Antarctica is considered one of the final frontiers. It holds great interest for many scientific fields as a place (perhaps) less contaminated by humanity, and captures the imagination as one of the coldest, driest, and most remote places on the globe. After participating in field work spanning 3 seasons, six projects, and forty+ deployments of three different Icefin vehicles in a dozen separate locations around the Ross ice shelf, I have gained a sense of familiarity with what a field season and field work in the harsh Antarctic environment looks like. Here, I will detail the hands-on scientific process and outcomes for some of the various on-continent projects we’ve undertaken, with a focus on the realities and unexpected nature of field work in the frozen southern-most desert.