A few weeks ago, I found a few ways to get to Australia and found a great way to get a business class ticket back even though there was no availability with Qantas. I coordinated with my wife’s schedule and made plans to run a marathon outside of Melbourne in May 2014, and last week I booked the award tickets using AA miles.

Then I get this message yesterday that changed everything:

So this got me thinking about options to fit in a marathon in Antarctica in March 2014. I only have so many vacation days next year and I had already decided to use two weeks for Australia. I also have non-refundable tickets for Singapore in February and I was considering cancelling it in order to go. I was not a big fan of cancelling Australia as I had planned to go with my wife. However, I would be able to cancel it without a fee once I reach EXP later this year.

I talked with her last night and she instantly suggested cancelling Australia, which made me really consider doing Antarctica. And since I won’t be going to Australia with my wife, I could choose to go only for a week and run the Sydney Marathon in September, which should be much better than the originally planned marathon near Melbourne. This event doesn’t seem hard to register for as I can even register for this year’s marathon, even though its just a month away.

What are your thoughts on this decision? Two weeks in Australia or a week in Antarctica?