Moonly Review 🌑 Beginning of the World

Where Michał returns from Antarctica, changed.

Ahoy, you Being of Light!

A friend shared with me recently that reality always beats the dream, even the wildest one. After returning from Antarctica I can't help but fully agree.

WTF IS THIS PLACE???!!!

My mind is BLOWN. I'm sitting here waiting for my flight to Brasil and processing all the insanity of the last Moon Cycle.

We sailed 1900 nautical miles on the most amazing ship Tecla with the most amazing captain (epic sailor with a lighthearted vibe feeling like a Wes Anderson movie). We crossed the infamous Drake Passage twice, and once in a storm with 45 knots of wind. I found a crazy kink for ice, icebergs, iceshelves, all things ice basically.

How could you not?

For 23 days I was what felt like a different planet, with no internet connection (gods bless the boats that refuse to instal starlink!), with amazing group of humans that answered the call to explore the most remote part of our planet. The continent of ice, completely unspoiled by humans, and what I discovered to be the very beginning of the world, rather than its end.

(Antarctica-shaped ice)

I watched Albatroses soaring above the waves with majestic effortlessness. I walked amongst hundreds of penguins, learning their language ('ICE! ICE! ICE!'), and observing the chillest funkiest social interactions. Penguins have the absolutely flawless vibe. I miss them sooo much already!

And then there were whales.

Not just whales around us doing their majestic blows and dives. Whales dancing for hours right around our boat, singing for us, looking at us with their massive lidless eyes... Whales responding to our waves with turning around themselves, and playing a game with us - sailing underneath the ship to the other side, waiting for us to run there, spinning again and diving under the boat to the other side again. This went on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and we were crying, laughing, completely hypnotised and touched to the deepest core of our souls.

(This video is a small sample of the magic we experienced.)

I still can't believe that I was able to be there. So much fucking gratitude. So much heartfelt confidence from being able to put this whole thing together. Recruit 16 people, rent the ship, sail it there with a wonderful crew, and experience it all together.

It all now waits to be processed. I have the most incredible artefact - a log of our travel which I hope to find a way to digitise and share with you. I have 3 rolls of analogue photos waiting to be developed. There's thousand of photos being looked through. And finally, there's the absolutely kickass material for a short documentary film about the unprecedented success story on the planetary scale - the Antarctic Treaty, which is basically an agreement between most countries to keep Antarctica untouched and not belonging to any humans.

The result is incredible. The wildlife. The scenery. The energy of the place.

The only place that left a dark mark was the Deception Island, which we called the Desolution Island - a 30km diameter still active volcano into which you can sail into (wtf wtf wtf!!!). Within its shore there's a ruined whaling station and you can still feel the cries of thousands of whales butchered for meat and blubber.

One of our crew captured the vibe of the place in a poem:

The Antarctic Treaty is bound to be reviewed in 2048 which could open the doors for changes. I so hope and wish for the world to keep it going and keep this majestic continent intact. It gives me so much hope to know that it is indeed possible for the big players to agree to keep a continent untouched. What a beautiful legacy to preserve for generations to come.

I'll be taking time to process all the magic of Antarctica, and the beautiful relationships and art pieces that were formed onboard during our journey. For now, I'm excited to visit my dear friends Chris and Raissa from Piratas do Amor, help with developing their land based community project and dream up more epic sailing voyages for the upcoming years - another sailing burn, a voyage to Ikaria, Atlantic Crossing, Pacific, and hey maybe another Antarctic voyage in January 2026 because I feel I'm not done with this place and I have such an obsession for icebergs that I need to see them again. If that's an instant fuck yes from you, send me a DM.

I'll be in Bahia for most of March (with Darya and Brian 🙌) so if you're around let me know. And then it's time to head to Europe and co-facilitate Wilderness Skills retreat in Traditional Dream Factory, and then go to Vermont Hub to write another book, this time about building thriving neighbourhoods. There are still spots for both of this adventures if you'd like to join :)

There's also the whole chunk of life processing that happened on the Antarctic trip. I have pages and pages filled with GOODSTUFF, and I'm excited to land on a beach, fill my wizard batteries with sun and fruits, and then go into full on wizard mode and make epic quests happen this year. It's gonna be a good one!

Sending Love and Light and wishing you a super inspiring Moon Cycle!
Michał