I was laid off from HP after 30 years. At 59, I moved to Antarctica for work — and the wildest adventure of my life. - Business Insider

Open this photo in gallery:A home for sale in Toronto earlier this year. Fred Lum/The Globe and MailThe lowest five-year fixed rate for an insured mortgage at the time of writing is 4.34 per cent, up from 3.94 per cent a month ago. For refinances and other uninsurable mortgages, the lowest rate has climbed to 4.64 per cent from 4.24 per cent over the same period. So why are mortgage rates rising when the Bank of Canada hasn’t changed its policy rate this year? The answer is that while that primarily influences variable mortgage rates, fixed mortgage rates are driven largely by bond yields.

I'm glad I moved my family from the United States to the Netherlands, but we've run into a few issues and missteps while adjusting to our new lives. The day my son burst into tears at our kitchen table in Utrecht, I realized my meticulous spreadsheets and research hadn't prepared us for everything. "Mom, I'm the only one who doesn't understand anything," he said, pushing away his untouched dinner. "Everyone else is so far ahead, and I can't follow anything. "That moment, hearing him talk about feeling behind in school, crystallized my first major mistake in our move from Atlanta to the Netherlands in May 2024. Although our relocation has transformed our lives in incredible ways — offering everything from better healthcare to true work-life balance — there were several costly missteps I wish someone had warned me about. For one, I hadn't anticipated how challenging it would be for my kids in the first six months as they adjusted to everything in their lives being new. Here's what I learned the hard way, hoping to save other American families from the same expensive and stressful situations. Assuming we didn't need to rush learning Dutch was a mistake

The author is 60 and works in Antarctica in a seasonal gig. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with May Lee, a 60-year-old seasonal worker in Antarctica and former marketing and communications manager at HP. She worked at the McMurdo Station in 2025 and plans to return this year. It has been edited for length and clarity. After a layoff from HP in 2025, I decided to try something completely new and take a job in Antarctica as a seasonal supply technician at — at 59. My job, like the majority of jobs at McMurdo Station, followed what are known as "town hours," which are from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. While the schedule is pretty regimented in Antarctica, there are tons of activities to do, and the community is close-knit. My day begins at 6:30 a.m. I'm a night owl and don't like getting up early. I'm so accustomed to Silicon Valley norms and practices, where your day is very free-flowing. Here, it's a very rigorous schedule with no leeway whatsoever. I usually wake up at 6:30, ready by 7, and then get to work for 7:30 on the dot. Sometimes, if I want a lie-in, I'll skip breakfast.