Capturing a Moment

My first trip to China was three weeks long. During that trip I took enough pictures to fill three large photo albums and I collected enough ticket stubs, brochures and paraphernalia to fill an entire expanding file folder. Looking back now that seems hilarious to me. When I went to Thailand for three weeks in 2001 I took enough pictures to fill one photo album. When I sailed with Semester at Sea – visiting nine countries - I never put a photo album together but took a couple hundred pictures and shared maybe 100 of them on a picture slideshow. I’ve now been gone for 4 months and have visited 8 countries so far this semester and have taken maybe 10 pictures in each port.

I mentioned in my last blog entry that over the years I have moved away from trying to document everything about my travel (and living behind the lens of a camera) and instead focus on soaking in the experience in the moment. I consciously made a decision to not worry about snapping pictures at every turn when I sailed with Semester at Sea. This decision was freeing in many ways. It was very freeing to give up worrying about getting the “best shot”. It helped me to shift from looking for things that would “impress” others or look cool to seeking out things and experiences that were significant and meaningful to me. It’s easier to truly engage in an experience when you are not constantly snapping pictures.

It was also freeing because when I travel abroad I still worry about the ethics and etiquette around taking other people’s pictures. Is it appropriate? Will I offend? Will they want money? Do I look like a total obnoxious, rude tourist? Also – I sometimes feel self centered to ask someone to take my picture in front of this place and that site. Plus who wants to see picture after picture of me standing here and posing there? BORING!

In place of pictures I began writing my emails and now my blog. Writing has challenged me to reflect more about what I am learning and how I am growing through these experiences – pushing me past just spitting out a laundry list of the things I saw and what I did. All good things…..

BUT…as folks came back from their trips to Beijing and started sharing pictures I was able to recognize and talk about the places they had been because I remembered them from my own pictures from that first trip to China. Having pictures is another way to remember your experience, solidify your memories, and jog your memory. It got me wondering if maybe I had gone too far in the other direction – not taking enough pictures. Will I later regret not having more pictures of the friends I’ve made and the places I’ve been? My emails and blogs are great ways to remember and jog my memory (I’ve found myself reading my emails from my SAS voyage more than once during the course of this current journey) but nothing can replace having a snapshot of a place, a sunset, a friend.

This makes me realize that trying to “capture a moment” is trickier than it first seems. I don’t think I’m failing at it but I do think I need to strike a better balance. As I get ready to head into the second half of this journey around the world I think I want to commit to myself to make a more concerted effort to take a few more pictures. I want to be able to share with all of you some of the people and the places that are shaping my life at this moment. Oh and I want to be able to show you that cool shot of me standing on a street in Turkey, riding in a rickshaw in India or climbing Table Mountain in South Africa.

China Then and Now

It’s been 12 years since my first trip to China. In fact that trip in January 1996 was my first trip out of the US (other than Canada). In those 12 years I have visited over 20 countries for leisure, work, service and adventure. That averages out to almost two countries every year!

It was interesting to spend a week in the first place that I traveled abroad 12 years after that experience. Throughout the week I found myself seeing sites and flashing back to that first trip. I also spent a lot of time reflecting on just how much I have changed since that first experience abroad. Here are a couple of my thoughts…

Things shock me less – The different and unfamiliar seem more familiar and expected. Streets filled with rickshaws and motor bikes…rural villages with no running water…cities with insane pollution…being stumped about how to communicate…chickens being killed and defeathered in a back alleys of restaurants…whole pigs being cooked on spits… unique foods and tastes…unfamiliar customs… shacks… dirt roads…grand palaces…magnificent waterfalls and wildlife…humbling historical sites and ruins…mysterious and grand religious sites…hawkers… beggars…new sights…new sounds…new smells – these kinds of things don’t surprise me much anymore, in fact, I expect to experience them when I travel (and I can be disappointed when I don’t find them).

Now don’t get me wrong – this doesn’t mean that I am not still in awe of the places that I visit and that traveling has become banal or ordinary to me – quite the contrary. Even though I may have less “head spinning” moments I think I’m actually able to absorb the experience in a deeper way because my head IS spinning less.

Being catapulted into a place that is completely different from any place I’ve ever been is one of things I love about traveling. Learning about a new place, a new history, a new culture and how to navigate it all is exciting to me.

Things scare and intimidate me less – I am a worrier by nature (like you didn’t all already know that!). When I first traveled abroad independently and when I led service learning trips abroad I worried and stressed about EVERYTHING. Where do I buy the ticket? Will they understand me? Where will I eat? How will I order? What if the train doesn’t stop at my stop? What if the rickshaw driver didn’t understand me and takes me to a totally different place? How do I call the contact person? What if I don’t find a place to stay? Did I get on the bus in the right direction? What will I do if our luggage doesn’t show up? I can’t do that or go there because I don’t know what to do or how to do it!! I could go on and on with examples of my neuroses.

Just recently I have realized that I worry less and less about these kinds of things. It is now harder to catapult me completely out of my comfort zone. I think years and years of travel has shown me that things always find a way of sorting themselves out. No matter what happens or how seemingly bad or hopeless a situation may seem things always work out in the end. It helps that I’ve become familiar with what kinds of “unexpected” or unusual things to expect when traveling in different cultures. Knowing how to ask the right questions, learning tricks for getting information I need, strategizing about how to communicate through language barriers, understanding customs, reading cultural nuances – all help in making things go smoothly. I’ll never completely recover from my worry affliction but now I try not to let these worries consume my entire experience. I try to be smart, be proactive, be polite, be assertive, pay attention and trust the process.

I approach the experience differently – I find myself spending less time documenting my travel experiences by taking pictures and collecting paraphernalia and more time experiencing/observing and reflecting/writing. This voyage especially has reminded me that traveling is less about what I’ve seen and more about how I process what I’ve seen and how it changes me. I used to collect stuff and take pictures that I thought people would think was cool. Now I know that people don’t really care about my trips rather than a couple of quick shots. What is more important is what I am learning, how I am changing, what I am taking away from the experience. I need to choose places and experiences that intrigue and draw me rather than hitting all the big, exciting, “expected” travel sites and destinations.

This current voyage has been a struggle for me for many reasons (many of which I have shared here). I think one of those struggles has been around the fact that I didn’t realize until now just how independent and travel savvy I’ve become. Traveling on a ship used to feel like a safe, easy way to get around the world (and don’t get me wrong it still is) but now it sometimes feels restrictive to me. Also, I’ve been hitting some big “sites” and popular countries on this voyage but most of them haven’t excited me or enticed me much. Have I "outgrown" this type of travel? Not really - I just think I'm ready to explore other, different ways of traveling.

These reflections have been good lessons to learn because it helps me to decide and shape how and where I want to travel in the future. As always I’m looking for travel to teach me more about me and once again it has not let me down. As we begin the next voyage in just two short weeks with 10 more countries before us all I can say is bring on the lessons!

The Power of Endorphins

Before I left Philly I was taking an awesome Urban Boot Camp class. 6am on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum (yes –the Rocky steps) we would run the stairs, do dips, push ups, lunges, suicides, sprints, bear crawls, fire hydrants, etc. It was great! I had become very bored and lazy in any workout routine and this class was just the shot I needed to get myself back in shape.

I knew that living on the ship would make it challenging to do any fitness activities. Last time I sailed I was the most physically INactive I had ever been in my entire life. My hope was that I could keep some of my momentum going from my boot camp class and start up a fitness routine immediately. Well, then, as you all know, the first month and a half of the voyage was a tour through hell so I barely had the energy to be social let alone do anything physical.

After Panama I did attempt to work out occasionally – run on the treadmill, lift some weights and do some of the exercises we did in our class. This kind of bored me and I had trouble committing to it more than every couple of days. Plus if it was rocky at all the treadmill was no place to be. So I decided to join the 7am Pilates class. I had taken Pilates before and enjoyed it. That class was good and kept me minimally active. On the way to New Zealand I began teaching a RAD class which added to my physical activity but I still felt like I was missing something.

After Australia the student who was teaching Pilates decided that with her class load she couldn’t run the class anymore. Great – what now? Well I started teaching a second RAD class, but didn’t have anymore of a plan beyond that. Then one of the students who is a Personal Trainer decided to start running a Boot Camp class at 6:45am every morning. Bingo! Just what I needed.

I’ve only been doing the class for 4 days now but WOW what a difference! I have more energy throughout the day, I love the sense of accomplishment when I have sore muscles and most importantly my attitude is more positive and my mood is far better than it has been for the entire voyage.

I think there are lots of reasons for my improved mood and attitude. We are on a longer leg which is always easier for me….lots of time to get everyone prepared for the next port and less of a crunch and cycle of crisis. I know that I will be headed home soon for a short visit which is exciting and encouraging. Being at the halfway point of this experience feels like a milestone. It’s not that I’m wishing the time away, but this type of life is intense and feels like the equivalent of running a marathon. Knowing I made it through the halfway point feels like an accomplishment – and hell if I made it this far I can do anything for 4 short months (especially considering what we’ve already been through)! All are reasons that I attribute to my improved spirits, however as I reflect on it I still think that the number one contributor is Tripsie’s boot camp class. It’s been quite shocking to me just how much my perspective on things has shifted just in the last couple of days since I started the class.

Endorphins have a powerful effect on the human body and spirit. I’ve always known that working out makes you feel better about life….research tells us that….my past experience tells me that but yet it’s still something that I have to mentally struggle to commit to time and time again.

