Pham Vu Thieu Quang will soon hold the title of Youngest Asian to reach the South Pole. Just nine years old and a fourth grader in ${bigcity_Hanoi:"Hanoi"}, Vietnam, he will embark on a two-week journey on February 3 together with his father.

The expedition is of course well-supported and funded by the boy’s family. Quang left Vietnam on Thursday, January 27, with his father, on board for Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he will then transfer to Ushuia – the world’s southernmost city, and then to Hurtigruten for the final leg of the expedition.  

VnExpress interviewed the boy before his trip and he said that he will post all pictures he will capture of the region at his school to make everyone aware of the urgency of the problem of climate change today and the need to save and protect our environment - or what’s left of it. Quang also underwent rigorous training and exercise to make himself fully equipped and qualified for the trip.

Moreover, he learned photography and studied about South Pole to make himself knowledgeable about his globally important journey. For a little flashback, in 1997, Hoang Thi Minh Hong, a female, became the first Vietnamese to reach the South Pole. She joined a team of 34 international young people on an expedition sponsored by Robert Swans. This fact is researched and confirmed by VnExpress.

For the record, Robert Swans holds the title for the world’s first-ever person to walk to both the North and South pole unassisted, totally on his own. Just last month, January, a 17-year old British girl named Katie Walter became the youngest person to reach the South Pole. But that record is about to be broken. Soon.