Semester at Sea

2014 By the Numbers

It isn’t every year one can say that they’ve been around the world.

Well, 2014 was a unique year for me. I made my way around the world, with a couple extra crossings of the Atlantic Ocean and Equator thrown in for good measure. Many photos were taken (around 50k) and the passport never got cold. Here is a bit of a round-up in numbers and superlatives.

Colorful time zone map of the world

Countries visited: 18 (In order of appearance….Japan, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar, India, Mauritius, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco, England, Denmark, Sweden, Ecuador, France, Spain, Costa Rica, and Mexico.)

Number of airplane take offs and, thank goodness, landings: 45

Trains taken: 8

First class Mexican buses taken: 1

Favorite modes of alternative transport: horse, tuk tuk, Indian houseboat, Burmese bicycle taxi, zodiac boat, cable car

Miles sailed with Semester at Sea: 23,379.5 nautical miles

Number of days spent living on a ship: 143 (115 on the MV Explorer and 28 on the National Geographic Endeavour)

Amount of college students stuck on a ship with me (and me with them): over 500

Time zones crossed: all of them

Most interesting geographic coordinate: zero degrees longitude and zero degrees latitude in the Gulf of Guinea (yes, there is a buoy out there)

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As I write this from Paris, I already know 2015 will be filled with more travels and many more photos. Stay tuned for adventures from France, Spain, South Africa, Ecuador, and who knows where else. Happy 2015!

Hong Kong skyline viewed from ship.

Jumping Ships

I’ve spent the majority of my time this year on a ship and I’m about to get onto another.

I recently returned from my assignment with Semester at Sea as photographer for the Spring 2014 Voyage’s communications team. While on board the MV Explorer, we circumnavigated the globe, traveling 23,379 nautical miles west from Ensenada, Mexico, to Southampton, England.

To see all of my posts for Semester at Sea, click here. And head to my personal travel blog (which is still catching up!) for even more photos and reflections. My personal highlights were exploring Yangon, Myanmar, on a serendipitous day of travel, marveling at life and death along the Ganges River in India, and wandering through the temples of Kyoto, Japan. I was lucky enough to get to tag along with a few classes while in port as well. I received at crash course in South African cinema while visiting the University of Cape Town. And I’m now well-versed in the art of Burmese puppetry and have a better grasp on evolution after visiting the botanic gardens and zoo in Singapore.

And this weekend I’m getting onto another ship, the National Geographic Endeavor, to teach photography for National Geographic and Lindblad in the Galápagos Islands off of Ecuador. Follow along through Lindblad Expeditions’ Instagram feed here.

My subject matter is quickly going to change from globe-trotting college students to slow-moving tortoises and happy sea lions, but before that happens, below is a collection of my favorite photos of student life from the Spring 2014 Semester at Sea voyage. Click on any thumbnail to view larger in gallery mode.