I think the power of exercise and the effect of endorphins was particularly striking to me this time around for two reasons. One, it’s really difficult to get ANY physical activity on the ship. I’ve always been one to try and get small bits of physical activity throughout the day – take the stairs rather than the elevator, walk instead of drive. When I lived in Philly I always walked to work – what a great time to clear my head, gain perspective, get some fresh air and aim for reaching my 10,000 steps per day goal. Opportunities for even small bits of activity are few and far between on the ship. There are only about 50 steps between my cabin and my office and about 30 steps from my cabin to the dining room. Second, when you live in the same place that you work it is extremely difficult to get distance from your work or time to gain perspective on what’s happening.

Doing this boot camp class in the morning has catapulted me forward in both of those areas – already I can think more clearly and can feel my perspective shifting and my body is getting the basic physical challenge that it needs. Wow – what a difference a workout can make!

The Power of Place and Experience

I’m still feeling a bit disillusioned by the fact that on this first semester we are going to places that are so “easy” – the language is easy, it’s easy to find things you need, there are lots of familiar things, it’s comfortable to travel, tour and talk to people. I know those sound like good things but I believe that a trip around the world should be the opposite of comfortable, familiar and easy. The whole point is to be catapulted into the unfamiliar – your senses assaulted from the moment you touch ground, your cultural frameworks challenged with every interaction, your comfort zones pushed to levels you didn’t know possible and communication tactics forced to be creatively and delicately approached at every step.

I’ve been reflecting on this a lot recently because I’m just now realizing that one of my challenges this semester is that I don’t feel that I have been catapulted out of my comfort zone in many ways during our port visits. At first I was critical of myself asking, “Have I really become so jaded about traveling to new places that it doesn’t feel novel or exciting to me anymore?” That feels really icky and gross to think that might be the case. Where is the openness to learning and experiencing in those thoughts? Then I started thinking about my last trip around the world. What made that different? I think a big answer to that is the places we visited. They were all places that did assault your senses, places that were totally unfamiliar and challenging to our comfort zones. These places threw us off balance and challenged our thinking & our stereotypes, and opened us up to so much learning.

Is this happening for some students on this current voyage? Yes, I’m sure it is, but I’m sad because overall I’m not so sure how much it is really happening this semester for students, faculty and staff. We have gone to “easy” places that feel more familiar than foreign in many ways. In fact the Spanish speaking students aren’t getting to experience a country where they don’t speak the language until almost our last port!

I joined TSS because I was excited about their mission and goals around helping students develop into “global citizens”. Now that I am almost through the first semester I worry that we are creating “global tourists” rather than “global citizens”. Why is that happening? I think it’s happening for many reasons – there have been many missed opportunities on this voyage to prepare students, challenge students and frame things for students but I believe the ports we are visiting are a big contributor.

Unfortunately the geography of the world is not going to change and there are only so many places we can get to in a reasonable amount of time (don’t want to be at sea for three weeks!). That is part of the reason this semester’s itinerary was built the way it was. TSS has particular challenges in creating a dynamic itinerary because Royal Caribbean has very strict safety guidelines as to where we are allowed to go AND because we have so many different nationalities on board – some countries won’t allow certain nationalities in – so that restricts us as well.

The good news is that next semester has a very different itinerary. It will be interesting to be on this second voyage to see how it compares to the first – will going to less “easy” and “familiar” countries make a difference? I guess we shall see.

The other good news is that regardless of the countries we visit students are getting a multicultural experience and being challenged. That fact that we have faculty, staff, students and crew from so many different countries poses challenges and opportunities to learn on a daily basis. You can never say that TSS is not an interesting experiment!

As for me, I’m trying to be open to whatever learning I can in each port. Have the places we have visited thus far left my head spinning? No – but I also know that taking part in an adventure like this is not about any one experience in a particular port. It’s about the total experience – the cumulative experience that builds up from port to port. I guess I have to remember that there will be different lessons for me on these two voyages than there was on my last. What those lessons are – I’m not sure yet and I probably won’t know until much after this experience ends. I guess I just have to be open to whatever comes my way and soak it all in.

Australia

6am last Sunday: I stood on the front top deck of the ship watching as we passed through the two heads into Sydney Harbor. The sun was that brilliant bright color that can only be experienced just after sun rise. It sparkled off the water and glinted off the lighthouse on the South Head. We rounded the corner and caught our first glimpse of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. There it was -- we were officially in Sydney, Australia. The Australian students are jumping out of their skin as they see a few friends and family standing on the shore waving us in. A cockatoo flies right in front of the ship as we sail by the Opera House just before we pass under the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Wow, what a welcome to Sydney!

Before we arrived Australia was feeling big and overwhelming to me. There is so much to do, so much to see, where do you start? Once we arrived I recognized that some of my anxiety stemmed from feeling the pressure to “see and do it all”. I also realized that that is not what I wanted to do – there was nothing that really jumped out at me as something I HAD to do while in Australia, I wasn’t feeling compelled to spend loads of money and I needed some down time after our stressfully short trip from NZ to Oz. So I decided to just take it slow and enjoy Sydney.

My highlights in Australia? – Two that stand out to me. First – THE BEACH! I made it to the beach for the first time this entire voyage. On our second day here a couple of students and I headed to Bondi Beach – a very famous city beach in Sydney. We didn’t do anything but lie on the beach, eat lunch at a nice café and walk some of the coastal walk trail. It was just what I needed. The beach felt so good to me that I decided to go to another beach the next day. This time I went with the PR officer on the ship – Ashley. We took a 20 minute ferry ride over to Manly Beach. Manly was smaller than Bondi and had a very comfortable, small beach town feel. Again we just lounged on the beach and ate pizza. The beaches in Sydney were very nice, the air temperature and the sun were perfect, but the water was VERY cold. It is spring in Australia right now and the water temperature was probably comparable to the water temperature in NJ in late May or early June – take your breathe away kind of cold.

My second highlight? Dinner at a student’s family’s house in the suburbs on our first night. Caitlin is one of the Australian students on the ship – she is my neighbor on the ship, we both take the pilates class every day while we are sailing and we hung out a bit together in NZ. She is a law student at Macquarie University in Sydney and her family lives about 45 minutes outside of Sydney. She decided to invite a number of us from the ship to her house for dinner on the day we arrived. There were about 13 of us that headed out to the burbs for a BBQ.

Caitlin’s family was great – they were warm and welcoming to all of us. It wasn’t until we were all there that it hit us how nice it was to be in a home – with couches and pets, and a back yard and a comfortable floor and a home cooked meal. The meal – that was the best – we barely talked as we ate sausages, chicken satay, au gratin potatoes and real salad with all kinds of yummy veggies. I think we were quite a funny site marveling in the yumminess of it all – sighing and savoring every bite. You’d have thought we had just returned from living in the wilderness for months. For dessert her mom made homemade Pavlova – a traditional dessert made of a baked meringue shell filled with a whipped cream-like topping and fruit. It was fantastic. It all felt so comfortable and, well….homey.

Don’t get me wrong – the ship is home to us, but it’s far from the same feel as a real house. We don’t have comfy couches for lounging, we don’t have pets wandering about, we don’t have normal home smells like fresh laundry & food cooking, I don’t walk out of my cabin with my pajamas on or without thinking about if my hair looks presentable. It has been over three months since I had a home cooked meal or cooked something for myself. Dinner at Caitlin’s was a welcome taste of a home and all of the comfortable and familiar things that go along with that.

The rest of my time in Sydney entailed being a tourist – touring in the Hop on hop off bus, riding to the top of Sydney Tower for a fantastic view of the entire city, visiting the Chinese Gardens, strolling through Darling Harbor, walking through the beautiful Queen Victoria Building that is the most elegant shopping center I’ve ever visited, and shopping at the Rocks outdoor market. I also joined one of our Academic Field Program groups on the day they traveled to wine country in Hunter Valley. It was about a 2 ½ hour drive outside of Sydney. We had a wine tasting at Lindeman’s Winery, a fabulous lunch at an Irish Pub and then we toured the Hunter Valley Gardens. I’m not a huge garden fan but these gardens were beautiful.

All in all I had a nice visit in Sydney. As I write this and think back to my recent posts I feel like they have been generally uninspired recently. Just a tally of the things I did, sites I saw and which touristy things I enjoyed most. This voyage seems so different from my last. I don’t feel like I have the same passion and excitement about the places we are visiting or the sites I’m seeing. I’ve recently been contemplating why it feels so different this time around. I’m starting to formulate some answers and want to share my thoughts….in another post, on another day….stay tuned….

New Zealand

Blue skies, clear water and green, green, green everywhere – and sheep, lots of sheep. That is how I would describe the bit of New Zealand I saw. I had to work all week but I did have time to get out and see some sights in and around Auckland. It was kind of a relaxing port for me. I got to catch up on email with cheap, fast internet in the city (even got to video chat on Skype!); I got to make phone calls; I got to shop at an outlet mall and go on a world tour of eating. Food on the ship has been lacking in flavor lately so I ate out every chance I got. Thai food, Indian food, Japanese food, Italian food, seafood, burgers, pizza, ice cream, Starbucks, and – yes I’ll admit it – McDonalds. I spent more money eating than anything else. It was all sooooo good though.

My biggest cultural lesson in this port was clothing sizes. On our second day I went outlet shopping at a mall just outside the city. At first I was discouraged because they didn’t have anything smaller than a size 6. At home I usually wear a 4 and occasionally a 6. I finally found a pair of pants in a size 6 but when I got in the dressing room I could barely get them over my thighs. I quickly realized how different sizes are in New Zealand. I wear between an 8 and a 10 in New Zealand sizing! I think part of the sizing difference between countries has to do with all of the vanity sizing that runs rampant in the US. I currently wear a smaller size than I did in high school but yet I definitely have more meat on my body than I did in high school. If the sizes in the US keep getting bigger I’ll be wearing a size 0 before you know it!

