Brandee Lake has the same approach to Drake Passage as she has since she embarked on the Ultimate World Cruise exactly one month ago: what will be, will be.
The The Brannon Files podcaster, 46, is making waves alongside other TikTok influencers aboard Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas during his nine-month global voyage. And in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Lake reflected on the upcoming journey to Antarctica through the Drake Passage, known for its unpredictable and often dangerous conditions.
“I just hope [and] praying for the best,” says Lake, who is traveling with her sister and parents on a trip that will last until September 2024 and span all seven continents, including 60 countries and 11 wonders of the world.
“I’m actually the only person in our family who gets motion sickness, but I have all my little gadgets, bracelets, band-aids, gum,” he adds.
The Drake Passage is a body of water with an average depth of about 11,000 feet that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Located about 100 miles north of the Antarctic Peninsula, it lies between Cape Horn (also known as the southernmost point of South America) and the South Shetland Islands.
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Stormy sea conditions in the Drake Passage.
Getty
Viral TikTok shows waves crashing against ship’s windows on ‘treacherous’ journey through Drake Passage to Antarctica
First traversed by Willem Schouten during an expedition in 1616, the waterway “played an important role in trade in the 19th and early 20th centuries before the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914,” Britannica writes. Frequent storms and icy conditions were an even greater danger to the ships of the time, but they still unsettle modern travelers.
Today, the Drake Passage is trending on travel TikTok, with some of the more-watched (and heart-pounding) videos featuring footage of passengers inside the vessel with huge waves crashing right up against their windows.
Many TikTok users following influencers’ posts about taking part in the Ultimate World Cruise expressed concern about the Serenade of the Seas, a 20-year-old ship, making it through the Drake Passage unscathed — especially given the flooding that occurred on the ship after storms last week off the coast of South America.
Lake, who says she didn’t witness the flooding, tells PEOPLE that everyone on board is “just anticipating how it’s going to be,” especially since their itinerary was recently adjusted to cross the Drake Passage earlier than initially expected due to better-than-anticipated conditions over time for which they were originally supposed to go.
Now, their journey through it begins on Wednesday.
“If they moved it up because it was supposed to be worse, does that mean it’s going to be bad or does that mean we’re going to be lucky because we moved it up and it might not be as crazy?” Lake says. “They said the waves could reach, I think, seven meters, which is about 20 feet.”
But she has complete confidence in Captain Stig Nilsen, who previously said in a Royal Caribbean blog post that he comes from “generations of sailors and deep-sea fishermen,” and has more than four decades of maritime experience himself.
“He’s from Norway. So dealing with the Drake Passage and the Arctic stuff … we’re in very good hands,” Lake says.
When asked if she ever thought she would make it to Antarctica, the well-traveled Lake tells PEOPLE, “It was always something I wanted to do, but [as for whether] I thought I would ever go… Before I looked at the prices and I was like, ‘Hmm. It’s definitely on the list of things I want to do, but do I know if it will ever happen? I do not know.’ ”
“So it made cruising a lot more exciting and, I would say, attainable,” adds Lake.
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Lake Brandee in Chichén Itzá in Yucatán, Mexico as part of Royal Caribbean’s 9-month Ultimate World Cruise.
Courtesy of Brandee Lake
Explorer begins 1,100-mile journey to become first woman to complete solo, unsupported crossing of Antarctica
Lake says she and other influencers on the trip regularly “cheer each other on,” and each has something unique to bring to the table in terms of the content they share on social media.
She also says she’s “100% surprised” by the viral attention the cruise has received: “I think for all of us, we just shared our travel story. We definitely didn’t [think] if that’s what would happen.”
As for what she’s most looking forward to seeing after already visiting wonders of the world such as Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Christ the Redeemer in Brazil over the past month, Lake says Antarctica is at the “top” of her list, as well as Machu Picchu in Peru .
Of the time leading up to her Dec. 10 departure from Miami, she said, “There were moments where I was like, ‘Wow, this is really a once-in-a-lifetime experience,'” she recalls. “I had those moments. But I worked until literally the Friday before we sailed on Sunday.”
“I don’t know if I’ve had time to slow down and just think about how big and awesome it was,” adds Lake. “And I think seeing people’s interest in it helps remind me or show me that this is a really unique experience.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education