Author Archives: sam
Icepocalypse
Being back in Indiana is, weatherly speaking, a long way from Central America and the Panama Canal. We got iced in for a few days last week and had a lot of good laughs with family and friends sitting around the fire, watching movies, and playing Angry Birds (Shannon is a pig-smashing fiend). Most of […]
Fiascoes in Paradise
The semester ended on December 13, but we remained on the ship to work in the library and the lab during a three week Enrichment Voyage through the Panama Canal. The Latin American itinerary is nearly identical to the voyage we did in 2009, so we spent lots of time reuniting with old friends from […]
Posted in Travel
Tagged beach, Belize, Central America, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama Canal, Roatán, SaS, Semester at Sea
Comments Off on Fiascoes in Paradise
Hanging Loose in Hawaii, Brah
Our last port of call during our Semester at Sea was Hawaii, and it was bittersweet. Sweet because Hawaii is beautiful and fun (and so are our new friends); bitter to think about the end of the voyage–an ending that must happen and that will bring new beginnings for all of us, but also an […]
The Land of the Rising Sun
There are a number of things we saw and did in Japan that didn’t really fit in that last post, so here are a few more pics for your enjoyment. The best waffles money can buy are found at a restaurant called Honeybee inside the mall at the Kyoto train station (calorie counting not recommended […]
Japan: the Not-Quite-Final Frontier
Geeky confession: we both really enjoy watching old episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Okay, now that we’ve got that out in the open, we can talk about Japan. One of the things we like about TNG is how the voyagers on the Enterprise visit civilizations on other planets that are often more advanced […]
Posted in Travel
Tagged culture, Japan, SaS, Semester at Sea
Comments Off on Japan: the Not-Quite-Final Frontier
Shia Shia, Bullshia
The most often repeated lesson we’ve learned while sailing around the world is that people are extremely nice to travelers. Sure, some of them are hoping you’ll be willing to pay for some of their wares, but even in those cases they seem to also enjoy the simple act of making you smile – even […]
Posted in Travel
Tagged China, Great Wall, hiking, SaS, Semester at Sea
Comments Off on Shia Shia, Bullshia
Apologies for the delays
Dear Faithful Blog Readers, Sorry that we’re so far behind and haven’t written in a while. We’re cooking up some posts about China and Japan, but ship and personal life are combining to delay us more than we’d like. It looks like we’ll have more time to write after we visit Hawaii on December 3-6. […]
Posted in Travel
Comments Off on Apologies for the delays
Viet Transit
There are lots of ways to get around in Vietnam. You can walk…and until you get used to the flow of pedestrian traffic, you’ll feel a little like you’re taking your life into your hands every time you cross the street. But all that walking makes you want to stop and drink Ca Fe Sua […]
Posted in Travel
Tagged Ho Chi Minh City, motos, Saigon, SaS, Semester at Sea, transportation, Vietnam
Comments Off on Viet Transit
Singapore: Botanicals, Breakdancing, and Beyondness
We both came down with an acute case of culture shock when we disembarked in Singapore after visiting India. The sudden transition from chaos and contradiction to cleanliness, order, and efficiency surprised us, but was certainly not unwelcome. Two days is not enough time to really take in a country, even a country that is […]
A Poem in Marble
“India is far away, and we don’t know if we’ll ever get a chance to visit it again.” That’s the thought that fueled the travel madness of our last couple days on the subcontinent. On our way back toward Chennai from Dharamsala, we took a little detour and traveled by train from Delhi to Agra […]