So what were my highlights in New Zealand? On our first day in port one of our professors – Dana – the former US Navy Captain celebrated his 70th birthday. How did he want to celebrate? He wanted to run 7km! He felt it was his way of saying “Screw you!” to 70. His original plan was to run 7 miles but since working out on the ship is challenging he didn’t feel that he could prepare and train himself to be ready for 7 miles. And since we were in New Zealand – running 7 km only made sense. He was looking for folks to join him so another professor on the ship – Ken – and I volunteered to join him. It was a rainy day but the air was warm so it was a nice run – we sang Happy Birthday to him at the start and at the end of the run. Funny thing is – I think I was more sore after the run than Dana. I walked funny for 3 days and felt like I was 70!

In the middle of the week one of the Aussie students – Caitlin – and I bought tickets for a winery tour on Waiheke Island. Waiheke is just off the coast of Auckland – only a 35 minute ferry ride. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful island. We did three wine tastings at three gorgeous wineries and even did an olive oil tasting. Apparently Waiheke Island has a climate similar to the Bordeaux (sp??) area in France so their wines are very popular. It was a lovely day and the island had beautiful views of the ocean and of the city.

On our second to last day in port Ken (the business prof that ran with us on day 1) and I rented bikes and road all over the place. We rode up along the harbor and coastal areas of Auckland – beautiful views and great exercise – I even did some hills! We then hopped a ferry over to Devonport Island and rode around the island for some more beautiful views. It was great way to end our time in New Zealand.

It’s been three days since we left Auckland and we only have one more day to go before we arrive in Sydney. We hit some pretty rough water as we headed across to Australia – apparently it’s pretty typical of that stretch of ocean. There was about a day and a half of rocking that made almost everyone feel icky. I rarely feel seasick but there were times that I didn’t feel so well. It just made me wonder – how did I deal with feeling that way (and worse) for over two weeks in January 2005? Ugh – the rocking wasn’t remotely close to what we experienced back then but it was the first time on this voyage that I had similar feelings and flashbacks to what that time was like.

Things have smoothed out and hopefully will remain calm for the rest of our journey to Oz. I should have a few days off during our time in Australia but I have no idea what I want to do. I currently don’t feel all that excited because I know Australia will be expensive like NZ and it’s hard to plan when we have so much to do during this short leg at sea. As always, I’ll figure it out. Cheers, mate!

A Small Rip in the Space Time Continuum

Gaining hours but losing a day. It’s a weird phenomenon that you get to experience when you live on a ship that is traveling around the world. Since we left Greece we have had 11 days on the ship that were 25 hours long. Yup, every couple nights during each crossing we turn our clocks back by one hour so that by the time we reach our destination we are on local time.

25 hour days are fabulous! What do I do with my extra hour? Sometimes I stay up later and socialize in the staff lounge or hang out with students - chatting or having a Gilmore Girls marathon with them (yes on the ship it’s become my guilty pleasure and escape from reality). Most times I use my extra hour to get up earlier and exercise – if I had 25 hour days all the time I’d be in great shape!

Well the Universe doesn’t just give away hours for free – so how do we pay back all those hours we are gaining? We lose an entire day of our lives of course! We went to bed on Sunday, November 4 and when we woke up it was Tuesday, November 6. Monday, November 5 didn’t exist for us at all on the ship. How’s that for a mind bender? I have a hard time wrapping my brain around exactly where that day went or why it doesn’t exist. I do better than many folks on the ship in understanding how it works because I’ve done it before but it still leaves me scratching my head at times.

The best way I can make sense of it is to think in terms of a Bank. Since we left Greece we have been gaining hours and racking up 11 hours of “debt”. Now that we have crossed the Int’l Dateline and “deposited” 24 hours we now have 13 hours of “credit” left (24 minus the 11 of debt). We will keep gaining hours as we continue but not “owe” the universe any hours because we’ll be using our credit. So every hour we gain is one hour from our lost day (November 5). I don’t know if that is really an accurate description of how it works but it makes sense in my head so I’m sticking with it.

More than anything else I am thankful that we are going the direction we are around the world. If we were going in the other direction that would mean giving hours back as we go and then getting to live one day twice. Living the same day twice would be cool but those 23 hour days would be killer!

Hope you enjoy reading my afternoon musing. Let me know if I missed out on anything good on November 5!

Tahiti

Twelve days to get from Ecuador to Tahiti – not eleven days like originally planned. True to form we got about a day and half out of Ecuador when we had yet ANOTHER medical emergency. We had to turn around and head back towards the Galapagos Islands. So I can now say I have seen the Galapagos – not been there but seen them from a few miles off shore. You could see sting rays practically jumping out of the water – it was pretty cool.

Unfortunately that delay meant that it was going to take us an extra day to get to Tahiti. Originally we were supposed to arrive at 8am on October 29 and leave at 10pm on October 30. Instead we arrived at noon on October 30 and left at 6pm on October 31. It was a real bummer to lose some of our already short time on land.

So Tahiti – very beautiful place but SUPER expensive. I don’t think I’ve been to a place more expensive. It was ridiculous. Even though it was sad to have to leave land I have to admit it was good that we weren’t there any longer – we all would have gone broke. I think I spent more money during our day and a half in Tahiti then I did in any of our seven days stretches in Ecuador, Panama and Portugal (and I didn’t even spend any money on the second day!!).

During our first half day there I stayed in Papeete – walked around the city and the waterfront with a couple students. Had a great dinner in a French restaurant with a few of the professors on the ship. It was during our second day that I really got to see the beauty of Tahiti. I went on one of the Shore excursions that took us over to Moorea Island (about a 30 minute ferry ride from Tahiti) and after a short drive through the island we got on another boat that took us over to a very tiny, remote island. On the way over to the island our tour guide told us some history of the islands and he spotted a huge sea turtle along the way. I caught a nice glimpse of him before he swam away – biggest turtle I ever saw.

We first stopped in a very shallow area (a little higher than waist deep) and jumped in with our snorkels and masks. Within minutes we were surrounded by gigantic stingrays. They swished around our feet and swam right up to our waists. They were beautiful and their bodies were so smooth and silky. Some of the females were as big as 3 ½ feet across and the males were 2 to 2 ½ feet across. There were also a lot of reef sharks swimming about. They too were about 3 to 3 ½ feet long. Very cool

Next we headed over to the smaller island – just tables, chairs and a couple thatched roof pavilions. Here is where we got to get even more up close and personal with the sting rays. As soon as we arrived the sting rays approached us as friendly as could be. Oh for you environmental and animal friendly folks – no worries they don’t feed the rays – occasionally they will hold fish in their closed hand to lure them with the smell but for the most part they were friendly and social on their own with no prompting. Very tame. If you knelt down in the shallow water the sting rays would come right up and over you – got a couple nice pictures of that. We also did some snorkeling and saw a few cool fish but it wasn’t the best snorkeling I’ve ever done (of course I’m spoiled because Belize and Thailand were the first two places I ever snorkeled).

Then came lunch – fabulous bbq chicken, fish, rice and a delicious native dish – Tahitian coconut marinaded tuna. Our guide made it right in front of us – sushi grade raw tuna marinaded in lime juice then a whole bunch of veggies and coconut milk added to the mix. Toss it all together and voila! It was great – I have the recipe and can make it at home.

A couple more hours of lounging and then we headed home. The feel of that tiny island reminded me a little bit of my amazing trip to Boipeba Island in Brazil – ahhhh so great. Just relaxing and carefree.

So I have been to a few tropical places – Belize, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, St. Thomas (just to name a few) but I have never in my life seen water more brilliant and striking than I did on Moorea Island. It was absolutely breathtaking – the most vibrant blue green color that you can imagine – it was just gorgeous.

Tahiti was a beautiful, nice distraction from the daily routine of work and life on the ship -- all be it expensive and a tad too brief a visit. Glad to say I have been there but doubt I would ever go back. That’s my view on Tahiti and I’m sticking to it. Onwards to New Zealand – only five days away (really only one day away – I wrote this four days ago)!

Sun Worship

I don’t have many vices – I don’t drink too much (at least not very often), smoking never interested me, I enjoy TV but I can take it or leave it, I eat fairly healthy, and I work out on a fairly regular basis. I go for all my regular checkups to doctors and the dentist and overall I’m pretty conscience about maintaining my overall health and doing things to keep myself “young”. However there is one vice that I just can’t get enough of – THE SUN. I love it – I love the heat on my skin, the feel of the sun penetrating my body, the lift in my mood – I could sit outside all day baking in the heat and be happy, happy, happy.

Ok there is another thing I like about the sun - the vain part of me has to admit I like the look. When I’m tan I look better and healthier. Seeing that healthy glow in the mirror makes getting more sun addictive. I get such a sense of satisfaction standing in the shower after a long day in the sun seeing how much darker my skin has become.

Now I know that this is a very unhealthy practice. I see the moles and freckles multiple all over my body, I see the wrinkles and crevasses prematurely develop and deepen on my face, I know that skin cancer runs in my family and every minute in the sun increases my chances. I know all of these things and yet, still, something draws me to lie in the sun and soak it in every chance I get.

