I received an e-mail from a friend who has gone to the Antarctica for a year and she sounds really excited. She writes that "This place is magic. I've had a few revelations since I've been here. It really has made me question my life. There are people here who are so generous and kind and it doesn't matter about what I look like or how old I am or how silly I behave it is all excepted and they like me. I don't have to be clever. I've been trying to fit into the wrong mould back at home. It is wonderfully liberating and I can understand why people want to come back here." It seems a shame that it takes life altering events to make us really focus and identify what really matters in our lives. But clearly my friend has begun to peel the layers away. Her year in Antarctica will change her forever.