The day we thought would be spent sitting in the tent at the North Pole relaxing was quite different. Leave it to the Arctic Ocean to once again reverse our expectations. This latest change, however, had little to do with the forces of Nature. Instead, the Russians seemed to be holding all the cards which in this case was a good thing.

During our nightly call in with the Russian ice base Borneo, we learned that we would most likely be picked up in the morning by helicopter. 'Call back at six your time,' Victor said. So much for sleeping in. It didn't matter about the alarm I was awake at quarter to six anyway (just like the past 51 days had conditioned me to).

'They are coming to get you in 30 minutes,' the heavy russian accent announced through the Iridium satellite phone. 'Then, you get on plane right away and fly to Svalbard. And so it was.

The helicopter took a bit longer and so we huddled behind a snow wall for warmth and waited, sleds packed, drifting North Pole farther and farther away due to increasing winds.

'Glad we don't have to ski today,' AJ added.

A plane was waiting upon reaching Borneo that was quickly loaded and within 45 minutes we were airborne again. During the flight, we drank mineral water from a can and ate sandwiches wrapped in plastic. Four hours after that, a warm room, showers, and three big pizzas delivered to our door step. Surreal.

A couple days ago I had turned around to AJ and Darcy and said, 'look around boys and soak it all in. This moment is fleeting and too soon it will be gone. We will have the rest of our lives to be inside. Before boarding the plane I turned to look one more time at the ice and snow. Remember this always I thought.

Special thanks goes to Lora at Scream Agency who is in charge of Save the Poles PR. After coordinating all sorts of interviews for today, rescheduled them to fit our crazy schedule. Thank Lora and Scream - the best PR and marketing team in the world!

Image: Eating pizza!?!

The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Bing with major support from the University of Plymouth, Terramar, Seventh Generation, Goal0, Atlas, Sierra Designs and Optic Nerve.

Remember, it's cool to be cold. Save the Poles. Save the planet.

For more information, please visit www.ericlarsenexplore.com

For information about guided Antarctic expeditions, please visit http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/

For media inquiries, please contact lora@screamagency.com

For technical inquires, please contact webexpeditions.net