What it’s really like to live in Antarctica

Only a few thousand people can say that they have lived in Antarctica since 1959 .

Despite bunking with strangers, taking 90-second showers and having zero privacy, there are intrepid travelers who believe all the challenges are worth it.

Keri Nelson has organized fashion shows complete with a runway and played music in the “ice bands” that often form during a season.

If you can't live in a small hut or a small station with three other people or maybe on a station with 40 other people for the summer , then you’re no good for the job.

Getting in the first time is difficult, but since so few people have Antarctica work experience it’s easier to keep returning after multiple seasons.

Despite the small paychecks, meals, room and board, and transport to and from the continent are covered.

At larger camps like McMurdo , there is a lending library of books and DVDs, plus gear, clothing and other odds and ends.

The team voted as a group not to use their phones during mealtimes.

Antarctica offers a rare opportunity to live a different kind of life, says Nelson .