2/5/2007

The journey begins. After months of preparation and anticipation, my Semester at Sea voyage is finally underway. On January 31st, I left my house in Sun Valley, Idaho and boarded a flight (or three really) for Nassau, Bahamas. My flight from Orlando, Florida to Nassau, Bahamas ended up getting canceled leaving me to travel back and forth across the country from Boise, ID to San Francisco, CA to Charlotte, NC and finally to Nassau. Great start!

In Nassau, I stayed at the Atlantis with several buddies from Sun Valley and Boulder as well as hundreds of other Semester at Sea participants. White sand beaches, clear blue water, various pools, waterfalls, waterslides and tropical drinks consumed much of my time. Other than the outrageous price tag, the Atlantis was perfect. A great resort, on a great island, with extraordinary people.

On the morning of February 4th, I boarded the MV Explorer to begin my journey around the world. The reality of what I was about to do was finally setting in. After spending several hours getting through customs and security to board the ship, I wandered the ship meeting my neighbors for the semester and checking out the facilities. Nearly every student mingled by the pool in the hot Bohemian sun that afternoon…what an awful way to start the trip. We embarked on our journey that evening setting to the sea. I never though I would be one to get sea sick, but boy was I wrong. The rock of the ship is very noticeable, especially for a person not accustomed to the water travel such as myself. After some medicine however, things were looking bright once again.

Tomorrow, we have our first day of classes aboard the ship and then it is off to Puerto Rico for three days. Check back in a week or so for more details on life aboard the floating campus as well as news from our first port stay.

Thanks for checking in…

Peace,
Mike