One Month Mark

Today marks the one month mark of being on board and just a couple minutes ago I realized that I haven’t updated my blog at all. Time really flies when every second of every day is pretty much accounted for… But hell yeah is there so much that I have to say and so much that I have already learned despite having only been here a couple weeks.

If someone told me now that I would be sailing the world on board a tall ship for my senior year of high school I still wouldn’t believe them. It still sounds and feels like a dream despite waking up with an aching back in my hammock every single morning. Right now we’re sailing towards anchorage near Cadiz and it seems surreal that this is already our second port. Portugal was amazing, it was exactly how I envisioned it to be and even more. I feel like I didn’t spend nearly enough time there to create a blog post dedicated to Porto but I could feel the culture and vibes that the city gives off. I met an uber driver who is born and bred in Porto and have just come back from spending a couple years abroad in Brazil; he embodied the Portuguese feeling and really opened my eyes to new ways of thinking. We ate some great food and walked through the most beautiful alleyways. Portugal is definitely somewhere on my list of countries that I wish to live in before I die.

For everyone that finds themselves wandering through Porto, make sure to stop by Sai Cao and order the fucking steak. For 5 euros you’ll get some of the best food you’ve ever tasted in your life.

On board the Sorlandet, I’ve seen more sunrises than I’ve probably ever seen in my entire life. Every single day brings me a new sense of surprise and a new adventure despite staying in a tiny space with the same people. Waking up at 5am was never a chore but instead was something you could look forward to by telling yourself that the sunrise was only in a couple hours or that there could be dolphins swimming around during your watch. The structure of ship life is definitely something that I’m starting to love; people tell you when to wake up or go to bed and every single second really is accounted for. My first week on board was a little tough and surviving on 6 hours of sleep per night was not something that my body was adjusted to. And stepping on board I had not expected to be scrubbing toilets every single day (for some people) or even having to slave away in the kitchen once every ten days. When people told me it was going to be tough, I believed them but I did not know to what extent ‘tough’ was going to be. Now that I’m here though, I have never found myself for a single second regretting the decision to step onboard.

In fact, I’ve been grateful to be scrubbing toilets or cleaning the junk out of kitchen drains because these are never things that I would be doing at home. I honestly don’t think there are words that can describe how much I’ve learnt already in the short time that I’ve spent here. The people that I’ve met and the conversations we’ve had make me view them as family already. These are the people that I already feel like are the closest friends of my life and I met them exactly a month ago. Everyone is here for a reason, whether it be because they had no other choice or because this is the journey of their dreams. They believe in their dreams and are chasing after what they believe in. We are all likeminded people and getting the opportunity to talk to them and meet them in this lifetime is something that I will forever be grateful for. Everyone here comes from a different background and I don’t get that same feeling of being stuck like I had gotten back at ‘home’. I’ve written a lot about this in my journal but being here allowed me to meet people that have changed the way I view my own world. I’ve been pushed to work harder and do more just by being in their presence and this was something that I have never felt back in California. The people there were good and they were kind but we were all the same copies of one another. Sure there are some of the copies of one another here on board but I’ve met some pretty damn cool characters.

The fucking crazy thing is that if this is how I feel after being here for one month, how will I feel in a couple months as we’re crossing the Atlantic or when this voyage is over and I’m reflecting on the entire journey in itself. Being without internet has really allowed me to reflect upon everything that has happened in the past months and has made me really ‘do more’. Clymo, a past teacher, told me once about the 10 – 80 – 10. 10% of the people in the world do less than they’re supposed to, 80% of the people in this world do the exact amount of work that they’re supposed to and the last 10% of the people do more work to make up for the 10% that doesn’t work hard enough. He explained it in a much direct way but the idea behind this is that everyone should aim to be the 10% that works hard and does more but if you can’t do that you should at least be a part of the 80%. Those values really are reflected here on board especially after being here for awhile and realizing which people are the 10% on both sides. My goal for the remainder of this voyage is to be the 10% that is willing to do more work.

Here is a look at what our shipboard schedule looks like

7am. prompt wake up call

7:15am. everyone has to be on deck

7.30am. breakfast

8am. morning ‘colors’ (meeting)

8-9am. cleaning

9am. first classes

9am – 6pm. school day / day watches

6:30pm. dinner

7 – 9pm. homework / night watches

9 – 10pm. quiet hours

10pm. lights out

The structure of our day may sound somewhat relaxed but what people don’t know is that during the day from 8am to 8pm everyone has to be on watch for the ship for 2 hours. And then again from 8pm to 8am everyone is on watch again for 2 hours during the night. This could very well mean that you go to bed at 10pm and then have to wake up at 2 in the morning for 2 hours of night watch and then go to bed again at 4am. Night/day watch is essentially a couple people who steer the ship, do the safety rounds every half hour, lookout at the front of the ship for surrounding ships and several other people on deck to help with anything that they’re needed for. My favorite physical watch is definitely at the lookout; there you can just chill and stand alone with the night sky surrounding you. There really aren’t that many spots or moments on board where you can find silence and peace within yourself but being at lookout is the perfect time to just silence the noise in your mind.

Right now I’m just grateful to be here and excited to get to know everyone better. Everyone has a backstory and a reason why they’ve ended up here whether it be just because they love to travel or because they’re figuring out what they want with their life, I’m happy to hear about it. We’re all here to make lasting friendships and to learn more about who we are as individuals which is why I’ve honestly enjoyed every single moment on board. And here’s to me keeping my promise to myself of being a better person and to new friendships and adventures together with people I’ve learned to love.

More to read

• From Normal to Nomad
• Texas State Aquarium
• No One Wants to Work With me Because I’m Not an American (or a European/Australian/British/1st world citizen)
• Poppy Seed Chicken
• My wild summer