Students line up to board the MV Explorer on Embarkation day for Semester at Sea Spring 2014 Voyage on January 10th 2014, in Ensenada, Mexico. More embarkation photos here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/01/13/embarkation-setting-sail-for-spring-2014/.
A student smiles on Embarkation day for the Semester at Sea Spring 2014 Voyage. More embarkation photos here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/01/13/embarkation-setting-sail-for-spring-2014/.
The ship’s pursers collected all of the voyagers’ passports on Embarkation day for the Semester at Sea Spring 2014 Voyage. More embarkation photos here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/01/13/embarkation-setting-sail-for-spring-2014/.
Students gather on the 7th deck in anticipation of departure on Embarkation day for the Semester at Sea Spring 2014 Voyage. More embarkation photos here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/01/13/embarkation-setting-sail-for-spring-2014/.
Semester at Sea students walk up the bustling street called Chawan-zaka, or Teapot Lane, that leads to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple, during a trip to Kyoto, Japan. More about Kyoto’s temples: http://bylandandbyseablog.wordpress.com/2014/03/18/land-of-a-thousand-temples/.
Voyagers learned how to make traditional Japanese sweets at the Kanshundo sweet-making shop in Kyoto. More photos: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/02/05/kyoto-historic-sites-and-traditions/.
Students admire the view of the Hong Kong skyline before the MV Explorer departed the harbor. More on Hong Kong: http://bylandandbyseablog.wordpress.com/2014/03/31/dim-sum-days/.
A Semester at Sea student works on her perspective drawing at Giac Lam Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City during a field lab. More photos: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/02/28/field-lab-perspectives-on-pagodas/.
While in Vietnam, students in a Drawing at Sea class participated in a field lab in which they practiced perspective drawing while visiting multiple pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City. Semester at Sea students place incense in an urn at the Quan Am Pagoda in the Chinese influenced neighborhood of Cholon. More about Vietnam: http://bylandandbyseablog.wordpress.com/2014/04/15/postcard-from-vietnam/.
Neptune Day celebrations for the Spring 2014 50th Anniversary Voyage include the tradition of kissing a fish. More photos: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/03/21/neptune-day-crossing-into-southern-oceans/.
Neptune Day celebrations for the Spring 2014 50th Anniversary Voyage. Many women on the ship weren’t afraid to bare their scalps for King Neptune and continue the tradition of shaving heads in honor of crossing the Equator. More photos: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/03/21/neptune-day-crossing-into-southern-oceans/.
While in Singapore, students in an Evolution class visited the Singapore Zoo. A Semester at Sea student had a face-to-face moment with a Sumatran orangutan named Charlie. More from the day here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/03/26/field-lab-examining-evolution-in-singapore/.
A Semester at Sea student washes the Buddha that represents the day of the week on which she was born. Locals and visitors alike participate in the washing of the Buddha images and often leave behind offerings of flowers or food at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar. More images of Shwedagon here: http://bylandandbyseablog.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/sensing-the-sacred-at-shwedagon/.
While in Myanmar, students in Professor Drew Kahn’s Intro to Theatre class spent a day learning about traditional Burmese puppetry while at the House of Memories restaurant. Professor Kahn learns how to control the puppet from director Khin Maung Htwe’s ten-year old son Thet Paing Htwe Oo. Yangon, Myanmar. More from the field lab here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/04/02/field-lab-pulling-strings-in-myanmar/.
A Semester at Sea student studies in the shipboard library.
Professor Iain Campbell (pointing with green laser pointer) held stargazing sessions on the observatory deck throughout the Spring 2014 voyage.
Wandering amongst monks and the bustle of a busy morning, Semester at Sea students admired the vendors at the local market, especially the women selling freshly cut flowers in Thanlyin village outside of Yangon, Myanmar. More photos here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/04/10/photo-gallery-daily-life-in-myanmar/.
A student plays the game “Telephone” with young boys at an orphanage in Twante, Myanmar.
A Semester at Sea student takes a moment to look at items in a Burmese home in the village of Thanlyin outside of Yangon, Myanmar. More photos here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/04/10/photo-gallery-daily-life-in-myanmar/.
A Semester at Sea student get thanaka paste applied to his face. Thanaka, made from rubbing bark onto a dampened stone disk, is a traditional cosmetic paste worn by many Burmese people. More photos here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/04/10/photo-gallery-daily-life-in-myanmar/.
While in Myanmar, voyagers played ‘London Bridge’ and ‘Ring Around the Rosie’ at the Su Htoo Pan Orphanage. More photos here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/04/10/photo-gallery-daily-life-in-myanmar/.
The Spring 2014 Sea Olympics on board the MV Explorer brought a fantastic show from the Bering Sea. Their routine won them first place in the cheer competition. More photos: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/04/22/competition-on-the-high-seas/.
The Spring 2014 Voyager Talent Show drew a packed house to the Union and the eighteen selected acts didn’t disappoint the crowd.
Voyagers in Varanasi enjoyed a pre-dawn boat ride along the Ganges River, soaking in the activities happening along the ghats on the river’s edge. More about Varanasi: http://bylandandbyseablog.wordpress.com/2014/06/04/life-and-death-in-varanasi/.
Two Semester at Sea students took time to reflect at the Taj Mahal in Agra. More about the trip: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/04/18/photo-gallery-sacred-river-stunning-monuments/.
A Semester at Sea student shakes hands with women living at Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Agra. More about the trip: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/04/18/photo-gallery-sacred-river-stunning-monuments/.
Semester at Sea voyagers traveled on the “Langa Township and Happy Feet” field program to visit Langa, a township located on the outskirts of Cape Town, and visit the Happy Feet Project, an initiative started in 2007, to provide township kids with positive influences to keep them away from gangs and drugs in the community.
Students work with children in Ghana to write letters and draw pictures for the sponsors that help fund their education. More here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/05/06/creating-a-refuge-from-child-slavery-in-ghana/.
Voyagers traveled on the “City of Refuge” field program to visit an orphanage that cares for children who have been trafficked into child labor in the Lake Volta region of Ghana. Voyagers participated in various activities on the compound such as painting and helping orphans write sponsor letters. More here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/05/06/creating-a-refuge-from-child-slavery-in-ghana/.
The MV Explorer prepares to sail from Casablanca, the last port of the Spring 2014 voyage. More on a field lab in Morocco: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2014/05/19/field-lab-an-afternoon-in-the-caliphs-house/.

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

My, what a year 2013 was. An update is long overdue. In 2013 I made my annual pilgrimage to New Orleans to don not one, not two, but four costumes and photograph one of the greatest festivals on earth, Mardi Gras. My San Francisco feature story photos hit the press and came out in the April issue of National Geographic Traveler. I worked with Dan Westergren and Mark Thiessen teaching weekend photo workshops in DC and explored the city through the eyes of curious photography students. I was inspired and rejuvenated at the annual National Geographic Magazine Photo Seminar in January and at the Look3 festival in June. In August I bid adieu to my office and colleagues at National Geographic Traveler after seven wonderful years of photo editing. I packed up my DC apartment and hopped a plane to Africa to explore eight different countries. I survived a hippo-riddled canoe ride on the Zambezi River, marvels at the wonder of Victoria Falls, and fell in love with leopards. I spent an entire month in the gorgeous city of Cape Town before heading back to my home state of Oregon. Thousands of photos later, it is 2014 and I’ve repacked my bags for the next big thing. Today I’m boarding a ship which I’ll call home for 114 days while working as photographer for the Institute for Shipboard Education’s program, Semester at Sea. Follow along at my travel blog or through the Spring 2014 voyage blog where I’ll be contributing. Then in June and October I’ll be on a ship again, cruising through the Galapagos Islands with National Geographic Expeditions as a photography Expert and instructor. With almost a third of 2014 being spent on a ship, I best find my sea legs. I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite photos from Africa in 2013.