I rationalize my addiction by faithfully wearing sunblock….umm, but of course I can’t wear so much that I don’t get a tan. I also rationalize my addiction by remembering that I only get out in the sun 3 months a year and even then it’s usually relegated to just a few nice weekends. Normally that subdues some of my guilt about the damage I’m inflicting. Well both of those rationalizations are out the window for this year. For probably seven out of the eight months I am away I will be living in eternal summer – with the sun calling to me every day. Also, recently I have taken to spending about an hour outside every day after lunch and since I need to go back to work afterwards and it IS such a short amount of time I don’t always put sunblock on.

So the guilt is back full force – I could end up looking like a wrinkled up, old leather handbag that is dying of skin cancer, looking 10 years older than my actual age. Grrrreat. That’s a good thing to look forward to – and I can only look to myself for blame. Hate that.

Well, you know what? Despite all that I’ve decided I’m still going to soak in the sun. I figure you only live once and if sun worshipping is my worst vice than I’m doing pretty ok.

Just thought I would share my deep thought for the day with you. Hope it hasn’t gotten too cold at home yet :) Happy Halloween!

It's about the small things

Right now, I am in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. Our ship is days from land. Wow – not many people can ever say they have been here. That feels special. It’s a small but powerful realization. On my last voyage I had moments like this all time. Small moments when the enormity of the experience or the uniqueness of the moment or the privilege of the opportunity would strike me and hit deep to my core.

I am blowing bubbles on a street in Saigon with a 3 year old boy…I’m eating lunch at a Chinese family’s home in Shanghai…I am standing on the fields where thousands of Cambodians were killed just a few decades ago…I am really witnessing the beauty of Angkor Wat…I am watching the stars light up the night sky in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean…I just negotiated a ride with a rickshaw driver in India…I am sleeping in a tent in Kenya and the Maasai Warriors are keeping watch over camp….I am in a remote village in Brazil buying pottery…I am in the jungle watching Macaws fly over head…I am witnessing an amazing sunset in the Indian Ocean. It was these small moments that made my last voyage for me.

It was a lesson I took with me from that voyage. Over the last two and half years I have tried to be intentional about finding and celebrating the small moments in life. Sitting on the beach… walking home from work with friends….playing in blanket tents with Parker and Campbell…running on Boathouse row or in front of the Art Museum. These are the moments that make life….well life.

I came into this second voyage ready to soak in all of the small moments of awe and wonder that happen when you travel around the world. I have shared with all of you the struggles I have had with this current voyage. The work stresses, the disorganization, the chaos and insanity, my struggle to decide to stick with next semester. Last month when we were in Panama a realization hit me harder than any of those stressors or frustrations. It hit me that I wasn’t enjoying the little moments. In Portugal I didn’t have one moment when I thought, “Am I really here? How lucky am I?” We crossed the Atlantic Ocean during exceptionally calm seas and I didn’t get outside once to take in that sight. When we came through the Panama Canal I wasn’t outside witnessing that feat for more than 30 minutes the entire day (and it took an entire day to get through the canal). Even when I did try to take the time to find those moments I was so exhausted and stressed there was no joy, there was no awe. In fact, during the Canal crossing I fought back tears as I watched us go through one of the Canal locks because I realized that I was so stressed that I just didn’t care. How could I not care about going through the Panama Canal? How could I not be awed by the opportunity?

This realization is the one that really sent me spinning with regards to whether or not I should stay on the ship for next semester. It left me feeling very defeated – the question was not could I handle it? Or could I make it better or would I be running away? The questions became: If I’m not enjoying the little moments than why am I here? What was the point? Why was a sacrificing the joys at home if I wasn’t finding joy in even the tiniest moments? It made it feel like the answer was clear and I just needed to come to terms with that reality.

All along I said that I couldn’t and shouldn’t judge this experience or make any decisions until after Ecuador when our work pace could level off a bit. Smart decision. Last week when we were Ecuador – I had a moment. I was on a bus on the way to Cuenca when I thought to myself, “I am on a bus headed for the Andes Mountains in the middle of Ecuador – wow, how cool?”. Small thought, but a big moment. I felt it coming back - the excitement, the wonder and the awe. It was ever so small – just a tiny spark, a split second but it gave me such hope. Could it be that I still had it in me to find and soak in the small moments? I hadn’t been shattered beyond repair with regards to this particular experience?

Since then I have felt more tiny sparks reminding me that this experience is special and unique. They are slow to come and few and far between but those moments are starting to come back to me. I’m hoping that I can keep the momentum going. The frustrations, stressors and disappointment in decisions being made all still exist but they seem a million times more bearable when I have those little moments to take away.

Thanks for listening - I hope that you are finding the tiny moments of wander, awe and gratitude in your day!

Love and missing
Christy

Ecuador

When I traveled with Semester at Sea I was less than thrilled to be heading towards our two ports of call in South America. After visiting areas in Asia and Africa that were fairly safe and fairly easy to communicate – all we heard about was the crazy amounts of petty crime and language being a huge challenge. Turns out that Brazil and Venezuela were both fabulous! Since then I have visited Peru and now I can add Ecuador to my list of South American countries. Like Brazil and Venezuela, Ecuador was sort of surprise for me. Looking back over my seven days there I am struck with just how amazingly friendly, helpful and kind everyone was. Whether it was our in-country university partner or the cashier at the grocery store everyone in Ecuador seemed to go out of their way to help you out.

So what were my highlights of Ecuador? Good food for one – on our first night in Ecuador I went with a bunch of folks to a place that only local Ecuadorians go to. I was skeptical at first – plastic chairs, dirty plastic table cloths, and only three entrees on the menu. We had cheese empanadas, patacones (friend plantains) and each had an entrée. The empanadas were to die for, the patacones were great and the entrees were huge and very good. The chicken was flavorful and perfectly cooked and the rice was perfect. All of the food plus beer and sodas added up to $3 a piece for dinner. On our last day some of us went out for a yummy lunch that included soup, a drink, entrée and dessert for $1.75. There was also this traditional Ecuadorian soup – it was a creamy potato soup with cheese and avocado in it – delish!

Another highlight for me was all the wildlife in the city of Guayaquil (and I’m not talking about the night life). On our first day there – a few of us were wandering the city and came across this very interesting park. It was full of iguanas! They were all over the place – in the trees, in the pond, and walking on the sidewalks. All of the iguanas are very unafraid of humans – they will walk right past you (or over you) and even let you touch them. It turns out that that particular park is informally called Iguana park because of the large volume of iguanas that live there. I counted over twenty iguanas in just one tree! There are also tons of turtles – all shapes, sizes and species living in this park. After visiting Iguana park I noticed iguanas in other parts of the city – I saw them in the big plaza where the TSS shuttle was picking us up and I even saw one cross a busy downtown street.

A third highlight for me in Ecuador is that I actually got away for a couple of days. I know that many of you think of me as an adventurous traveler but if I am honest I have to admit that I am not. Usually when I travel I am with a group or a tour, with someone who speaks the language or knows where they are going or I have a home base like the ship that makes it easy. I haven’t done much independent traveling – other than a couple days in Peru before our tour started and my three weeks in Thailand with my dad and some random day trips in some cities that is about it. Thailand doesn’t even really count because my friend Karen who had lived there for almost two years told us exactly what to do and where to go while we were there.

For awhile now I’ve been thinking that I wanted to stretch my traveling wings and do some more independent traveling – in fact I debated about whether or not I would feel too restricted or restrained traveling with another shipboard program.

Well while in Ecuador I definitely got to stretch my independent travel wings and actually did something completely uncharacteristic of me. I did a two and half day trip to a mountain town in the middle of Ecuador – no research, no plans, no reservations and no safety net of going with someone who speaks the language.

One of the Intercultural Residence Counselors, Chris (a shy, young British guy), and I realized that we both had the same time free and both had an interest in going to Cuenca so we decided to go together. Cuenca is a city located south of Quito in the middle of the Andes about four hours away from Guayaquil. Descriptions about the city talked about it’s quaint feel, beautiful architecture and numerous cathedrals and churches. It is also believed that the Incans had a trail through Cuenca that connected Cusco, Peru to Quito, Ecuador. Since I hiked the ancient Incan religious trail to Machu Piccu last September – why not see another city along the ancient Incan “highway”?

So Chris and I left the ship one morning with just a small backpack each and a map of Cuenca that we got out of advertising tourist brochure. Our only plan was to get to the bus station and buy a ticket to Cuenca – beyond that we had no plan. It was a holiday weekend in Ecuador so we had no idea if it would be easy or difficult to get a hotel room. That felt a little bit scary but not too bad. Here is the scary part…

For those of you who don’t already know I am pretty terrible with all languages. It’s one of my few regrets in life that I didn’t learn a language when I was younger (or get over my insecurities and fears of sounding stupid when I had the chance to learn in high school). The extent of my language vocabulary in any country is usually: yes, no, thank you, hello, goodbye or good day, how much and maybe a few numbers. Just before we leave the ship Chris and I talk and I realize that I am going to be the better language speaker (that is REALLY scary if you’ve heard me trying to speak any Spanish words). So we have absolutely no plans and I have to figure out how to communicate at every step along the way. GREEEAAT! Needless to say this did not start off as the nice, relaxing time away that I so desperately needed.

Of course there were no taxis just inside the port area like there had been the rest of the week so we got a taxi right outside the port (mom close your eyes on this part - an illegal cab in the unsafe part of the city just outside the port). Amazingly I was able to bargain the cab driver, we got to the bus station, figured out where to go to purchase our $6 bus tickets for the 4 hour ride to Cuenca – all without incident.

