Raising funds for my fourth expedition proved to be very difficult.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
They have just succeeded in raising the two thousand pounds here, by subscription, that was wanted towards an exploration fund, for fitting out an expedition, that will probably start for the interior of our continent next March.
I have actually led more expeditions to Antarctica than Scott, Amundsen, and Shackleton put together.
No one will pay you for planning an expedition at first: you have to work in pubs at weekends so you can pay the gas bills. I joined the Territorial Army, which paid me when I turned up to drill nights, and so did my wife.
Fundraising is very, very time-consuming.
You can always say that it was scarce dollars when Lewis and Clark wanted to go to the West Coast and explore the West. And people complained about it, I understand, from a reading of the history books.
Our struggle is to identify the sources of revenue and the means to obtain the funds. Without funds, all the planning and research studies can't help us.
With the amount of money I have, it's difficult raising children the way I was raised.
I go on expeditions for the same reason an estate agent sells houses - to pay the bills.
Was the crew well? Was I not? I had profited in many ways by the voyage. I had even gained flesh, and actually weighed a pound more than when I sailed from Boston.
Expeditions are escapism. The stuff that we're normally concerned about just doesn't matter out there. Tax returns, gas bill, none of it. Life becomes very simple, it's about moving in a certain direction - north if you're going north - staying warm and not getting eaten. That's it.