, it was impossible to stay clean. We were hiking in red dirt with temperatures of 35 degrees. Still, I felt a kind of energy I hadn’t experienced in years.

Yes, the coffee was bad, but I was too focused on keeping crickets off my face.

I love that photo of me in the dirt. I look messy, but also happy. Sometimes, it’s another way of traveling. There is beautiful scenery, there is dirt. There was always someone to talk to, someone to laugh with.

4 . How to keep a travel journal

Are you looking for fresh travel journal writing ideas? Read on these tips to get some ideas for creating a journal you will cherish.

Just do it. A travel journal is not scholarly (学文精深的).     1    There are no rules, and no one is grading what you are write. The best way to get going is to get started.

Pay attention. Your journal doesn’t have to only be about where you go each day.     2    Did you meet someone new? Where and when? What did you talk about? Recording observations will make your travel journal colorful?

Try to write something every day. Make a habit of writing something every day or at least every other day.     3    If you let more time pass, it can be different to remember what you did three or four days ago, especially the brief impressions of those experiences. Your journal will be richer if you keep up with it.

    4    If writing paragraphs doesn’t fit either you or your trip, try something else. You can make lists, such as your favorite restaurants for dinner or the best places to watch the sunset. Try sketching (素描) too and don’t be discouraged if you are not sure as an artist. Sometimes sketching is really the best way to record an experience that would be lost when described with text. As the saying goes, a picture is worth one thousand words.

Take the bad along with the good. For all the great travel experiences we enjoy, there are days when things go wrong.    5    Though they are not be highlight of a trip, they are part of your unique travel story and often are as much fun to tell about in the future as the ones that go as planned.