If you’ve ever thrown a sickie from work, or been in a job where you get time-off during the week, chances are that you’ve laid witness to some mind-numbing daytime dirge about property. Think ‘Location, Location, Location’, ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is’, ‘To Buy, Or Not To Buy’ and ‘Houses Are Important, Because They Shelter People From The Elements And Are A Nice Place To Keep All Of Your Things.’
These programmes have a basic formula. A family, let’s call them The Johnsons’/Thomspons’/Smiths’, are thinking of upsizing/downsizing. Daunted by the prospect of doing this, they seek out the advice of a pair of chirpy television personalities who, more often than not, have absolutely no knowledge of the property market.
The Johnsons’/Thompsons’/Smiths’ walk around a variety of homes, in a variety of locations, before passing some instantly-forgettable judgements on them at the end. For additional thrills, the presenters will sometimes ask the Johnsons’/Thompsons’/Smiths’ to guess the price of the property they’ve just seen.
These shows are boring, and tend to blur monotously into one gloopy blob of monotony. Normally, we’d stay well clear of the subject. But adventurer and explorer Alex Bellini’s search for a place to live, however, is a search for a place to live…with a big twist!
(Unfortunately, it won’t be on daytime television anytime soon).
Bellini, you see, is planning to live on an iceberg for an entire year. That’s right. An iceberg…for an entire year. If you think that sounds like a cold and lonely way to spend a year, by the way, that’s because it is one seriously cold and lonely way to spend a year.
Due to the fact he’ll be stuck on the iceberg until it melts, or flips over, picking the right one initially will be extremely important for Bellini. He has already gone on record and stated that he’s looking for a ‘tabular’ iceberg about 200 to 300 metres in length.
His journey will start up the Ilulissat Glacier in Greenland, where most Atlantic icebergs start their journey. From there, he’s going to find one going south and live on it while it slowly melts. Bellini has stated that the diminishing area and volume of the iceberg is one of the main reasons he wants to do the project.
Living in an oil rig survival capsule (see picture, below), Bellini will document the end of an iceberg’s life. He’ll survive by eating the food stores he brings with him, and by fishing off the edge of the iceberg. When the iceberg melts completely, or flips over, Alex willl float in the capsule and wait for a passing ship to rescue him.
