JRP at Sea

I can't believe I lived this, and I can't believe I made this video. I am deeply grateful I did. Here is my Spring 2015 documentary video .

The best word to describe my time in Morocco is 'surprising.' By the time we reached the port of Casablanca, I was tired. I wasn't sure I had the energy to live up to the excitement and anticipation of arriving in Morocco three-years later than I thought I would, when the Fall 2012 voyage had to suddenly cancel our arrival in Morocco. If the sudden cancellation of visiting Morocco in 2012 was the surprise, the surprise in 2015 was the emergence of Morocco as one of the best ports of the voyage. I thought travel fatigue had hit me and I wouldn't see as much as I could have with more energy. Three years ago I was ready to travel around the country and into the desert, but with Morocco being the last port of the 2015 voyage, I was ready to slow down. Descriptions of the walled medina of Fes appealed to me, and I booked an AirBnB, the eighth AirBnB I stayed in during the voyage, for our entire stay in Morocco. With some convincing, Marty joined me, and I think he felt th

We arrived in Namibia with no plans. Marty, Jess, Matthew, and I left Namibia with a movie-worthy road trip together. Sometimes I prefer plans, as our time in port is often short with only three or four nights and it's good to use the time wisely. The road trip in Namibia is a perfect example of the benefits of spontaneity and not having plans. Of course this comes along with risks, like almost leaving town without a map, or driving later at night than planned, with no street lights, in fact no street, just a dirt road and only the moonlight to guide us, or arriving in a small town with three places stay, and the first two had no vacancy. Of course this also comes along with benefits, like randomly running into Erik and Colleen at breakfast, at the one place to stay that still had room for us, or the family of elephants we saw on the side of the road, or the laughter from Marty being disappointed after one of our stops where we only saw some small pieces of petrified wood, when

When the Fall 2012 voyage left Cape Town, South Africa, because of high winds we weren't able to leave at night, instead leaving the next morning, which allowed us the rare opportunity to leave a port in the daylight, and I remember watching Table Mountain, Lion's Head, 12 Apostles Mountain Range, and one of the world's most beautiful backdrops of a city, slowly fade away as we sailed away. I remember wondering if I would ever see Cape Town again. I remember wondering what it would be like to live in Cape Town, a beautiful city but a city with a difficult history and continued issues despite significant peace and conflict resolution. For five days I was fortunate enough to see Cape Town again, and briefly feel like I lived there, renting an AirBnB for the entire time. I went to the nearby grocery store, I stopped for coffee at various coffee shops and read my book, Marty and Matthew visited me a couple of times and stayed with me in the extra bedroom, I made breakfast fo

Mauritius is a fuel stop, so we only spent one day on the small island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. To give myself the best chance at seeing as much as possible I joined a field program that toured some of the island's most beautiful sights, including the Chamarel waterfall, one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen in my life, the Seven Coloured Earth, a fascinating geological formation, the   Black River Gorges National Park, with a stunning viewpoint across the hills and forests, Le Morne Peninsula, where the Le Morne Brabant mountain powerfully dominates the skyline behind the beach, and a viewpoint overlooking several of Mauritius' peaks. We toured all of these beautiful sights with a colorful tour guide who spoke passionately about his love for rum, especially when enjoying rum while hiding indoors during some of the powerful cyclones that hit the island. From his stories we gained a good sense of island life, and on an island as small as Ma

My memory of our time in India seems fitting for the country, as my memories are colorful, varied, spontaneous, and unique. I can't clearly remember the order of events. I don't remember how everything came together. In the end, I have a collection of lasting memories and deeper connections with friends, thanks to the seemingly endless richness of culture in India. I remember Kyle, Aeriel, and I taking many tuk-tuk rides, which often involved unwanted shopping stops. Negotiating with tuk-tuk drivers was sometimes exhausting, when their deals with shop owners resulted in them offering us lower prices for rides if we stopped at a shop or two; offering more for a ride without shopping stops wasn't really an option. Our mentioning that we would take the ferry often resulted in tuk-tuk drivers telling us the ferry wasn't operating today (even though it was). Regardless, the tuk-tuk rides were fun and a great way to see the life of the city moving around us, kids in unifor

