The travel bug: all the places I have been

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Bermuda

A Professional Traveler

Some people love to travel to be the tourist, be immersed in another culture, photograph a new place, meet new people, learn something new, lend a helping hand and many other reasons. Anthony Bourdain travels for food. He is a professional chef who travels to new and exciting places in search of great food. His show "No Reservations" documents his adventures. Check it out!

In the article, "How I Travel: Anthony Bourdain" he discusses good tips on what to bring, how to get through a long plane ride and bad food, choosing a destination and some great places not to miss.

One for One

I recently bought a pair of TOMS Shoes. They aren't my favorite shoe, but they are super comfortable and  for a great cause. For every pair of shoes bought an additional pair goes to a child in need. Many children don't have shoes because their families can't afford them. Wearing shoes help prevent diseases.   

                 

Similar to TOMS is the One World Futbol Project. Each soccer ball bought, one gets donated to a community in need. These are indestructible soccer balls made from Croc materials, so it can't get punctured or destroyed easily. 

Continuing Finding Refuge after SAS

Finding Refuge was started on Semester at Sea Fall 2010 by a group of SASers who went to a village near Lake Volta, Ghana. This village called The City of Refuge ministries is for orphaned children who had been trafficked for child labor in Ghana's fishing industry. It has been operating for three years and has been helping hundreds of children.

There mission is to "create a global awareness of child slavery in Ghana by establishing university and regional organizations that educate the public on the existence of slavery. Empower the mothers within the targeted fishing villages by providing education and training for sustainable jobs."  It's a great organization that my college's chapter is hoping to continue so we may help in ending child slavery in Ghana.

The Ship's Interior

The New Map

The Union where we had all of our ship meetings

The gift store to buy clothing and more importantly insect repellant

Deck 6 Dinning Room 

Deck 6

Deck 6

San Diego in December

The end of our voyage: San Diego

South African Carver

Sarees in India

Love Around the World Documentary

What is love?

As we traveled around the world and encountered new friends we asked them "What does love mean to you?"

Sailing with the Arch

We sailed around the world with Archbishop Desmond Tutu

My Family

As we pulled into the port in San Diego, signs sprang up in the air reading, “welcome home,” “welcome back to the USA,” “get off the ship I’m out of money,” from friends and families waiting on the pier.

It was an adventure and on December 13 the MV Explorer docked in San Diego, California marking the end of our 108-day voyage around the world. Over 700 students, life-long learners, faculty and staff stepped off and greeted their loved ones.

On the pier in San Diego my mother and sister were waiting, but my small family has grown immensely over the past four months. I was never home sick because family was everywhere.

Many students who participate in Semester at Sea find home stays, one of the many field program options offered by SAS in each country, as an intrical part of their experience and understanding of each culture.

The last leg of our trip included spending Thanksgiving at sea. For those who celebrate the day it is a time for thanks and sharing with one’s family.

Students can sign-up at the beginning of the voyage to be a part of a shipboard family, in which a life long learner gets paired up with 3 – 6 students forming a family. I will never forget JoDee and Cooper my SAS mom and dad or my three sisters and one brother.

My family has grown to include members who have opened my eyes to a different way of life, and have shown me the kindness, and honesty that one usually only gets from their family.

My new extended family includes a Moroccan woman named Fatima who opened her home to my friends and I for an evening, made us diner, and shared secrets of what it’s like to be an Islamic woman. In Ghana a man gave us a free ride to an orphanage so that we wouldn’t have to walk in the pouring rain even though he was losing hours worth of work by doing so. We spent a day in a South African woman’s living room talking about the township she lives and works in. Also, my shipboard friends Maria, Anjali and Ashley, from India, Venezuela and Pennsylvania, were all there during sorrow, danger and laughter.

I now know, my family is all around the world.

Article published in Dec. 6 issue of Hometown Weekly Newspaper

Hawaii

Japan

The Great Wall

Photo diary of China

Xi'an Warriors

As soon as our ship docked in Hong Kong we took a flight to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Warriors. Xi'an was filled with smog and buildings under construction. The city is growing rapidly. Here, there is a clash between the old and knew. A wall built thousands of years ago in the earlier dynasties is still used for recreation use and entrances and exits to and from the city. While modern buildings trap the old shrines, monuments, and buildings.

The Terracotta Warriors were found in the 1970's by farmers. They were created in the Qin dynasty by Emperor Shi Huangdi. Each warrior has a different face thought to represent each officer in the emperor's army. The soldiers are to protect the emperor in the after-life. Xi'an also houses the tomb of Emperor Shi Huangdi.