The bus ride up was very interesting. The first 2 hours were on the flat coastal area then the last two hours felt like we were going straight up – the vegetation changed, the temperature changed, the look of the villages changed, we drove straight up through the cloud cover and kept going. I think Cuenca’s elevation is over 3,000 meters (I forget how to convert to feet for you). We saw a lot of rural villages along the way – my favorite site was when we drove past a road side stand where they had a huge pig split down the middle, laid flat with a grate on each side of the pig and they were spinning it like it was on a spit to cook it.

Ok this story is getting way too long. We get to Cuenca – got a cab to drop us off in the middle of the city, wandered into a random hostel-like hotel and got a room for two nights. We spent the next two days exploring the city – we just walked everywhere. Our biggest challenge was that it was a holiday weekend so lots of things were closed. It was ok though – it was nice to just walk, see the river, walk the markets, people watch and pop into one of the many churches. I don’t know why (I need to do some research now that I am back) but Cuenca has an inordinate more churches and cathedrals. They boast having one of the largest cathedrals in the Americas (it was HUGE) and one of the oldest cathedrals in the Americas. It was nice to see a city outside of Guayaquil – it was very different than the big port city – had a lot more character. Two days later we reversed our trip and made it back to the ship without incident.

I’m quite proud that I fumbled my way through all the communicating to have a successful trip with such limited Spanish. I didn’t exactly come back relaxed and well rested (not only the stress of communicating but the high altitude made for very restless sleep) but once I was back to the ship I realized that just having time to be completely away from work was huge and desperately needed.

We are now on our way across the South Pacific headed towards Tahiti. We will get there in eleven days and be there for just two. I believe that life should settle down for me a bit on this leg of the journey. We have more time to prepare for our next full port stop and some of our systems and routines are finally taking shape.

Hopefully I will have time to post again before we get to Tahiti. Hope that all is well with everyone at home – take care!

I finally got away!

Bus ticket to a city in the middle of Ecuador: $6
Hotel room and hot breakfast for 2 days: $44
Three meals in town: $22

A successful three day trip to city of Cuenca, Ecuador – with absolutely no pre-planning and no reservations: priceless

Crossing the Equator

(I wrote this yesterday) Today I took part in an ancient maritime tradition – I donned a red curly wig, painted my face, wielded a sword and acted like a pirate. Yes, today was our Equator crossing ceremony. Since I am a trusty Shellback (meaning I have crossed the Equator before) I got to take part in initiating the slimy Pollywogs (meaning those who have never crossed the Equator).

This tradition was a bit of a challenge on this ship because almost everyone on the ship was a Pollywog. There were only eight of us who were Shellbacks. We pulled it off though. As the tradition goes, King Neptune and his court must board the ship and grant everyone permission to cross the Equator. The way he does this is by making the Pollywogs do a secret initiation to deem them worthy of being a shellback. We had a 250 lb king Neptune and our retired US Navy Captain dressed up as the Queen. The rest of the shellbacks dressed as pirates.

The initiation on Semester at Sea was much more extensive but we did ok. Since none of the executive team on the ship were shellbacks they were very resistant to agree to anything too grand. They were afraid what we were doing would be construed as hazing – which is just silly because there is no pressure and everything is totally optional and all in good fun. It was interesting to be a part of creating this ship’s initiation procedures. There were 5 of us who had become shellbacks on Semester at Sea, 1 became a shellback in the US Navy and 2 had become shellbacks on different research vessels – it was cool to hear all of the different types of initiation and try to blend them into something unique for TSS.

This all may sound really silly but it really is a long standing tradition. Research ships, military ships, passenger ships – you name it and they do some sort of King Neptune initiation ceremony when crossing the Equator. I’m proud of the picture I have of me being initiated as a shellback – fish guts and all (if anyone is interested I can show you the video when I’m back at home).


On to Ecuador we go!

Panama

2nd port has come and gone. Our time in Panama seemed to fly by, even though I didn’t get to do a whole lot. Our berthing situation was tricky in Panama. On the first day we were anchored in the harbor and used tender boats to get ashore. Sounds easy enough right? Not when the water is choppy – it was crazy getting people in and out of boats when the boats are rolling crazily and waves are crashing up under the pontoon. It was so rough that they couldn’t let anyone off the ship on our first night – boy did that not go over too well. Everyone was upset until the next morning when they saw what a death wish it was to get on and off the boats.

On the evening of our first full day there we moved to a high security fueling port to berth. We were supposed to be there for 3 days and then anchor back out in the harbor again for the last two days. Luckily things changed and we were able to stay berthed the rest of our stay. Even though being berthed was preferable to tendering it was still not easy. Rodman terminal is an old US military base and because it is a fueling port it is high security and it’s pretty far outside the city. TSS did run shuttles to a big mall in Panama City during the day and to a popular tourist hot spot street in the evenings which helped.

After 14 days on the ship I was sooooo ready to get off the ship on our second full day there. This too, was not as easy as it sounded. Problem is I am tied to the ship most mornings to get trips off – by the time I am free there usually isn’t anyone around to do anything with. Normally I would be totally happy to do things by myself but since it was so tricky to get anywhere from our berth AND I was so shattered from having to troubleshoot so much – the thought of having to make even the simplest decision made me want to cry.

I solved that problem on the first day by taking an eight year old to the mall. Kyra is the third grade daughter of our Director of Student Life. Like me, she ends up being tied to ship a lot because her mom and dad are both working on the ship. So when I was finally free on the 2nd day I asked if she wanted to go to the mall with me. She was thrilled. So we took the shuttle to the mall and spent the whole day there. We window shopped, ate lunch and hunted animals. Yes, hunted animals. This gigantic mall is broken down into sections that are named after animals. A large statue of each animal can be found in each section so Kyra and I went hunting for all of the animal statues. In fact it was our quest to find the zebras and the lion (the last ones in our search) that caused us to miss the 2pm shuttle back to the ship. The next shuttle wasn’t until 4pm so what did we do to kill even more time at the mall? Got manicures of course. Kyra had never gotten a manicure and was excited about the idea. She was most impressed by the price of the manicures – only 4 dollars. All in all it was not a bad first day off the ship.

I think the highlight of my time in Panama was the day that I did a shore excursion to the Chagres River. The Chagres is one of the main rivers that feeds water into the Panama Canal (did I mention that the little bit I saw of us going through the canal was pretty cool). This trip took us down to the river and we got in a gigantic motorized canoe – fifteen of us in one canoe. We traveled down the river for about 20 minutes, then hiked through the woods and through streams for about 30 minutes more. This brought us to a gorgeous waterfall and watering hole. The swimming was great! There were the most beautiful giant brilliant blue butterflies flying all over the woods and near the watering hole. The water was a perfect temperature.

After swimming we hiked back and took the canoe back down the river about 15 minutes. We then stopped at an Embera Indian village. The Embera Indians are an indigenous tribe in Panama who lost all their forms of making a living (hunting and farming) when their land became part of a national park. Rather than lose their land they decided to stay and instead of hunting and farming they now make their living off of tourism. It’s weird - I’m usually uncomfortable in these kinds of situations. I usually feel like we are being horrible gawky tourists or I feel like the indigenous folks are just putting on a show for the tourists (and putting on their jeans and t-shirts as soon as we are gone). I didn’t feel either way in this village. They are very open and honest about the fact that they make their living off of tourism. At the same time they seem generally excited to share their culture with others and they see this as a way to preserve their culture.

We had a lovely lunch in the village – fresh tilapia, fried mashed plantains, fresh watermelon, pineapple, guava and bananas. They showed us the crafts that they make – out of nuts, roots and they super heavy wood. The women also make these beautiful baskets that take months to complete. We also got tattoos – some sort of dye from a tree that they use – similar to henna it will last about 7 days. After lunch they taught us some of their dances and I finished off the day by pulling out my bottle of bubbles and blowing bubbles with all of the kids – they loved it! It was a lovely day and one of the few where I really felt like I left the ship and work behind.

My other favorite memory of Panama has to be our last night. Ok picture this: Dana - a 69 year old retired US Navy Capt, Ken - a middle aged tall lanky bald Canadian business professor, Bachir - a short, balding, gregarious French man who teaches science in Morocco, Anne - a mid-30s blond Scottish woman (who works for Royal Car. and is helping us out til Ecuador) and Kim our totally fun loving Kiwi Shore Ex Manager. All five of them and I went out for dinner at a tapas restaurant in Old Panama on our last night. It was a really great meal – 11 courses for only $20. They put popcorn on the salad and it was actually pretty good. One of the courses was octopus – I usually find octopus or squid chewy but this delicious and super tender – even the large tentacles that were at least and inch in diameter. It was so nice to have some food with a lot of flavor. The food on the ship is very good but it is dining hall-type food so it is sometimes lacking in real flavor.

Well after dinner Kim convinces us that we should go to the nightclub where all of the students are having a last night in Panama party. It is a nightclub owned by one of the business owners who worked with one of our Academic Field programs all week. We find cabs and ask many different times and ways if they know where Crème is? They assure us yes they do and we take off through the city. They drop us off at this night club that clearly does not say Crème and looks like a local shady place. So what do we do? We start walking the streets looking for Crème, of course. Everyone we ask tells us something different or starts taking us to a different place. I’m sure we were looking like quite a cast of characters walking through the streets of Panama looking for this nightclub. Just as we were about to give up and the light rain that had been falling gets heavier we find the place. It was a total cheesy disco playing all the old favorites including I Will Survive and YMCA. The students were having fun and it was nice that we stopped by.

