Two Years Later...

It is now approximately two years after I embarked on my Semester at Sea voyage...

As I read through the memories in this blog, I fondly remember the voyage as one of the happiest times of my life.   The smiles on my face in my photos aren't the "forced" kind you see in so many photos - the truth is I couldn't stop smiling on the trip....and I haven't smiled as much in a long time!   The combination of traveling to new locations and the constant stream of new information flowing to my brain each day was something I had needed for a long time.   The social atmosphere on the ship and having so many like-minded, adventurous new friends on board only heightened the experience.   The only bad thing about the trip is that you have to "come back down to earth" after having such a great "travel high" for three and a half months!   I guess the main thing I've come away with from this trip is that I know I need to keep moving and learning and DOING in order to keep myself happy.  In doing that, it forces me to push myself out of my comfort zone and I think ultimately that is what everyone needs to grow as a person and gain any sort of lasting knowledge about oneself.  It also forces one to live outside his/her own head - and for me, as someone who is naturally more introverted, I tend to do well when I'm more social and "out and about" than I typically might be.

To anyone who asks me about the experience of Semester at Sea, I tell them it was the best thing I ever did.  I highly recommend the program for any students reading this and wish world travel were a mandatory requirement for students.   If you can afford to go on Semester at Sea, do it.   You won't regret it and it will help you grow as a person by enabling you to be more confident in dealing with unfamiliar situations and people.   Moreover, I think Semester at Sea helps voyagers to not only become more confident in their ability to "navigate the world" but also to navigate the vision they have of themselves.   In every account I have read of various experiences people have had on Semester at Sea, it is overwhelmingly positive and life-changing.   Yes, every voyage has its mishaps or disaster, but those are to be expected when a ship full of hundreds of individuals sets forth on a trip around the world.   It is actually pretty amazing that the program runs as smoothly as it does given the scope of the endeavor.   Overall, I have been very impressed with how Semester at Sea has been run by the Institute for Shipboard Education and find the administration to do a fine job in trying to anticipate most every need or problem that could occur on the voyage.     It is a wonderful program and I would hope to one day be able to travel on the ship again - either as a faculty or staff member or, perhaps, one day as a "lifelong learner"...

group photo taken when the ship was docked in Kobe, Japan

I now can check these things off my list of things to do in life...

• visit Brazil during Carneval
• go on safari in Africa
  
• see the Taj Mahal in India
  
• see Angkor Wat in Cambodia
  
• walk along the Great Wall of China
• skydive
• horseback ride
• jet ski
• parasail
• cross the Atlantic Ocean on a ship
• cross the Pacific Ocean on a ship

Up next on my list of goals to do in life...

• do a 2-3 month driving tour of the United States
  
• do a 2-3 month tour of continental Europe
  
• do a 2-3 month tour of Australia and New Zealand
• go through the Panama Canal
  
• go through the Suez Canal
• go to the Galapagos Islands
  
• see the Pyramids in Egypt
  
• do a trip through Northern Africa
• do a trip cruising through the Mediterranean
• do a trip to Russia
• do a trip through the Middle East
• do a trip through Central America
• do a trip through South America
• do a trip to Antarctica
• glider plane ride - http://www.vansantairport.com/ridesgl.html
• trapeze lesson - http://newyork.trapezeschool.com/
• surfing lesson
• go hanggliding
• go water skiing

I need more travel partners and adventurous friends to make these adventures all the more fun!   Who's with me???  I'm determined to do all of these things in my life!!!

Voyage Yearbook

Here is a link to a pdf version of the Spring 2007 Semester at Sea Voyage Yeabook:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=9223997

Voyage Details - Latitude/Longitude Reports

A student on the ship compiled an Excel table of the daily latitude/longitude reports that were posted on the ship each day. Below is a link to the file.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=8296665

Total Trip Costs

Over the course of the trip, I kept a spreadsheet with all my expenses for the entire trip.  This included everything from start to finish - the costs of visas, prescriptions, doctors appointments, field trips, cash spent, etc.

Here are the results:

All costs (the total cost for all field trips before any discounts, costs for doctor's appointments, visas, travel to and from the ship, all purchases made on the ship, all cash spent):  $10,057.51

Adjusted costs (I subtracted all of the discounts I got for being trip leader, reimbursements and stipends given for shipping items to and from the ship, for visas and travel to/from the ship):  $7314

Expenses after deducting what I was paid by Semester at Sea (I got $1919.14 deposited into my bank account once a month for three months as payment for my work on the ship):  $1557.06

I could also theoretically make an argument that I was paid more than the $1919.14 a month because I had all my meals on the ship included and I didn't have to pay for my cabin or any utilities on the ship either...if I factor that in, I probably made a profit by doing this trip.  As far as actual money I'm out in doing this trip, having an out-of-pocket expense of $1557.06 for a semester of traveling around the world - you can't beat that!

