The Royal Geographic Society may have merged with the Institute of British Geographers, but the new joint body clearly has no intention of submerging its tradition of travel to the far-flung quarters of the world. Giving his apologies for failing to attend last week's annual conference at the University of Northumbria the first joint president David Sugden was forced to offer one of the most convincing alibis yet seen for not visiting Newcastle -- that he was otherwised engaged in Antarctica.