The Beggining
My freshman year of college I became a little obsessed. Somehow, I had come across the Semester at Sea website. It was amazing. A semester of college, on a ship, traveling the world! Um, yes please. I watched the video over and over again. I tell you, I was obsessed, and I shared it with everyone I knew. I had visions of myself on a Safari in Africa and climbing the great wall of china. I even went so far as to plan the trips I would take.
Fast Forward to the future
By the second semester of my Junior Year of college I had resigned myself to never being able to study abroad. I didn’t really have the money and my college made it very difficult for people that wanted to study abroad to do so. Then around February 2006 I needed to write a persuasive paper for one of my english classes. I decided to write it on why college students should study abroad. As I was in the midst of researching the paper I once again came across the SAS website. Oh it looked so fantastic. Again I watched the video and got hooked. What was I doing? Hello, I want to do this so badley and um, I’m writing a paper on why students should study abroad and I’m not even doing it myself! I guess I’m pretty persuasive. That night I called my parents and told them I wanted to apply for Semester at Sea. They were super supportive and by the next day my application was in. I would also like to mention that as far as my univeristy went, a miracle happened. That semester they happened to be working on a system to make it easier for students to study abroad. Students would no longer have to withdraw for the university and the university would give credit for all pre apporved classes. I tell you this was meant to be.
As the months passed by I was so anxious to go. I got my medication and shots, a new digital camera and some great travel gear. The summer dragged by but all that time waiting was forgotten the moment I saw the MV Explorer docked in the San Diego harbor. About 70 of the fall 2006′ers met up the night before departure at Bucca De Beppos. Lets just say, we took over the place. The next morning we were bussed to Ensenada, Mexico to meet up with the ship.
After we were all on board and the engines had roared to life all the students lined the decks in anticipation of our departure. As we slowly pulled away we were sent off by a few strageling parents that had made the journey across the border, the SAS prep crew, some curious seagulls and even a sealion or two.
Although our time in country was the real reason everyone goes on the trip I came to really enjoy my time on the ship as well. Often I would stand on the front deck and watch the flying fish scattering from the ships bow as we cut trough the pristine waters. It’s a sight a really miss now as I look back on it.
So now
I want to be able to aid in the preparation effort for future SASers or just indulge the wanderlust of other travelers so I have put together several pages of information about what I did and my experiences. If you feel like it take a little look around and maybe get some ideas for your upcoming trip or to ignite your dreams.
The Plan
In My Bag
Japan
China
Vietnam
Myanmar (Burma)
India
Egypt
Turkey
Croatia
Spain
The Ride
Semester of Pictures
