From Russia With Love

Time flies when you’re on a ship. Sailing around the world. I still can’t believe I get to write those words.

I’m sitting in the sun in Gdansk, Poland, on a quaint road looking at cobblestone streets, charming rowhouses, and the largest brick church in the world, St. Mary’s Church. Every day on the ship is a busy one, and that sure makes time fly.

So much has happened already. New friends. Long office hours. Green sheets. Itinerary changes (Barcelona and Rome instead of Ghana and Senegal due to the ebola outbreak). Birthdays. Game nights. Taco Day. No wonder the voyage seems to be moving so quickly.

Our sail to St. Petersburg was relatively calm. As it turns out, transit in the North Atlantic, Kiel Canal and Baltic Sea is pretty smooth, and I could hardly feel the motion of the ship as she steered her course to Russia. We arrived up the Neva River into the heart of St. Petersburg. It was almost the exact berth we used fourteen years ago when I arrived aboard Odysseus as a student. The city is beautiful, clean, reasonably easy to navigate…at least that’s what the folks with visas reported! I chose not to get the visa this time around, which worked out perfectly.

I still had a grand adventure, visiting the Hermitage and spending an evening watching a live performance of Swan Lake at the famed and intimately-set Hermitage Theater. It was one of those reality check moments – was I really sitting in this place, the same place Catherine II hosted royals and other guests and the place, still today, that serves as an attraction for world leaders and other dignitaries? Indeed I was, and it was remarkable. On a funny note, two male students were sitting behind me, and they couldn’t get enough of the show. Throughout the whole performance, they were giving color commentary on the story line, the execution of the dancing, the music (which, I might add, was a small live orchestra) and the authenticity of the characters. I wish I could say the same for myself. I, however, was watching the show, and all I could really come up with was, “wow – they can jump really high.” Either way, it was a Russian ballet in Russia. It doesn’t get better than that.

I was fortunate to enjoy a dinner with some of the students and a colleague from the ship (on her birthday) at вкус съесть (Taste Eat), a new Russian cuisine. It was billed as a “Secret Pop-up Dinner” because we didn’t know where we’d be eating until we showed up there. As a traveler, I can’t get enough of those authentic moments, and the ones that create a memory through good food, good company, and good conversation tend to stay etched in my mind for the longest time. We interacted with many locals who joined our group, and then were able to stop quickly at the Church on Spilled Blood, one of the most recognizable St. Petersburg landmarks. The sky was ominously serene.

And who can forget about celebrating a Russian birthday. What a terrific day that started out with 150 people singing to me in the Union prior to some big dispatches. My field office colleague and new friend, Kylie, led the charge. I was once again serenaded with birthday songs from our tour operator at the bus when we left for a tour of Baltika brewery. This place was an amazing mechanized marvel with 108 tanks that each hold 230,000 liters. That’s 7 million (or maybe 70 million – my math is off on this one) 12 ounce bottles of beer. Great students, great group of colleagues and a great lunch afterwards and a quaint little downstairs café where delicious blini, pelmeni and borscht were served up. Once again, memories built on the community that builds when people are able to slow down and enjoy a meal together.

We’ve since sailed from Russia and are now in Poland. I must mention that along the way we celebrated Virgopalooza in honor of all the virgo babies out there, of which the faculty and staff has 12. We had an 80s party and it was packed with staff and faculty alike, many of whom dressed the part. With the itinerary change and resulting ripples, it was the perfect time for us to blow off some steam. As many of my friends have reminded me in emails and Facebook messages, the MV is indeed the best place on earth to celebrate my birthday.

Every day out here is an adventure. The adventure continued when, on arrival, we rode bikes around Poland. Until next time, I dare you – actually, I double-dog dare you - to make some adventures of your own!

Ubuntu and the end of the #retiredsummer

I like to think of life as a constant adventure - it makes it easier to embrace the greatness and overcome the obstacles we face along the way. This year has thrown both my way, and as I sit in an Amsterdam coffee bar reflecting on where I've been and where I'm going, I can't help but feel like (in the words of a great guy, John Burkoff) "life is good!" How can it not be good? I learned to swing from the trapeze, I've walked in the Matterhorn's looming presence and summited to an alpine lake, stood in awe of the terra cotta soldiers in Xi'an and hiked the Great Wall of China, and I boated through the canals of Venice. It's a big world out there, but it sure is fun to go exploring!

It's August and I've visited friends and family across the country - literally on opposite coasts - in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Charlottesville, and Buffalo. I lived in and moved from Denver, where my life's collection of belongings (most of which I can't recall) still sits quietly in the dark of a 10x10 storage unit. I made my first solo cross-country drive to my temporary accommodation with my parents in metro-Atlanta. I am eternally grateful for their warmness and willingness to take in their globetrotting son. The same son that couldn't even sleep away from home as a child returns, this time as a springboard to a five-month global journey. How time does change us...

And now, after a three-week journey through China with 100 high school students and an amazing team of colleagues and an incredible and memorable eight-day stint in the charming and quaint Swiss alpine Venthône village, I start this blog in a coffee bar on Javastraat in the east side of Amsterdam. I arrived here five days ago to reconnect with a wonderful duo whom I met on the MV Explorer six years ago. We haven't seen each other since then, but here we are visiting and filling in the gaps that exist for far-away friendships. Tomorrow I leave for London, and subsequently Southampton, where my fall voyage of Semester at Sea will set sail for a world of wonder and a 100+ day experiment in academics, exploration, and community building will begin.

I tend toward relationship building - I always have. I place huge value on friendships and staying connected. Every day, when I look at the arch of my right foot, I am reminded of this - ubuntu (I am, because you are). I tattooed "ubuntu" on my foot four years ago as a reminder of the importance I place on the idea of community and the people in it. It (literally) keeps me grounded and reminds me that through the relationships we build and the resulting webs we weave, we make impacts on ourselves and the larger world around us.

As I prepare for my upcoming adventure, I am grateful for the friends I have and the unforgettable experiences I've had with them. It brings me joy to know that these people in my life are there for the long haul. It's ubuntu at work. I am, because you are. It's as simple as that.

When I board my flight to London tomorrow, my #retiredsummer is over. I am over the moon to reconnect with old friends and to create lasting memories with the new people with whom my path is about to cross. Let's get this show on the road!