So you’d think that is where the adventure would end – but alas you would be wrong. About an hour later all of us but Kim decide to head back to the ship. Just as we walk outside there is a cab dropping off some students. So we start to negotiate a price to get back to the ship. We thought we had a deal but when all five of us cram in the cab driver starts negotiating again. Anne and Bachir who know the most Spanish start arguing and negotiating a price. This takes about 10 minutes. Finally we agree and off we go. We are about half way back to the ship when we start to cross the Bridge of the Americas and the cab starts to shake and shimmy and feels like it is losing power. The cab driver pulls over and we all get out thinking it’s probably a flat tire. No flat tire and no one knows what’s wrong with the car – it’s now 11:30pm and the five of us and the cab driver are all standing on this bridge. Hmm….so what do we do? Of course we get back in the car and cabbie tries to keep driving. Downhill we do ok but every time he goes uphill even the slightest bit we shake and shimmy and it feels like the power is just going to die. We aren’t going more than 5-10 miles per hour. Anne is freaking out – it’s the engine!, it’s the axel!, we are going to die! Everyone else is just laughing and hoping we can make it to the ship because we are in the middle of no where with no other cabs in sight. We final chug into the terminal – a trip that normally would take 20-30 minutes took over an hour. After all of that the cab driver actually tried to get more money out of us because of all the trouble – ha, ha! What a silly expedition for our last night.

All in all I enjoyed Panama. The people are generally friendly. There is a nice mix of South American, Caribbean and Central American influences in Panama. The Sangria was quite good. Panama City looks like it is in the middle of a huge redevelopment. They are improving the old city and there are tons of condos and other high rises going up in the city.

Now we are back out at sea. Only a three day trip to Ecuador – we arrive tomorrow. Hopefully I will get more time away in Ecuador.

Thanks to all of you who have left comments – these small notes from home keep me going. Thanks bunches!

Never a Dull Moment

11 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean – over 4000 nautical miles. In some ways the last 11 days have flown by and in other ways it felt like we were never going to reach Panama. So was it smooth sailing? In some ways yes – we had beautiful weather and calm seas the entire journey. In fact at the half way point, right when we were smack dab in the middle of the Atlantic, we had a day where the ocean looked like a pond. No exaggeration it was like glass. So strange to see the North Atlantic so brilliant blue and calm. It was beautiful. I feel very privileged and honored to have had the opportunity to cross all the big oceans in the world more than once and experience them in their many forms.

As is true to form for life on a ship we did have some drama during this crossing. About day 4 we had ANOTHER student with a medical emergency. Well day four was not the best time to have a medical situation because we were about 2000 nautical miles from anywhere! Luckily the student was stable but the decision was made to speed up and get us closer to land as soon as possible. We sped up to about 18 knots (this ship only goes 21 knots) and you could really feel the speed difference. Luckily this was when we were in that super calm water so the increase in speed didn’t shake us around that much.

So on day eight we were in the Caribbean and close enough to land to do a medical evacuation. However we were still too far out for a medical boat to reach us. So what did they do? Well the US Coast Guard flew in with a medical helicopter and picked up the two students of course. Yes, I did say TWO students – by day 8 we had ANOTHER student with a medical condition that needed attention.

It was quite an experience to see the evacuation. The sky was brilliant blue and this bright red helicopter flew in and hovered over our back deck. One of the Coast Guard guys came down on a cable and they proceeded to lift one student up in a basket and the other student was raised up on a stretcher. I actually didn’t see most of the rescue but I was out there to see the Coast Guard officer raise back up on the cable and then saw the chopper take off for Puerto Rico.

So if any of you are counting we are now up to four students who have been medically evacuated – and we are less than 30 days into the voyage! There have been some questions raised around the decisions our shipboard doctor has made. Apparently there was some question as to whether or not the first two students evacuated really need to be evacuated. This doctor has never worked on a ship and he speaks very limited English (he’s Bulgarian) which has complicated all of these decisions. Don’t know if this is true but I’ve heard a rumor that we might be switching doctors in Panama. I’ll keep you posted on that one.

So how has life been for me during this last crossing? Well it was definitely better than our crazy trek to Portugal (I’m still having nightmares about that one). Having 11 days gave us much more time to prepare and get leaders and students prepared for their field programs in Panama. It was still crazy busy though. I’m having a difficult time finding balance. I’m sad to say that I didn’t make it outside these last 11 days more than maybe a cumulative total of an hour and a half. I’ve been working about 12 hour days and no matter how hard we plan and prepare everything ends up being done last minute and everything seems to go into crisis mode before it’s done. Most of that is because of our limited communication with the home office folks --- we plan and prepare and then at the last minute receive all kinds of crazy changes. Internet is a dismal mess – sometimes it takes 15 minutes to load my Yahoo Mail login page! Forget opening attachments -- that could be an all day task! It’s like watching paint dry. The satellite also went down A LOT our last few days before Panama.

Also working with the Executive Team onboard is still as challenging as it was before. I’ve never worked for a leadership team that operates so completely and totally in reactive mode. A problem comes up or someone complains and they jump to react – no thinking through things strategically or trying to look ahead and be proactive. It’s really hurt us in Port Programs because our department does not have a voice around the Executive Team table. So changes that impact our area have been made and we are never informed or consulted. It’s kind of infuriating. No matter how hard we try and keep the channels of communication flowing and no matter how many times things get screwed up because one of their changes has an impact that they didn’t realize (because they didn’t ask us!) our pleas seem to be falling on deaf ears. I was really hoping that after Portugal things would be less reactive and communication channels would be developed and utilized more but unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be happening.

I’m hanging in there though. I am really holding on to the idea that things should slow down after Ecuador. After Panama we only have three days before we arrive in Ecuador so we are scrambling to get everything done for both Panama and Ecuador simultaneously. Also Panama and Ecuador are tricky ports because of where we will be. In Panama we will be using tender boats part of the time and then once we get to shore it’s a 30 minute drive to the city. The other half of the time we will be in a highly restricted, high security fueling port that does not allow any vehicles to drive in nor can you just walk in – we will have to use shuttles to get us in and out of the port area. In Ecuador we are going to be berthed in an area where there is essentially nothing and it’s a 40 minute drive to the closest city. Both of those port situations will be particularly tough for those of us who have to work some during our port stay. You can’t just run off the ship and escape for a brief period. After Ecuador all of our berths are right in the middle of the cities we are in. So I’m hanging on til after Ecuador.

I hope that all is well with everyone at home. I think of all of you often and am missing seeing and talking to each of you. Take care – I’ll post again after Panama!

Bom Tarde

Bom Tarde! (Good afternoon) I can’t believe that our first port has come and gone so quickly! I wish that I could say that I got to see tons in Lisbon but, alas, the job did not permit me to get off the ship much. So unfortunately I don’t have much reflection to share on Portugal. I did do a 2 hour city tour to get familiar with the city, however I was so utterly exhausted that it was difficult to focus or retain anything. I got out of the city twice – once to visit Tomar and Batalha – two places with big monasteries. One built in honor of the defeat of the Spanish and one where the Knights Templar were based (some believe that all of their treasures and the Holy Grail might still be hidden there). The second time I got out of the city was to visit Sintra – a quaint, small town about 40 minutes outside of Lisbon. Along the way we stopped at the spot that is the western most point in Europe. That’s kind of cool to say I’ve been there. Sorry I don’t have more thoughts or impressions to share. Hopefully I’ll have more time in future ports.

We are now headed across the Atlantic. It was a little rocky the first day out but it has since smoothed out and the weather is beautiful today. Hopefully everyone will stay healthy and the weather will stay nice so that we have an uneventful crossing. We are slated to go through the Panama Canal on October 1st so I will write again after our stay in Panama.

A Stressful First Leg

The first leg on my SAS voyage were some of the longest, stressful days I’ve ever experienced. Unfortunately I have to say the same goes for my first leg on this TSS voyage – but for completely different reasons. Have no fear – no dramatic, perilous bouts of weather to report. This time around the stress and long days can be attributed to sheer frustration and lack of resources.

When I realized that I would be going on the INAUGURAL voyage of this program I did have some reservations but in the end the timing of this opportunity won out over any hesitations. Now that I am in the thick of it I’m realizing that being one of the pioneers of this huge endeavor is far less exciting and daring but definitely more trying, stressful and frustrating.

If I had hours I would try and share some of these frustrations but I think it’s much too much to get into here. Plus, I’d really like to block out the nightmare and not think about it anymore. Yes, it has been that bad.

There is some hope though – the Port Programs team that meets us in each port is trying to tackle and address some of the big issues and challenges our team had this first time out. Also, some of the challenges simply related to a total time crunch - not enough time to create systems and procedures AND communicate them AND make them all happen in an effective manner. This next leg to Panama is longer and we have already done a lot of the scrambling to create things so hopefully it won’t be paralyzingly crazy.

I’m trying to stay optimistic that things will get better and maybe be a bit easier (15+ hour days for 2 and half weeks straight are killing me). Our leg across the Atlantic will still be hectic and crazy but hopefully some things will be sorted out and things will start to gel.

Enough about my stress and drama. Let me tell you about some of the good things. The Port Programs team that I work with on the ship are fabulous. All three of us are driven, we are totally on the same page about things and our skills, talents and skills compliment each other amazingly well – better than any other team I’ve worked with before. If it wasn’t for Kim and Arthur I probably would have wanted to grab my passport and come running home as soon as we arrived in Portugal.

The students are also great – they have been more understanding and flexible than any group should ever be asked to be. Having so much diversity on the ship has been fun as well. One of the only bright spots all week was when one of the students from the UK taught salsa lessons the night before we arrived in Portugal. It was great fun to watch over 50 students and staff trying to learn to salsa. Unfortunately I was too exhausted and beat down to participate.

