From Cornfields to Kuwait, and Beyond!

Hi, my name is Jennifer Kemper . I like to travel…a lot I grew up in Iowa and had a lovely childhood . My family (parents Ed and Judy Kemper) was wonderful I loved playing in the cornfields on my grandparent’s farm with my brother and many cousins But I knew there was more than cornfields around every single corner . After college, I already felt way behind on the traveling front, but I was in some serious college debt

Eventually I joined the Army to possibly get stationed somewhere exotic . Nope…Texas it was I did get to go to Kuwait though! Fortunately, it was a training mission, and no one ever shot at me After six years, I decided the military had had enough of me .

From there, I went to Florida and hopped on a power yacht to work . I made beds, served food, stirred drinks, vacuumed floors and put chocolates on pillows . All of that to get to the Caribbean, which I enjoyed very much The work was not for me (except one chocolate for me for every pillow that got one) so I quit and drove from Florida to Alaska

In Valdez, Alaska, I walked the docks for a month trying to get a deckhand job

I finally heard about a deckhand that had been fired so I immediately went to the captain of the boat and got the job . It was a charter fishing boat so I helped tourists catch the big one and filleted a lot of fish over the next three summers . During the winter, I traveled and went back the next summer broke .

From other contract workers in Alaska, I heard about the United States Antarctica Program . I applied and was hired for an Antarctic winter I wasn’t sure how 24 hours of darkness for a long period would work out for me, but after that first season, I was hooked . The company I worked for provided scientists with whatever they need to do their research . For the next fourteen years, I primarily worked in the fuels department keeping buildings warm, vehicles moving and planes in the air In between contracts in Antarctica, I went back to Alaska and trained sled dogs for a four time Iditarod winner for a year; I worked in Katmai NP where the grizzlies stand on the waterfalls to catch the salmon going upstream to spawn; and I worked on the north slope in the oil fields . But mostly in between Antarctic seasons, I traveled And I loved it .

Seven years ago, I settled in Muscatine to help out my aging parents They have both passed so I’m on the move again back to Antarctica and traveling

I’ve learned a lot from all my adventures I learned in Antarctica - you can find yourself . For example, if you’ve never performed in public before, you can there and people won’t judge you .

In fact, they will applaud you just for trying You might find out you’re a great singer or storyteller But you might also think differently about the world just from the people there and how you interact with them . There is so much I learned in my time on “the ice . ”

I also learned quite a lot in Muscatine while helping out my parents . I didn’t want to move here or spend time helping out aging parents and have no traveling time After I adjusted to a totally different lifestyle (buying a house, owning a car, getting a “normal” job), I really started enjoying the town and the friends I made and the different jobs I had And contrary to what I believed about not traveling, I still managed some excellent trips The biggest lesson I learned in those seven years was what an honor it was to be able to take care of my parents . I loved getting to know them in a different way Adult to adult and not just on a weekend visit . I love to travel, but helping them out was a great joy and honor and I learned that I can adapt to about anything if I need to

This I learned from traveling, best told by a quote from Mark Twain:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness

Travel takes me out of my comfort zone and inspires me to taste and try new things n