Wednesday, December 16, 2015

The morning sun glitters on the glossy surface of a tranquil sea.  The little 60hp engines hum along steadily, to make up for the listless sails drooping from the mast.  My stomach is still uneasy from a bug I caught a few days past, but I make myself sit in front of this screen and type something.

I haven't blogged for what must be years now.  Last time I think I was riding my bicycle through Central America.  Back then I fancied being a travel blogger.  I was going to immortalize my adventures abroad with witty prose for an enraptured audience who would eventually fund my future destinations. But after taking a break for a few months to work for a nonprofit in Guatemala I came up with a better idea.  I would transcend the backpacker trek entirely and become a 'destination' by starting my own hostel. Surely there would be no shortage of stories to blog about there.  Somehow along the way I got distracted living the fast life in Panama. The whirl of bright lights and late nights wasn't terribly conducive for reflection and documentation and eventually I was left dazed and confused looking for love in New York City.   And now here I am sailing on 38ft catamaran around the Marquesas Isles of French Polynesia.

I guess you can say I have a hard time focusing.  Actually that's mostly why I decided to make this particular voyage.  There's not a lot of distractions around the most isolated islands in the world.  (That's not to say they can't be found, after all I've been on this boat nearly 3 months now and this is the first time I've bothered to sit down and write anything) The chances of finding internet in one of these island's sheltered bays is slim and if you do find something, you can be fairly confident you wont be streaming netflix. It took nearly an hour just to view my best friend's 15 second baby video on facebook.

Despite these little frustrations I think I've discovered my niche.  No longer am I up till 4 in the morning playing videos games, nor staying in bed till 5 in the evening reading reddit.  Instead I'm up at 6am every morning running 8k or circuit training or learning jujitsu or muy tai. Every day I'm hiking up to pristine tropical waterfalls or stunning island vistas or else snorkeling with manta rays or spear fishing with sharks or learning how to keep and maintain a boat with my new friend and mentor, Daniel, who is also training me to free-dive (I broke 2 minutes underwater yesterday and reached a depth of 25.6 meters despite not being able to hold my breath for 20 seconds when I first began crewing aboard Baydreamer) and teaching me to sail.

I've honestly never lived better, and honestly I'm a bit anxious about what will happen when I return home next week.  But I'm fairly certain for now that life at sea is the life for me