Arriving in Myanmar was undoubtedly one of the more adventurous moments of our voyage. Few people have been to Myanmar, which enhanced my gratitude for what we were experiencing. Arriving at the port of Yangon, with mist and fog rising from the ground, with the rising sun illuminating them into gold clouds, made the arrival even more magical. Wandering around Yangon the first day was one of those days where all your senses are heightened, from street food, street vendors, crowded streets, beautiful balconies on old buildings, power lines stretched across streets, birds and birdcages, people wearing Thanaka on their faces, an old train running through the city, a deep-red sunset, and then the highlight of the day, the iconic Shwedagon Pagoda, the gold-plated stupa surrounded by candles, buddhas, shrines, and spiritual offerings. The next day I went on one of the best Semester at Sea field programs I ever joined, a three-night, four-day journey to Mandalay and Bagan, traveling between

Admittedly, I didn't have high expectations for Singapore, partly because our stay in port was much shorter than other locations (only one night and two days before sailing to Myanmar, one of the more exciting destinations), and partly for the likely unjustified and assumed reason that I thought the city, although international, diverse, and modern, would lack uniqueness and character. Also, we were suddenly off the ship more than we were on the ship, by a significant margin. After a long Pacific Ocean crossing we were in Japan, China, Vietnam, and now Singapore, leaving us off the ship for 21 days, and on the ship for 6 days. The pace was rapid, often with 2 days on the ship in between 6 days in different countries. My body was tired. I walked a tremendous amount of miles during the past three weeks, and my legs, especially my knees, felt the distance. However, in keeping with a voyage of endless surprises and adventure, Singapore offered uniqueness, culture, and peacefulness,

I remember being in Harrisonburg in the fall, and something, often my Vespa, would remind me that I would be returning to Vietnam in the spring, and I would suddenly be filled with joy and anticipation. My life in the United States has various traces of Vietnam in my daily life, from the Vespa I bought weeks after returning from Vietnam to the Vietnamese coffee I buy in the Asian market and brew with the drip coffee filter I purchased in Saigon a year-and-a-half earlier. Vietnam is close to my heart. When I say that Semester at Sea changed my life, I can make the statement a little less cliché with evidence. How I changed is most evident in my trip to Vietnam six months after the Fall 2012 voyage ended. I booked the trip weeks before leaving, which is action I simply wouldn’t have taken before the Semester at Sea voyage opened up my life to international travel. Something about Vietnam drew me in before I left, and drew me in forever after I left. Bruce Springsteen songs about Viet

I could write various stories about Hong Kong, including my AirBnB apartment in SoHo, at the top of the Central/Mid-Levels escalator, the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world, which much more easily takes you up the steep hills of Hong Kong Island, or my adventures around SoHo and PoHo, where I ate delicious food and found quirky stores where I could have designed a wonderfully unique apartment with all the vintage and modern home furnishings I saw, or I could write about the endless dim sum I ate every day and often multiple times a day. I could also write about a friend’s fun birthday, when a group of us went out for dinner, drinks, and dessert, wandering around the streets of SoHo. I could write about the sights I saw, including the stunning architecture in Hong Kong, Man Mo Temple, Star Ferry, Hong Kong Island light show, Kowloon, Temple Street Night Market, or Victoria Peak both at night and during the day. I think the better story is something I wrote one day

I didn’t love Shanghai, China, but the purpose of our voyage is not to fall in love with every country. We are here to learn about these countries and cultures, to get out of our comfort zone, to become more open-minded, to increase our global perspective, and to experience new ways of life. I’m grateful for our time in China. Even though the majority of voyagers didn’t like Shanghai, and I share their thoughts, Shanghai offered a much needed awakening to a culture different from our own. Although the experience might not have always been pleasant, the experience was cultural and challenging, broadening our perspective and opening our minds. Japan provided a comfort and familiarity that eased our traveling. Shanghai did not, which first became apparent when we tried to find a taxi to our AirBnB apartment in the French Concession. I heard about Chinese taxi drivers not wanting to deal with tourists who can’t speak Chinese, and to be honest, I don’t blame them; however, watching ava