For those of you who are looking for some good drama – we did have a little excitement during our jaunt across the Mediterranean. On our 3rd day out we had a student with internal bleeding who’s condition worsened enough that we diverted to Sardinia for a medical evacuation. The ambulance boat came out to pick him up and then we continued on. THEN about 2 or 3 days later during the middle of the day we seemed to quickly change course, speed up and head straight through some pretty choppy waters (boy did that bring back bad memories). It was weird because as we continued it felt like the ship was leaning heavily towards one side.

Turns out we had a student with appendicitis and we were diverting to southern Spain for another medical evacuation. Apparently in old ships like ours they use water in the ballists to keep us stable and balanced. They had to make the course change so quickly that they didn’t have time to shift the water in the ballists ahead of time so we were slightly tilted until we reached the coast of Spain and the ambulance boat came out for the student. Then we were able to restabilize the ship. Both students are fine and one is even back on the ship with us already. Hopefully we’ve had our share of medical emergencies and our trip across the Atlantic will be uneventful.

Ok, well this entry feels dreadfully long so I will sign off for now. Thanks for listening! I'll have my Portugal post up in a couple of days.

Greece Insanity

I’m here! I arrived in Piraeus around 3pm on Tuesday and dove right into training - didn’t even have time to change my clothes after traveling all night. Since then we’ve been training 13-16 hours a day. Normally that kind of schedule would be wiping me out but so far my energy level has been surprisingly good.

Let me share my first impressions:

The ship is fairly old – built in 1966. As the hotel manager said, “She is a very old lady”. The fact that she is old is actually kind of good news because she was designed to specifically to cross big oceans. She was built at a time when people still used ships to travel across the Atlantic or Pacific – unlike cruise ships that are built today to zip around the Mediterranean or Caribbean. This ship has a very deep V hull and can hold fuel for 30 days! So all of you that were worried about my last adventure at sea can all breathe easy because this ship is more than ready for our big ocean crossings.

As for looks – I have to admit I was a bit of a snob when I first boarded the ship. The ship felt shabby, dark and a little dated to me. It’s not really fair of me to compare this ship to the one I was on during SAS – that ship was only built in 2002 so of course it is brighter, newer and less dated (but of course we all know how she handled the oceans).

Every day I’m on the ship I’m appreciating her more and more. There is lots of natural wood all over the ship (not allowed on new ships), and my cabin is twice the size of my last one – 5 small closets, 2 twin beds, 2 bunks that pull out of the wall, 2 chairs and a desk/vanity area. The bathroom is equal to a regular bathroom at home and get this – I have a bathtub!! It’ll be great for doing laundry (yes, I’m hand washing a bit) and no bonking my head in the shower constantly like last time. The best part is all of the public space – it’s amazing! We have three gigantic group spaces, loads of lounging spaces, and decent space for classrooms. They are still transforming the ship as we speak – the gift shop, library, academic resource center, counseling center, gym and classrooms are being put together right now around us. I’ll be excited to see it all when it’s done.

The job is going well – I really like everyone so far and my team is frantically busy trying to create and piece together what our daily work will look like. My colleague has described what we are attempting to do as trying to build the plane and fly it at the same time – I’ve never heard a metaphor that is more true. We are trying to create every policy, procedure, process, form and system from complete scratch at the same time as we are learning our onboard booking system and preparing for students to board in just two days. It’s feeling exciting yet crazy at the same time.

Unfortunately I haven’t gotten to see a whole lot of Greece. During training the other day we got to spend the afternoon in Athens doing a scavenger hunt game so I got to see a little bit of Athens but not much. I have gotten off the ship a couple times in Piraeus – walked the streets, shopped in a corner store, ate a meal, saw a procession for a wedding go down the street and simply tried to soak in as much as I could.

Today our whole team is going to Athens for the student dinner and to reconcile all the trips in Athens before we leave Greece. We are hoping to go a little bit early so that we can explore Athens a bit more before we shove off.

Students arrive on the 5th and we set sail that evening. We now have internet in our office so email and blog posting should be ok as long as our ship systems stay up and running. It may be spotty at times though once students arrive because the system gets slllloooowwweeeerrr and slllloooowwwweeeeerrr the more people than are on it. Also I doubt I will have much time to communicate until after Portugal. We only have 8 days to design, create and implement EVERYTHING related to students and staff going ashore and going on trips (Gulp!).

Hope everyone who works in the academic world has had a smooth start to your school year. Take care and I’ll type atcha soon.

Condensing Life into Two Bags

5 pairs of shoes, one pair of jeans, 3 skirts, 3 tank tops, 5 shirts, 2 bathing suits, 15 pairs of underwear, 4 bars of soap, 18 pairs of contacts, one bottle of shampoo, OH MY!

How does one prepare for an eight month journey and pack as if you are only going to be gone for a couple weeks? If I was traveling on my own to another country I’d probably only take one backpack but packing to live on a ship is a completely different challenge – I need work clothes, dress clothes, travel clothes, clothes for hot weather, clothes for cold weather, computer, work materials, photos from home, first aid and medicine, beach towel, and on and on. And I have to fit it all into two fifty pound bags!

It’s no easy task but believe it or not it’s one of my favorite challenges. I’ll say it – I’m a good packer. During my last voyage I was quite proud because I used 99.9% of what I took and didn’t feel that I was missing anything significant – I was dead on in my choices. This time around has been a little tougher only because I had to move my life into storage last month and have been living out of boxes and bags since then. It is a real bitch when you start pulling things to pack and can’t remember where you put something or realizing that it’s packed in some random box at the back of your storage unit. I’m so thankful that I had it so easy the last time around – I think I would have gone crazy if I had to pack in this manner last time (THANK YOU to Mark and Trista for allowing me to keep my home in Maryland with them in 2005).

You never know until you are there what you’ll really need – what the cabin will be like, what the ship will offer, what ports will have toiletries you need, etc. but I’ve been fairly ok with the frustrations of packing after moving to storage just because I do have a solid idea of what I will most likely need and want with me. It’s also been a comfort to know that my dad is meeting me in Hong Kong in December (exactly half way through my eight months) so anything I desperately need he can bring along to me.

I just finished packing my bags and would you believe that they both weigh about 48 lbs? I wasn’t even trying that hard – resigned to the fact that I might have to pay an overweight baggage fee on one of them. HA HA – what luck! Not a bad start.

Now I’m off to shower and then head to the airport. I don’t know how soon in Greece I’ll be able to post something because we dive right into training as soon as we land but I’ll try and post something when the ship leaves Greece on September 5th.

Thanks and Gratitude

Not many people know that I have kept a gratitude journal for about eight years now. Every night I write something that I am thankful for from the day. I saw it on the Oprah show many years ago and when I was in Gettysburg I started doing it. It is a great way to always be looking for the positive in life. It’s also a great gauge on how life is faring for me at the moment – if it takes me a long time to think of something to be thankful for that day then it’s usually a sign that all is not right in my life and I need to reassess what I’m doing and where I’m at.

As I prepare for this big journey the things I am thankful for in life are overflowing. I know that it is only because of the generosity, flexibility, patience, kindness and encouragement from many people in my life that I’ve been able to seek out this opportunity and go for it. For that reason I feel compelled to share some thanks before I embark on this journey.

I’m thankful to my parents for encouraging me to always try new things and never discouraging me even if, at times, they didn’t understand my choices (I think they finally understand that the work world really has changed and me switching careers every 3-4 years is not necessarily a sign of indecisiveness or flightiness). I’m thankful for my grandparents being able to give my sister and me money to pay for part of college so that both of us could get out of school without any debt – I definitely couldn’t take this job if I had debt.

I’m thankful for employers, co-workers and friends that can see beyond job titles and credentials and see the whole of one’s experience and skills and how they can apply in multiple fields and environments.

I’m thankful for all the experiences in life that have expanded my comfort zones, and successfully battled my easily out of control tendency to worry, worry, worry. I’m thankful for my planning and organization skills, my thorough attention and capacity for crazy amounts of details, and my training and teaching skills. All of the above will not only help me to succeed in this job but to help me enjoy it as well.

I’m thankful to my mom for dealing with all of my crap at her house as I prepare and pack. I’m thankful to Becky, Danny, Mark and Trista for understanding why I will miss so many things this year in life and loving me anyway.

I’m thankful for my dad and his sense of adventure and love of travel – it makes me feel much less crazy when I want to run around the world two more times (maybe the travel bug is hereditary??). I’m thankful for my friend Karen and how she has inspired me with her own adventurous choices in life (and really “getting” why I make the choices I do).

I’m thankful for all the friends I’ve made along the way that make the effort to stay connected even when life takes us in very different directions – the Algonquin gang, Towson friends, Gordy/Morris/Sweeney families, etc – these friendships are comforting because whether it’s one month, one year or even five years a part – just a few minutes together and we slip back into an easy, comfortable friendship. I’m thankful for all of the friends I have such a long history with – sharing the good, the bad and the ugly and seeing each other through to the other side no matter how much we have evolved differently in the process is a pretty rare and precious thing (Becca has it really been 15 years??). I’m thankful too for all of the friends that encourage me and support me along the way (Jenny and Susan your letters were a touching comfort last time around). I’m thankful for my friends in Philly that are already proving to be more than just “friends of convenience” (Laura and Chris –thanks for driving to the beach this weekend). I’m thankful for Mark and Trista not only including me in their family unconditionally but offering me a place in their home upon my return. I’m thankful to my sister and Danny and my mom for also offering space for me in their homes. Being so unsettled can be unsettling and stressful but having so many people offering options makes me feel loved (and less like a unemployed loser).

And thanks to all of you for cheering me on, reading my journals and sharing my journals. Writing them has always helped me to feel more connected to home and I’m glad that so many people have enjoyed them.

