Serge Vitognon, France It was a hard time indeed. My whole life was under investigation. The moment I pushed the submit button of the ESP entry form my ID profile wasn't one of millions any more. The next day I got an email back that the preliminary results were positive and I was accepted. Hurrah! Well then it began, 6 months of total life change. The man I was, well, I'm different now, anew you could say. Now on Mars I look back at those 6 thrilling months with deep respect for the ESP personal guides. These people have to take a lot of crap from us wanting-to-be-Martians. They are work hardened and it is their job to give comfort, coach you, supervise you and above all, be a friend. Then it is especially painfull when candidate Martians begin to toss around with the guides. Just saying, I don't like him or her, give me another. I did that to, and I regret it. Strange as it seems, the first guide is now a friend of mine, whereas the second is merely an acquaintance. Thus I would advice all of you candidate Martians, keep the first guide!

Karl Bachhauzen, Germany Liftoff, and my journey began. The darkness of space replaced the blue and the Moon became visible. It had an almost silver colour which changed into pure grey when we came closer. It took 16 hours to reach the Moon, now a planet itself making Earth a moon. We landed near Lunapolis, where the EMTraveller was waiting. When we entered I realized I had to live inside this machine for a month, with 39 other people. I thought about The First inside the Ares I. How did they handle it, for so long? Eight months! Our one month trip was nothing compared to that. We departed within two hours. Strapped inside our seats we could feel the g's and on the screen we saw a massive burst of energy coming out of the thrusters. This lasted a couple of minutes and then we had left the Moon's gravitational pull. Now we were free in space. On the screen we saw the Moon and the Earth, gradually becoming smaller and smaller. I realized my new life had started, finally the voyage had begun.

Marta Melenski, Poland After staying for three days on Ellis Rock I boarded a Mars Shuttle. It brought me within an hour to the city Areopolis. This tented city is currently the only city on Mars. One huge sky scraper stands in the middle forming the spine of the tent system. I landed on a platform outside the city and I could see Areopolis in the distance. It was a truly beautiful sight. An elevator took me 100 meters below the surface to a big entrance hall. Here a personal transport shuttle was waiting with my luggage already inside. Earth Mars Travel had booked the Transit Hotel for me in the immigrant district and the shuttle was programmed to take me there. It entered a tunnel and five minutes later I was inside the tent. What struck me most was the fact that I couldn't see the tent material, it was transparent. It was like I was living on the surface of Mars, unprotected. It gave a familiar Terran feeling, but later when I did some sightseeing and went to the lookout point at the top of the big sky scraper I saw a red desert full of craters of all sorts and sizes. This was Mars indeed!