Arriving in Kyoto together, on time, was most likely the result of some guardian angels of traveling. I really don’t know how we walked on to our bullet train to Kyoto seconds before the train left. Meeting at large silver bell in the Central Passage of Tokyo Station was easy in theory, but my friends had my ticket, which I needed to enter the Central Passage, assuming I could find the Central Passage, which I couldn’t find. Without a way to communicate with each other we had to guess where to find each other. The bullet train to Kyoto would be a likely choice, but most of us didn’t know where to find the train, including me, even though a nice Japanese woman gave me a temporary ticket to enter the gates. Two minutes before departure time I was closer to our train but I was walking the wrong way and somehow my friends saw me, grabbed my arm, we quickly found the correct platform and the bullet train sped off seconds after we walked on, mostly because the nice Japanese man kept pushi

After leaving San Diego on January 6 th , we spent 17 of 19 days at sea. During our route to Japan we were alone at sea. No ships, no land, only a few seabirds, and weeks of ocean water. Waking up on January 26 th to finally see other ships and to finally see land, was surreal and I struggled to comprehend that we had crossed the massive Pacific Ocean. The last few days brought rough seas. Students fell out of chairs, dishes slid and broke, my shower water poured out of the shower and onto the bathroom floor, people were slightly grumpy, and I often felt nauseous during the last two days. A week earlier we went hundreds of miles off course to avoid a major storm that would have brought 50 foot swells. Fortunately we only had 18-20 foot swells. Before arriving in Japan, the ocean apparently wanted to remind us that crossing the Pacific is not easily accomplished. After weeks at sea without visiting any countries outside of the United States, and having experienced a Semester at Sea

Had we not stopped in Hilo, Hawaii, we would have spent 17 consecutive days at sea on the way to Japan. Our one-day visit welcomingly offered a chance to step on land after 6 days at sea since Ensenada and before 10 days at sea until Yokohama, Japan. I woke up at 6am to watch us arrive in Hilo. After a week of no land in sight, the emergence of the volcanic Big Island of Hawaii was an impressive sight. In the dark before the sunrise, the lights of the island were the first signs of land, until they faded and the ridges of the mountains and the outlines of the shoreline emerged in the early dawn sky, followed by the appearance of the island’s colors once the sun rose and colored in the green trees, black and solidified lava, and glowing red windows reflecting the rising sun. Arriving by ship offers an expansive view that slowly changes and narrows, offering more details as we move closer to the port. The world suddenly comes to life. Whales emerged from the water all around the ship,

I was somewhat emotionally exhausted as the voyage began, which was not ideal, but I was grateful more than any other emotion. I traveled from Virginia to Connecticut to San Diego to the MV Explorer, as if I was on a tour of my life, allowing me to reflect upon all that has led me to this present moment, my second voyage around the world with Semester at Sea. The transition to the Spring 2015 voyage was especially full-circle, as I spent a few hours of the first night on the MV Explorer with some of my friends from the Fall 2012 voyage. In a way I was able to connect the two voyages. I was not leaving Fall 2012 behind, but I was carrying the experience with me as I join the Spring 2015 shipboard community. My Fall 2012 friends' excitement for me, and their jealousy, helped me move from reflection to a readiness for a new experience, one in which many people would trade places with me in a second. The Spring 2015 voyage will be the last Semester at Sea voyage on the MV Explorer,

In a few days I will embark on the Spring 2015 Semester at Sea voyage . Of course I am excited. Of course I am grateful. Of course I have been impatiently waiting for the voyage to begin. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that I’m not calm. I’m quite the opposite. I’m a mix of nerves, anticipation, joy, and anxiety, and I’m reflective and nostalgic about all that I’m leaving behind. You wouldn’t think I would be nervous. Since August of 2012 I have traveled to Canada, Ireland, England, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Canary Islands, Ghana, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Dominica, Vietnam, Guatemala, Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, Iceland, and Northern Ireland. I’m familiar with the Semester at Sea program and I’ve thought about the transformative benefits of international education ever since the Fall 2012 voyage. Yet my emotions are heightened, I’m nervous, reflective, and even a bit sad. I somewhat understand the cycle of my emotions. I know in four months I will be i