It's been ten years since I first stepped foot on the MV Explore, a ship that would be my home for an amazing four months. My time traveling the world with Semester At Sea was truly transformative in terms of who I am and how I see the world. I wanted to celebrate by posting a collection of some of my favorite photos and moments.
Technically, I hadn't embarked yet in this photo, but it's important because it's when I first realized that I was actually going to make it on the ship! My pining for a SAS adventure started a couple weeks before I had my stroke and there were an awful lot of health and logistical barriers to overcome to make the dream a reality. I really have to thank my parents, doctors, and SAS staff for opening up this opportunity to a slightly medically unstable but determined student. This picture is at a zoo in the Bahamas shortly before embarkation.
I did it! I'm on a ship! And repping my alma mater. Embarkation was a dizzying blur of happiness, paperwork, and some nerves too.
I had many thrilling encounters with wildlife beyond my wildest imagination. I was a little afraid to touch this guy because of the bright colors, but like a lot of situations during SAS, I chose to YOLO it.
The Stairs were my nemesis in port. It took me a lot of time and energy to get up and down these (this was pre spinal fusion, so my legs weren't working well) but everyone was always very patient with me. SAS was the most supportive environment I've ever experienced.
This picture is during my infamous hike through the Amazon Rainforest. It's infamous because I use it as a marker for how well my pre-trip medical treatment worked. Three months before this photo was taken, I was mostly bed bound. Here I'm hiking several miles through the incredibly hot and humid rainforest. (Shoutout to my cooling vest! That was a lifesaver!). Also, .5 seconds after this photo was taken, I realized there was a spider bigger than my open palm right near my right cheek. It still shows up in my nightmares. *shudder*
This is one of my favorite photos from the trip. I'll always be captivated by monkeys. So human...but not quite.
It was pretty rad to study on the 7th deck. I mean, look at this. This is the life. Any study location after this would obviously be a disappointment.
I met so many amazing people and made some friends for life on the ship. We called ourselves The Family and we specialized in Shenanigans. Some examples are as follows...
Loved the dances on the ship!
One of my favorite memories was shooting some hoops in the middle of a storm as we crossed the equator. I played wheelchair basketball in a college PE class, and it was cool to get a taller perspective on the court.
Ah yes, the Passover meal that would change my life. The food was good and the spirituality moving, but that's not the reason it was life changing. I ate way too much of the "bitter herb" and so started my extreme allergy to a range of spices. This time I was lucky and it was only full body hives, but over the next year it escalated to anaphylaxis. (I just started a regiment to try to desensitize to these allergies this week. I'm hoping to put well spiced meals back on the menu in time.)
Roomie and I during Sea Olympics
The food on the ship wasn't quite bad...but there was an awful lot of cream sauce and pasta. So when it was a special day like Taco Tuesday, there was much rejoicing. Pro tip, bring your own peanut butter because there were fixings for PB&J at every meal, but the peanut butter served on the ship we are pretty sure was actually soy butter or something weird. My fav place to restock was in India. They had the best peanut butter by far! (Also, I got in trouble trying to "smuggle" some into the flight to Tibet. I tried to argue that it wasn't a liquid, but a non-newtonian fluid so it should be allowed. Security and my guide were not amused or persuaded. Oh well.)
Mealtimes were peak shenanigan time.
More dances!
And a fancy formal night.
Those "Running to the ship because we got lost and it's almost time to leave port" vibes.
More dancing!
I signed up to be part of a ship family and these are my Ship Parents. They were a great source of support and travel tips and we still keep in touch! In fact I saw them the day before my last surgery and it was great to catch up!
More mealtime shenanigans. My favorite times where during heavy seas when we would fall out of chairs and spend 80% of our time trying to catch things before they fell off the table.
COVID was not a thing, but we still had "plagues" on the ship. Norovirus got me and I had to spend a few days in quarantine. I felt very sorry for myself and pretended to be in the movie Castaway during my time of deprivation.
Did I mention the shenanigans????
We started on our chains of 1000 paper cranes several ports before Japan. It was common for us to sit around folding cranes and gossiping. As ya do.
The Fam <3
Oh hey, now we're in Ghana! This was during the welcoming dance where I had my homestay. Couldn't dance then and can't dance now. But that really, really didn't matter.
Still one of my favorite brands! They make beautiful purses, ornaments, jewelry, and clothes! You can catch some of their pieces at the Smithsonian stores in Washington DC, or shop online.
This photo made the round on a few accessible travel blogs back in the day. My poor spinal cord got quite a jostle, but it was worth it, of course!
