Why You Need To Go On Semester At Sea

This trip changed me. It has been the most significant event of my life, and I will never be the person I was before I left. I still have a twisted sense of humor, love burritos and all that stuff, but the way I see things is different.

My lifestyle on the ship was completely different from back at home. I had no phone, no television, and limited access to the internet. Besides planning for our next traveling adventure, I didn’t think much farther than my next meal. My daily routine went something like this: wake up and go to breakfast with Tyler and Taylor and partake in our daily iron colon challenge (we ate 5-7 boxes each of All-Bran which has 50% of daily fiber, you do the math), then I would go to class for a bit, and then spend about four hours laying in the sun by the pool. Then I would work out, and partake in whatever activities where going on that night or watch movies with some friends. It was so relaxing, and my mind really was at ease. My life was centered around friends and simple pleasures like reading a book and laying in the sun. Everyday I would wake up excited to go lay in the sun. Life was so simple, and so enjoyable. It is amazing what life can be like when all distractions are completely gone. Shedding all of the garbage of daily life makes you realize what really is important and what is not.

The community on the ship was amazing. When you go through experiences like these with other people, you become very close, very quickly. Even people that I didn’t travel with felt like close friends. Though we couldn’t really explain ourselves, we all understood each other. Every person I passed in the hall I shared a big smile with. The vibe on the ship was so awesome. This family we created and the way people treated each other was incredible, and something that I want to apply to my future relationships.

Every country that I passed through gave me a completely new way of looking at the world. My perspective changed and grew week to week. I was a very different person Between Egypt and Turkey than I was between China and Vietnam. Truthfully, I can’t even remember how I used to think before this trip. My whole world was a little bubble in Southern California, where I had my social life, and spent my time racing motorcycles and going to school. That was it, and those were the only things that I thought about. I knew there was a big world out there, but it wasn’t real to me. I feel like a chicken that has just hatched from an egg. Really, my world has grown that much. And it has made me think about big questions, about my place in the earth, and who I am. I won’t find my answers anytime soon, but at least I have started looking, and I am truly grateful that my eyes have been opened like this.

At the core, people are all the same. Once you get beyond looks, customs, religion, language, when it all boils down to it, I shared the same laughs and smiles with people in Burma and Egypt that I do at home. We are all humans and we are all in this together. I also learned that it is the relationships between people that matter, people and things on their own are nothing. To be able to connect with people that live completely different lives than me has given me faith in humanity. Things may look bad sometimes, but there is a tremendous amount of good going on everywhere.