This Antarctica Job Will Let You Run the Post Office and Count Penguins

If you have to work, then you might as well do something fun, right? We enjoy life here at Nerdist; however, we admit that this isn’t the only cool job on Earth. For example, there is a British island that will let you be king (or whatever royal title fits) and the official bartender. Who wouldn’t want to be royalty and whip up incredible drinks? But there’s another job in a completely different locale that includes an interesting location, a post office, and penguins. There’s a British charity paying a few people to head to Antarctica for a unique job either working at a post office, managing a gift shop, and/or counting penguins. Yes, you read that last part right. 

According to a USA Today report, The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, a charity in charge of helping conservation efforts on the continent, is hiring for these important jobs. It’s the first time they are bringing people back to Port Lockroy since 2020 due to the pandemic. A group of people would team up to process around 80,000 pieces of mail at the southernmost post office in the world. As expected, this location has been a popular tourist spot for those who brave Antarctica. So there’s also a gift shop to run. And there are Gentoo penguins and other wildlife that need to be counted for updates to the British Antarctic Survey. Who wouldn’t want to see the sun peek over the horizon and watch a penguin wander by?

All of this previous criteria still holds up for this new employment search. The chosen ones will go through a week of training in October. Then they will make their way to Antarctica from November 2022-March 2023, which are the continent’s summer months, to work their dream post office job or perhaps run the gift shop among other things. (The temperatures can get up to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.)

Now, there are some things that applicants will want to know. First, this is in a remote location in Antarctica. Therefore, you will have to forego some modern conveniences. There’s no running water nor internet access due to limited power sources. So you will have to nab a shower whenever visiting ships pull into port. And no running water means no flushing toilet so a camping toilet is the way to go. Your nifty cell phone will not work. And, you’ll be living in a hostel style situation with other people.

That might be enough to make some people tap out and we can understand why. But it could be golden for someone who truly wants to get away from our modern society.  They might welcome a retreat to a “simpler” lifestyle while still doing something meaningful (and get paid around $1600 a month). If you think you’re game, then head over to this website to apply. Make sure you read up on all the conditions and apply before the window closes on April 25. Good luck with your fun job in Antarctica and send us lots of penguin pictures please.