I seldom sleep at night and my habit is to set the rig on some dead frequency while I work, surf, etc. Every once in awhile I catch a stray from some distant place and strike up a QSO. It's always an adventure.
That's how I hooked up with the geographic South Pole station. But it was from Cleveland, OH....20w on 20m at 0400 local time with a 20m 1/2 wave dipole 10' off the second story roof of my apartment building. Band held for about 15 minutes and the station was gone.
6 Mos after I was initially licensed, I participated in a contest event with my Elmer and the three friends I studied and tested with. That was enough for me. Just seemed like too much of a hassle and pointless.