Jorge Peraza

For nearly five months we called MS Zuiderdam and her 954 foot length our home. Our journey took us over 45,000 miles to five continents and 28 countries, circumnavigating around this gorgeous planet. We flew 2,114 miles on six flights. Travel by rail, bus, car, 4x4, small boats, Tuk Tuk, and our own feet accounted for another 1,471 miles. All of this, equivalent to 20% of the way to the moon, and yet we only saw briefly one sixth of the world.

We crossed Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the oceans on Earth. Located in the Mariana Trench, near Guam, it has a depth of nearly seven miles or 35,856 feet. On the other side of the world, we stopped at Null Island where the equator and Prime Meridian intersect, at coordinates 0,0. In total, we crossed the equator four times, but only participated in two Neptune ceremonies. Hopefully he’s ok with that.

Our voyage continually manipulated and seemingly resulted in time travel. We changed time zones 35 times, 11 of which were just making it to, then in and out of the Amazon. On February 13, we crossed the International Date Line heading West, but that would mean we would skip Valentine’s Day and jump ahead to February 15. Since that would be a most unpopular outcome, Holland America Line and the Captain “decided” to skip the 12th instead. When passengers reached out to loved ones back home wishing them a Happy V-Day, or Birthday in some cases, puzzled recipients clarified that it was still the day prior. Making calls at 8 am on Monday would be the same as 3 pm on Sunday for folks on the West Coast. Oh, and that day we lost, we will never get it back like most who fly a reciprocal Easterly direction would. Our heads hurting, we puzzled over what does the concept of time actually mean? We never really knew what day it was unless we rode an elevator and looked at the rug. In most cases it didn’t matter. But wait, which day are taxes due?

Nautical minded mariners may appreciate knowing the significant bodies of water encountered. We transited the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, South Atlantic Ocean, the Amazon River, including Rio Negro and Tapajós tributaries, the Panama Canal, North Pacific Ocean, Philippines Sea, Kanmon Strait, Sea of Japan, East China Sea, Yangtze River, Yellow Sea, South China Sea, Taiwan Strait, Pearl River Estuary, Thi Vai River, East Vietnam Sea, Singapore Strait, Malacca Strait, Andaman Sea, Bay of Bengal, Laccadive Sea, Arabian Sea, Mozambique Channel, Indian Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, and the Gulf of Guinea.

But none of these details truly represent what happened, or how we felt, or who we met. The people connections, some ephemeral and others we hope long lasting, are rooted all around the globe. We have more friends to look up when we are next in their corner. What we take away is an impression that we were thinking too small. We let ignorance and apathy stifle our curiosity and dreams of exploration. We are forever changed, learning lesson upon lesson, about ourselves, of life, other places. Of course we can confirm the earth truly is round. But let us never forget the most important lesson of all—don’t postpone joy.Read more