Route Map   Weather Map   Daily Journal         Q & A   Special Reports   Education Section           The Game		Packed up and pushed off A thousand years ago, the checklist might have read like this: cows; sealskin ropes; tinderbox; peat; fishhooks; axe. Today's Viking voyager packs a little differently: ramen noodles; cocoa; sextant; gear lube; sun shower; lumber; kayak. Snorri's list was long, and her interior stuffed nearly to the gunwales as she left Nuuk and started up Greenland's western coast. But there is an essential similarity between Leif's original voyage and today's retracing - whatever was loaded on board at the journey's start will have to see the crew through to the end. There's no opportunity for second-guessing, or stopping at the next convenience store. What they've packed is what they get. After a millennium, the challenge is the same True, our modern Vikings have conveniences and safety gear the original Vikings did not. And our guys have a really good idea of where they're supposed to end up. Getting there, however, will present pretty much the same challenges and difficulties that Leif and his crew faced a thousand years ago. The wind, the waves, and the vagaries of nature haven't changed much. So Viking Voyage 1000 is very real, not a simulation or a toothless "re-enactment." To come along on this thrilling voyage of true discovery, join the crew daily through their Journals, at left, as they report on everything that happens in the weeks ahead. (Just don't eat more than your share of the noodles.)