If I really want to be a jerk, I could even factor in the money I was getting paid from Pine Manor College during this time too.   They initially were going to deduct whatever I got paid by Semester at Sea from my paycheck because they said I couldn't be "paid twice" for things done on a sabbatical leave.  This never happened though because others have pointed out that you could be making money doing consulting during a sabbatical leave as well.  Hence, I WAS essentially "paid twice" during my sabbatical leave - I got paid by Semester at Sea AND I continued receiving my salary from Pine Manor.   For the number of weeks I was away, I have figured that my earnings from Pine Manor totaled approximately $8021.23 after taxes.   If I subtract the $1557.06 out-of-pocket expense from the regular salary I was getting from Pine Manor on my sabbatical leave, that leaves me with a PROFIT of $6464.17...so I actually MADE money by going on this trip around the world!!!!!  Wow!   How crazy is that!?  I'm definitely very, VERY lucky!   Of course, I'm still struggling to make ends meet on my regular salary in general, but I can't complain about the great opportunity to take a sabbatical leave and travel the world!

Other People's Blogs

I thought it might be a good idea to list other faculty/staff blogs so that when I revisit this blog in the future, I can read through the memories of other people on the voyage as well.  So here are some of the faculty/staff blogs I've found...

• Erin (the librarian) - http://www.sea-ville.blogspot.com/
• Sherri (the assistant librarian) - http://sojournerlibrarian.blogspot.com/
• Drew (one of the resident directors) - http://drewatsea.blogspot.com/
• Tom & Emily (one of the resident directors and his partner) - http://www.tscheuren.blogspot.com
• John Paul & Shannon (the AV coordinator and his wife) - http://www.jpendicott.com
• Micah & Theresa (the photographer and his wife) - http://micahdiamond.blogspot.com
• Mary (a professor) - http://kellersas.blogspot.com/
• Simon & Anne-Claire (a professor and his wife) - http://simonandac.blogspot.com
• Rocky, Shawn & Ryder (a professor, his wife and baby) - http://www.sonoma.edu/users/r/rohwedde/archives/cat_semesteratsea.html
• Dia (the registrar) - http://www.funchilde.com
• Mark, Ben and Joanna (Global Nomads Group) - http://gng.typepad.com/currents07
• Other blogs -  http://groups.msn.com/SemesteratSeaSpring2007/blogs.msnw

Back Home

I arrived home.  My parents picked me up at the Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, this morning and we drove back to their house in Warminster, Pennsylvania.  I plan on sleeping most of today!

Arriving in San Diego, California, USA

Click here for current times in San Diego, California, and the East Coast of the U.S.

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(note: this is one of my pre-scheduled posts set to appear at 5:00am EST each morning I am in a port city. I will post follow-up information about each trip once I am able to get back on the computer.)

The ship is scheduled to arrive at 0800 in San Diego, California, USA.

Apparently everyone is expected to get off the ship sometime between 11:00 am and 4:00 pm.  Faculty/Staff/Lifelong Learners are supposed to get off the ship second.  The "Aegean Sea" hallway of students will get off first because they won first place in the Sea Olympics that occurred weeks ago.  The rest of the students get off in the order in which they placed in the Sea Olympics.  I anticipate getting off the ship around noon or so and having my two suitcases and a large box shipped via UPS.  I will then try to find a post office so I can ship two boxes of books back via Media Mail.  I'll be flying home on a nonstop flight that leaves San Diego at 9:45 pm tonight and arrives in Newark, NJ, at 5:52 am tomorrow morning.  I will probably have from 1:00 pm until 7:30 pm to keep myself busy and see some of San Diego.  I'm sure I am going to be dead tired though so I guess I could always take a nap in one of my friend's hotel rooms if I really need to (considering that most of my friends are planning on staying up all night for one last party).  I know that Shannon is planning on organizing everyone who is still around for one last group dinner in San Diego at the Old Town Mexican Cafe.  That will probably be around 6:30 pm though so I'm not sure if I will be able to stay the entire time or not.

Update:

I stayed up with everyone in the Faculty/Staff lounge where we had our party and some people made signs for their parents who are meeting the ship in San Diego.  

making signs in the Faculty/Staff Lounge on the ship (clockwise from front:  resident director Tom, resident director Tom's girlfriend Emily, nurse Emily, photographer Micah's wife Theresa, Global Nomads Group director Mark)

AV coordinator John Paul's wife Shannon in the Faculty/Staff Lounge on the ship

nurse Emily and photographer Micah's wife Theresa in the Faculty/Staff Lounge on the ship

A group photo in the Faculty/Staff Lounge on the ship (front row:  AV coordinator John Paul, IT coordinator Matt;  middle row:  nurse Brenda, nurse Emily, photographer Micah's wife Theresa, AV coordinator John Paul's wife Shannon, Global Nomads Group editor Joanna, assistant field office coordinator Kristen, administrative assistant Shayla;  back row:  Global Nomads Group documentarian Ben, videographer Joe, resident director Matt, Global Nomads Group director Mark, video editor Jon, assistant librarian Sherri)

IT coordinator Matt dancing in the Faculty/Staff Lounge on the ship

taking a group photo on the floor of the Faculty/Staff Lounge on the ship (clockwise:  videographer Joe in the red hat, photographer Micah's wife Theresa, Global Nomads Group editor Joanna, IT coordinator Matt, resident director Tom's girlfriend Emily, Global Nomads Group director Mark, AV coordinator John Paul's wife Shannon, nurse Emily, Global Nomads Group documentarian Ben, assistant field office coordinator Kristen)

We had to get out of the lounge at 3:00am though so I headed back to my room and took a shower before getting about three hours of sleep.

approaching San Diego, California, USA on the ship