I Need Your Help

Eight months – that is feeling like a really long time to be gone. When I left for my last voyage four months felt like a long time, but I quickly realized that four months goes by really quickly. I really didn’t miss that much while I was gone. But eight months is feeling so much bigger, so much scarier than four months ever did.

At first I thought it was feeling big because most of my adult life has been lived in semesters – four month increments that do fly by. But then I realized that all of us – whether you work in higher ed or not – live in four month increments. As the summer comes to an end it’s only four months until Christmas, then it will only be four months until Spring, then only four months until the end of summer and the start of school. Four months feels reasonable, manageable, long enough to have an adventure but not long enough that I miss too much here at home. I guess that’s why eight months is feeling so much bigger to me this time.

I’ve already thought about all that I will miss this year… My god daughter will be talking when I get back. My college roommate’s newborn will be pulling himself up and getting ready to walk. I’ll miss every holiday and I’ll miss a whole TV season (I know that’s lame I even thought about that). My sister and her husband will have been in their new house for almost a year and I will never have even seen the inside (they close on the house four days after I leave). And here is the real kicker – when I come back I will have a one month old niece or nephew! Yup, I’m going to miss almost all of my sister’s pregnancy, the birth and their first month home. The reality of eight months away really hits me with that one!

I know that once I’m on the ship and focused on work and the adventure that time will fly by like always and when I come back I’ll be able to slip back into old relationships like we didn’t skip a beat. I know that…intellectually. That doesn’t make it any easier to come to terms with all of the things I will miss.

The weight of eight months is also weighing heavy on my shoulders because last time I lived on the ship was the first time that I ever experienced homesickness. Not having a phone to pick up when I want or a TV or movies to distract me or a familiar friend to chat with or go to lunch with all made ship life hard at times. I made good friends on the ship last time, and know I will this time as well, but there is something different about spending time with a friend you have history with, a friend who really knows you, a friend who knows your quirks and your past. It’s hard to go for a long period of time with very limited contact with any of those friends and family.

That is where I could use your help. While I’m gone I want to hear about what’s going on in your lives here. I think last time people were afraid to send me updates about their own lives because they thought I would not be interested or feel it’s mundane compared to my world adventure. Let me make it perfectly clear….THAT IS NOT TRUE. I love hearing about what is going on here…I need to hear what’s going on here…it really helps me feel connected and less homesick. Tell me about your day…keep me up on work gossip…what’s going on in the news?...how about Hollywood trash news?...give me an update on what’s happening on the hot TV shows…tell me about your trip to the grocery store…whatever you want. Everything helps me feel less homesick and less out of the loop with home.

Email is the best way to communicate – we will have internet on the ship and I should be able to get on email every couple of days. Please send me updates on your life – send pictures, tell stories, any tidbit will do. It doesn’t have to be some grand story or adventure. It’s the simple things in normal life that I am going to miss most.

Thank you for your help! Only eight days til take off!

Torn Between Two Worlds

Who knew that a month of unemployment could be so busy? I’ve spent the last two weeks running around on what I like to call my Friends and Family tour – visiting everyone I can in Maryland and Virginia before I leave. I also had the chance this week to spend a few days in Baltimore working and absorbing at the home office of my new job. I got to meet some of the people I will sail with, got to see some of the behind the scenes stuff that I will be taking over in Greece and just generally began absorbing this huge task ahead of me. It’s going to be a big job.

I find myself currently feeling torn between wrapping up life here in the states – saying my goodbyes, visiting, packing, trying to find time to relax (haven’t found that yet but I’m still hoping) – and starting to focus on my new job responsibilities – there are so many things to prepare, begin planning and just simply learn, absorb and understand (I sometimes just sit at the computer or lay in bed staring not sure where to even begin). I want and need my priority to be focusing on wrapping up things here but at the same time I feel the need to focus on preparing for the new job so that I don’t feel completely overwhelmed when I arrive in Greece. The struggle has been that I find myself not being completely “present” to either task. While I was in Baltimore I found my head not totally “in the game” at times because of thoughts of the other things I need to do/people I need to see. And when I’ve been spending time with friends and family I find myself distracted thinking about work.

I think I’ve decided that my goal for these last two weeks is to dedicate one to two hours a day to work stuff but then I will leave it alone, try not to stress about it, and just focus on what I need to do here. We’ll see how that goes.

And the Roller Coaster Begins...

Making the decision to leave your job, pack your entire life into a storage unit and take a job that pays next to nothing and live in a tiny cabin for 8 months so that you can see the world isn’t that difficult of a decision when you are sitting in a comfortable home and spending your steady paychecks and living in a community where you are comfortable and have friends and support. It’s not that hard of a decision at all – it sounds exciting – it feels adventurous.

Well last week I started the part of this process that feels much less exciting and far less adventurous. I dove head first into the process of ripping my nice, comfortable life here in Philly from it’s very seams. Friday, July 20th was my last day at work. While I definitely feel it was time for me to make this career move I can’t help but think how much I will miss the tight-knit community and camaraderie that exists working in a small hotel environment.

It was hard to say goodbye but leaving work turned out to be the easy part (we’ll see if I’m still saying that after the paychecks stop). I spent all last week packing up my apartment and moving it all into storage. Talk about stress – I couldn’t sleep…thinking about how to pack, what’s going to storage, what’s going to my mom’s house, will it all fit in the truck, will it all fit into storage, how will I get that huge desk out of my room….and on and on and on. Luckily all of my stress was totally unfounded and my move went surprisingly smoothly. No problems with the rental truck, an hour and half for two of us to load everything into the truck and a half hour for 4 of us to load it all into storage.

As I emptied cabinets, drawers and closets – becoming more and more appalled at just how much stuff I have – I thought about the reflection email I sent during my last voyage. In reflecting on the lessons I learned I talked about how US Americans have way too much “stuff” in our lives. In an effort to “live” the lessons I learned on that voyage I did make a concerted effort to rid my life of excess “stuff” over the past two years. Despite that effort I still have enough “stuff” to fill a 10 x 15 storage unit. How depressing. On the bright side – I did do a lot of purging and didn’t allow myself to pack ANYTHING that I hadn’t used in the last year. What can I say? I guess I rationalize by saying that I’m not 23 anymore – when I am living in the US I want my crock pot, I want my coffee grinder, I want my million throw blankets, I want my pictures on the wall and displays of some of my goodies from abroad, I want to live comfortably and not like I’m in waiting for my “real life” to start. So if that means renting a 14 foot truck and having to get help with the move than so be it.

So anyway, I started thinking about all the crazy stress I was feeling and started wondering why? Yes, I haven’t moved in two years and yes I had more stuff than before but my stress level still seemed out of proportion to the move. Let’s be serious – I’ve moved 22 times since I left for college (ok so if I take out the 16 moves during college than I’ve still moved 6 times in the last 10 years) – so moving is nothing new to me.

I think part of the stress came from the fact that I am almost 33 years old and I thought maybe I would be more settled in my life at this point. I started having those crazy doubts – what was I thinking taking this job?...this means that I won’t be settled anywhere for at least another year….am I really getting on a ship with hundreds of people not knowing a single soul?....I’m really going to do a job search while being unemployed?...am I totally crazy??? See what happens when I’m not working and have too much time on my hands? – I obsess like a mad woman. Well after all of my fears of moving were unfounded these doubts started to settle down. I do know that this is what I’m supposed to do next. It is extremely inconvenient to pack my whole life away and live out of two bags for a year but the rewards will far outweigh the inconvenience. This endeavor feels scary but without change there is no growth.

I have irrational doubts and fears all the time so I knew that all of the stress wasn’t coming solely from that. What was it then? I put my finger on it late last week. I think I’m mourning leaving Philly. I never thought of myself as a city girl but I have absolutely loved living here. I hate the parking (or lack there of), I hate worrying about my car being side-swiped, I hate my freezing cold apartment in the winter and the fact that I still live in a place with no closets, I hate that you can’t buy a cocktail for under $9. Despite those frustrations there are so many things that have endeared me to this city. The coffee shop and ice cream shop around the corner from my apartment, the ease of navigating the streets (William Penn and Ben Franklin planned it out right!), the fact that Philly is the 6th largest city in the US but yet somehow has a small town feel (9 times out of 10 I see someone I know when I’m in Center City), all of the green spaces, parks, running and biking trails, the fact that I can walk everywhere in the city, the distinct feels of different neighborhoods, the smells, the energy and the fabulous fresh produce at the Italian Market….my list of loves could go on and on…

I love walking home from work with friends and deciding to spontaneously stop and grab dinner at the new restaurant in the neighborhood. I love my boot camp exercise class at 6am on the steps of the Art Museum. I love not having to drive my car for 3 weeks at a time and never worrying about traffic. I love that I’m in better shape than I have been in years because of all the walking I do and the convenience of running and bike trails all over the city. I love all the great people that I have met in this city.

Looking back I think this is the first time since I left Salisbury that I am really mourning leaving a place. During my other moves I always mourned something – the people, the work, my roommates, etc. but not the place I lived.

It was sad to lock my apartment for the last time this week and turn the keys over to the landlord. Even if I some day come back to the city it will never be the same as it’s been these past two years – the neighborhoods and people are always changing. I will always cherish my two years here and am comforted by the fact that I will only be a short train-ride away when I return to NJ in May.
So as the title of this post reflects – as I begin this adventure in earnest my emotions are rollercoastering up and down and all over the place. I know that this is just part of the process and there are more ups and downs to come. All I can do is hang on and soak in every part of this ride