Most people will only ever see South Georgia from the deck of a ship or a 3 hr visit. I lived there. Not for long, but long enough to understand what life is really like on one of the most remote islands on Earth. The Truth About Living in South Georgia: Life on One of the Most Remote Islands on Earth is very different from what most people imagine.
It is beautiful, yes. But it is also raw, unpredictable and far more intense than you might expect.
Daily Life Is Not What You Might Expect
Daily life on South Georgia is different for everyone.
The BAS team work pretty much Monday to Friday. This includes the boaties, the scientists, the base leader, technicians and the doctor. This team lives in Shackleton Villa and Emerson House mostly. This strip of buildings includes their bedrooms, the “bar”, which is really their living room, the gym, deck, and their kitchen. In the same row you will find the Cook Labs, office and, at the far end, the KEP post office.
There are two detached houses, Carse House and Discovery House. These are mostly used by the Government Officers and visitors. The other government staff, including the posties and the Build Team, live in Larsen House.
Routine on South Georgia’s Larsen House
The build team work normally Monday to Friday. For the most part it is the posties who work to the rhythm of the tourist ships arriving. Almost 100 plus Cruise Ships in the 2025 to 2026 season. Sometimes two ships a day, which is the best of fun.
The routine for all is that you cook for those in your house. Depending on how many of you live there, you get added to the rota and you make dinner for your “family”. In Larsen House this was Monday to Friday. Other houses had different rules.
All bread had to be made in your house. Milk was Nido, a milk powder which you mixed with water. Our house could go through three loaves in a day at least. Considering we had four big hungry men in the house doing proper hard labour, this is no surprise. I said they had hollow legs.
When I was making dinner I soon realised that, despite there only being six of us in the house, I was cooking as if I had ten to feed. Even better if there was food left over for lunch the next day.
Cleaning day for the house was Friday. This is when everyone got stuck in to do a deep clean of the communal areas. From about half past three or four until around six.
Dinner in Larsen House was at six. If you had cooked, you did not have to clean up afterwards. There was a dishwasher which was always on, but there were always huge pots to wash. It was also a bit of pressure. You might be used to cooking for family or friends, but here you are cooking for complete strangers with half the ingredients missing.
It was like feeding the Waltons.
Work Revolves Around the Ships
Posties have to work when the cruise ships come in, so their time is managed very differently.
You might be starting at eight in the morning and finishing at seven at night. Or have to work weekends. You might have to swap your cooking night because you are working. The cruise ship guests come first, and they are great fun.
Also, when the Pharos comes in, everything changes again. This is the Government Fisheries vessel, aka the Stealth Ship. It brings everyone from the Falklands to South Georgia and delivers supplies.
The Pharos brings the “freshies” as we called them. Fresh fruit and vegetables, along with dry goods, tins and bags. That arrival is always a big moment.
The Weather Is in Charge
The weather is always in charge.
One day you wake up and think summer has arrived. The next day you open the door to huge snow drifts. Every house has a boot room. Boots come off there so that snow, wet, and animal mess stays out of the house.
Even in heavy snow, the show goes on.
What really matters is the wind.
Can the cruise ships get in? Do they have to change where they moor? Do passengers have to go back early because of katabatic winds? Can the tenders land near Shackleton’s grave or not?
Everything depends on the wind.
You Are Not Isolated
The Government talks a lot about remoteness and whether you can cope with isolation.
You are not isolated.
This is the place where I felt the lack of privacy and lack of isolation viscerally. You have no privacy. If you are lucky you might have a bunk room to yourself, but most of the time you are sharing. The walls are paper thin.
If you want to phone home on WhatsApp, you go to the washing machine room, or for us, the KEP post office. Expect no privacy. No “me time”.
A few years ago Starlink arrived, which changed everything in terms of staying connected. You are far from home, on a rock in the middle of the ocean. It should feel isolated, but instead you crave isolation and space.
You are sharing a home, meals, living room, everything, with those in your house. It is a small community. Mentally it can be quite challenging to realise you have arrived somewhere that feels a bit like a Big Brother house or worse Big Brother Village.
The people are lovely. But they are mostly about thirty years younger than me, and they have different things on their minds...
A Tiny Community in a Vast Landscape
Over winter there are only about eight to ten people on South Georgia. In summer the population swells to around thirty, plus visiting scientists and others.I can be as many as 50.
When I was there, I shared my room with a visiting seismologist. Another member of their team shared with someone else in Larsen House. We also had visiting Government staff when the Pharos came in, and even artists installing work near the museum.
South Georgia is split between King Edward Point and Grytviken. The museum staff stay in Grytviken, while the rest of us stay at King Edward Point on the opposite side of the bay.
