Column: Life lessons learned from 103 days sailing almost seven seas

I have spent the last 103 days on a voyage around the world, starting in the Bahamas and sailing by ship to 10 different countries.

In two days, I will port my final stop in San Diego, ending my experience abroad.
When I arrived on the ship, our dean of students said, “The things you do here, in class and in port, won’t hit you till it’s over, so, every day, do everything you can to make sure it hits you hard.”

With two days left, it’s starting to hit me hard as I linger in the last leg of my journey.
My journey started with a hiccup — news that I might not be able to attend due to a missing international visa.

What seemed like the end of the world at the time is nothing more than a memory, a challenge I conquered.

My journey has been a fluster of emotions, from the most exciting to the most frightening, intriguing to intimidating, familiar to foreign, peaceful to overwhelming and pleasing to painful. It is the combination of the differing dynamics that leave me where I am now, reflecting on the most magnificent written chapters of my personal storybook.

From familiarizing myself with this floating campus to first docking in Dominica, I was already exposed to novel cultures, cuisines, conversations and creations that left me hungry for more. Luckily for me, there were plenty more servings to satiate that starvation.

I am left with more than eight different currencies in my wallet, a pocketbook full of contacts I met across the countries and milestone memories that have filled every corner of my too-cluttered journal.

So, what exactly have I done in these wonder weeks?

I have stood at the top of the Taj Mahal, and I have hiked the steps of the
Great Wall.

I have played “Duck, Duck, Goose” with orphans in Ghana and “Ring Around the Rosie” with schoolchildren in Vietnam.

I have been ripped off in marketplaces by vendors and received the generosity of a complete stranger.

I have danced in the Amazonian rain and jumped off cliffs in Ha Long Bay.

I was invited to dance in a Brazilian samba celebration and drummed in a Ghanaian prayer circle.

I have been completely lost while looking for lodging in Shanghai and taking trains in Japan.

I have seen the poorest of people in poverty and been mesmerized by the riches of royalty.

I have ordered food, said thank you and called for a cab in a number of new languages, and I have been guided with nothing but a translated piece of paper.

The dreams I drew into expectations for my adventure have been exceptionally exceeded.

Somewhere along the crossing of the Atlantic, there has been a change in my perspective, guided by what I have seen and effecting whatever comes my way in the future.

I have gained a new gratitude for the life I live, the people I play with and the fortune I face. I replaced a fear of foreign features with a new confidence in facing unknown challenges. I’ve been graced with a taste of what lies outside Bloomington’s Sample Gates.

It might have been a whirlwind at the time, but the lingering, life-changing reflections leave me at a new starting point.

What now? How do I take what I have found and bring it all back? It seems as though the greatest challenge of my traveling has yet to present itself. I have learned to view value in an entirely different light, so I must not forget this redefined term when I get back into my comfort zone. 

I have been exposed to poverty and destruction in a way that couldn’t be ignored, so I must not cover my eyes from the similar sources of disparity that take place right outside my front door.

I have felt stuck in sticky situations in which an “all-time low” magically reshaped itself into becoming one of my favorite accomplishments. I have experienced cultural differences that distinguish me from every other diversity, but more importantly, I have seen the universal similarities shared in the sweetness of a smile.

It’s not the travel, the pictures or the purchases that made my journey so celebratory — it’s these lessons learned that can’t be worn out, used up or left behind.

For those of you who have followed my columns and become a part of my crew, I thank you for being an essential part of my journey.

I feel fortunate to have had the support of my Hoosiers as I experienced the unknown. With the semester coming to a close, it’s time to let the experiences of the last few months hit us hard.

I propose a challenge — whether we are fighting through finals, heading back to our comfort zones at home, starting new summer jobs, taking trips to new places or fitting robes for graduation, may we have the power to apply the lessons we have learned and may the stories of this past semester stick with us as we write the title of a new
chapter.

­— espitzer@indiana.edu