And That's Why You Always Bring A Map

When traveling, you should always bring a map- you don't want to get lost far from home and end up getting stuck. As a tale of warning, I will tell you the story of a poor, poor traveler who forgot to bring his map:

One day long, long ago, there was someone traveling. He was very far from home (he was from the Norwegian Sea and was visiting South America) and was traveling with some of his buddies. One day on his travels he got very lost, and insisted he knew the way. His friends disagreed and left him sailing in the middle of the Antarctic Ocean all by himself. Because he had no map and no more money left over (and he lost his passport!), he was forced to settle in the Antarctic Ocean for the rest of time.

His buddies, incidentally made it back home to the Norwegian Sea. You might know them as the Shetland Islands (of Shetland Pony fame). The poor guy who got stuck in the Antarctic Ocean is known as South Shetland Islands (he's in denial). Luckily, he wasn't completed abandoned- the UK still claims both regular Shetlands Islands and the unfortunate South Shetland Islands. Just how far away is he from his pals? Pretty much exactly on the other side of the planet- so far that even Google Maps wouldn't calculate it for me (although that might have had something to do with the giant oceans in the way). To give you an idea of how close South Shetlands island are to Antarctica, here's a handy map:

As I'm sure you already figured out, the red dot is our friend South Shetlands. His jerk buddies who left him alone in the Antarctic are all the way up between England and Norway (opposite side of the planet).

The moral of the story here is a) don't travel with people who leave you alone in the Antarctic and b)don't travel without a map, or you will definitely turn into an island- a frigid island that people only visit to do research on ice cores.