This is one of the happiest moments of my life when my fourth grade dream of "meeting" a cheetah came to reality. Just as soft and magnificent as I'd thought!
The safari I splurged on was truly magical. The animals regard the jeeps as just part of the scenery so they would get pretty close!
Our fearless leader! Here he is trying to convince us to eat some elephant poop. In my defense, I was dared to and I can't back down from a dare. Tasted kind of like...sandy arugula. Not bad, honestly.
More of my cherished animal encounters. These were semi-domestic free roaming elephants who were very cheeky. My bio professor on the trip really opened my mind to why I felt the need to meet and touch so many animals. Was is good for the animals? Was I supporting humane treatment? Was I being safe? That's a lot to think about for a girl who wants to snuggle every creature she meets.
Now to India! I snapped this photo from a boat on a river cruise. Chatting and laughing with the girls over lunch is universal.
If you don't think of seafood when you think of India, you are missing out! I had some of the best seafood in my life in and around Kochi. These are some of the fishing nets that provided said magnificent seafood.
Oh hey another childhood dream this time in the form of visiting the Great Wall of China. It was a heck of a hike for this wobbly-legged, dysautonomic girl, but so worth it! I'm wearing the panda hat my Ship Grandma got me to celebrate me getting into OT school. I found out on a skype call the evening before.
"Don't eat the street food" is horrible advice. I ate everything I could get my hands on and only stopped short of flat out drinking tap water at some of the ports.
Tibet was a magical, oppressive, fun and frightening place. So many rules, so much propaganda, so little oxygen, and so much blatant oppression that even our carefully curated tours couldn't hide. But also so much natural beauty, amazing architecture, and the people were funny and genuine (when we managed to sneak a conversation). Here I am riding a yak...as ya do.
One of the Sacred Lakes I visited. Just absolutely breathtaking!
In 7th grade social studies class I watched a documentary about Tibet and always dreamed of visiting Potala Palace. I had to finagle a loophole that waived the need for a physical to travel there, and I may have lost some brain cells from going to such high altitude, but it was so worth it!
This is where my guide gave me the tip that wearing a mask in cold, dry air was great for asthma! It honestly works better than any inhaler I've tried. I just had to wait several years for the western world to adopt this practical accessory.
I spent a great day cruising down a river in Vietnam. I ate some truly amazing food, met lots of dogs and cats, and saw some cool factories.
Market dog bringing good luck to his family. Made me miss my pup back home!
Oh man, this kid! I spend a couple days at his school learning Vietnamese Sign Language and going on fun field trips. He was such a pistol, always pulling pranks, telling jokes, and pushing my chair far faster than it was made to go. We had a blast!
In high school I learned about the Vietnamese war tunnels and I always wanted to see them in person. I was pretty scared to squeeze through such tight spaces and tunnels, but I'm glad I did it. Truly humbling that people lived and fought from these small spaces. The tone of the tour was oddly humorous and uplifting considering the setting.
Children's' art at the War Remnants Museum.
This is one of my favorite photos from the trip snapped from a bus window as we drove through rush hour traffic.
On to Japan! I was pretty exhausted (and needing neurosurgery) by this point in the trip, but there were still many fun times to be had! We had a great day visiting a Spring Flower Festival and taking in a rainy baseball game.
For reasons I can't articulate, this is my favorite photo from the trip.
It was surprisingly hard for me to find sushi in the port town. It took me half a day to find some to-go that wasn't at a fancy sit down restaurant. It was worth it though! Delicious!
And here is where I realized I had a super power! I don't feel temperature in my feet! (Came in handy during Boston winters!) This moment brought to you by me being severely underdressed for a trip up Mt. Fuji.
After many fun filled gossipy hours working on my paper crane chain, I got to leave it at the peace monument in Hiroshima. I still love folding cranes and leave them everywhere I go for random people to find. With every fold, I wish for peace.
The toilets in Japan were something else! Once you've had a toilet with a seat warmer that plays music and gives you a dainty shower, you really are disappointed to go back to regular old porcelain. I know that many of the professors and life long learners shipped one back home because they knew they'd never go back.
This is what my cabin looked like shortly before disembarkation. So many memories and mementos! I'm honestly not sure how I fit everything into my suitcases to come home.
SAS taught me so much about Home. Home is with humanity. Home is on a ship with the family you created. Home is coming back to the people you love.
SAS will always mark the point in my life that separates everything into "before" and "after." The lessons I learned are enduring, the people I met are family, the changes I've made are for the better.
Happy 10 years!