Different teams have different freedoms to travel. In 2025 to 2026, posties had the least freedom to roam, mainly due to insurance. If something goes wrong, help is four days away by boat from the Falklands.
The BAS team are allowed time off base and can stay in remote huts, mostly on the Thatcher Peninsula. The museum team can stay overnight in huts. The build team can too, as part of their work. The posties could not (2025-2026).
There are strict rules about where you can go, whether you need to be in pairs, what kit you carry, and always taking your radio. You check in and out on a board. Are you at KEP, Grytviken, on a ship, or off base.
This is an unforgiving place if things go wrong.
Why I Was There
Most people only get to visit South Georgia if they have thirty thousand pounds or more for a trip of a lifetime cruise (2025- 2026). I am not one of those lucky people.
Cory had fallen in love with Antarctica during a previous guiding season. He sent me jobs advertised by the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. He applied for Government Officer. I applied for Post Officer.
It sounded ideal. Working with guests from the cruise ships, selling souvenirs, and being part of their once in a lifetime experience.
Cory did not get the job (the previous GO decided to return for another season). I did not get the job either.
Then, the day before we left to paddle the Yukon, I got an email. Was I still interested?
I said yes.
I was offered the job. Cory and I had a long chat. I had always said he should not be away for more than four to six weeks. Now I was the one about to break that rule.
Since Brexit, I lost the freedom to work in Europe. This felt like a rare chance to work abroad again. On a rock in the middle of the southern ocean, with extraordinary wildlife. After sleeping on it, and Cory’s support, I said yes.
Wildlife Is Everywhere
The wildlife did not disappoint.
Elephant seals blocking your path. Penguins as speed bumps. Births happening outside your bedroom window. King penguins singing.
This is not a zoo. This is nature reclaiming what was once taken from it.
What People Get Wrong About South Georgia
Yes, it is remote. But you are never alone.
Yes, the scenery is spectacular. But your world often shrinks to the day to day reality of shared living.
I am an artist. I want to draw, sit, observe, and immerse myself. But you cannot just sit near wildlife because of avian flu restrictions.
I loved the walks, the wildness, the wildlife. But I was constantly searching for solitude. Somewhere to recharge.
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The culture was a shock to me. I do not drink, so the bar was not my thing. The forced friendliness not for me.
Would I Do It Again
No. I need solitude, privacy, and a different kind of community.
The place is incredible. The people are kind. The penguins are unforgettable. I am truly grateful I had the opportunity.
But it was not for me. This was not my tribe.
That said, I would go back in a heartbeat on a cruise ship.
There was often an undercurrent of displeasure about the arrival of cruise ship guests from some Government staff. But for me, apart from the wildlife, they were the best part.
Forced socialising and getting drunk is not for me. But welcoming guests to the magic of South Georgia, giving them the best possible experience in a place they may never see again, that is what it is all about.
When You Get Seriously Ill or Injured
South Georgia’s remoteness is part of its appeal, but it can also be its greatest challenge.
A few months after arriving on the island, I developed sciatica. At first, it was painful but manageable. I could still walk and hoped it would improve. Instead, the pain became progressively worse until I could no longer sit, stand or walk.
For around three weeks, I lived entirely on the floor. To reach the toilet, I had to crawl. Simple things that most of us take for granted, such as getting food, filling a hot water bottle or keeping clean, became major challenges. Living in shared accommodation meant there was little privacy and I became increasingly dependent on others for help.
What I found most difficult was the feeling of helplessness. I was in severe pain, thousands of miles from home, unable to care for myself and uncertain about when help would arrive. Because my condition was not considered a life-threatening emergency, evacuation was not immediate.
Eventually, in early December, I was stretchered aboard the supply vessel Pharos. After four days lying on the floor, in a cabin at sea, I was stretchered off again in the Falkland Islands and taken to hospital.
Most people think of South Georgia’s wildlife, scenery and adventure. Few think about what happens when you become seriously ill or injured. My experience was a stark reminder that living on one of the world’s most remote islands means accepting that medical care may be days away and that, when things go wrong, the isolation becomes very real indeed.
An Exclusive Club
Not many people get the chance to live in South Georgia. With only a small number of people on the island at any one time, it is an experience few will ever have.
Fewer still get to experience every aspect of life there, including the emergency exit.
I arrived by ship, spent months surrounded by penguins, seals and glaciers, and eventually left on a stretcher aboard the Pharos. It wasn’t quite how I imagined my South Georgia adventure ending, but it certainly made for a memorable story.
Of the eight billion people on Earth, only a tiny fraction will ever set foot on South Georgia. An even smaller number will leave it on a stretcher.
After all, how many people can honestly say they’ve been medically evacuated from one of the most remote islands on Earth?