Location: Sanur Beach, Bali
We’re on our way back to Bali! We’ve had the most incredible time exploring other islands in Indonesia and seeing colorful, healthy coral reefs. The fish and sharks that inhabit them, dragons, bats, dolphins, splashes that could only be mantas, sunrise hikes, and sunsets and moon rises that demand attention, and so much more, but there is a tangible excitement on board to get back to Bali. Some of us spent a month or two on their pre-trip, and others just a few days or hours, but it has the nostalgic quality of feeling like home nonetheless. A popular squeeze question that tends to pop up trip to trip is “What does home mean to you?” with answers as traditional or far-flung as the question invites. Whatever home may mean to each individual, one thing remains true – students will walk away from this trip at least one new place that feels like home, and sometimes many more. A piece of you may always remain elsewhere – in the waves and temples of Bali, the underwater world in Komodo, among the wildlife performing for no one in particular in Coco’s Keeling, at the food market in the VandA waterfront in Cape Town. There’s no telling where these places may be, and chances are their reasons for feeling home-y won’t even be profound. On my own trip, it was the walk between fancy restaurants to the showers in Cape Town, interrupting the ambiance with a stream of laughter as we recapped our days. On this trip, it might be the rush of riding a GrabBike, the dogs that look like baked potatoes that sleep on the dock in Bali, the times you hear Steph scream from the other side of the boat because there might – just maybe – be a manta ray nearby when the gopher has to pass along “feedback” from down below to the dishy pit and the ensuing carnage, or the wave of gratitude when the next watch team emerges from the companionway on a particularly sleepless evening. Whatever it might be, I know it might go unnoticed by the naked eye, and surely there’ll be 25 different answers from each person onboard. But these invisible moments will surely come together as the foundation for a new home that probably can’t be pinpointed on a map – even with the student’s new Navigation skills.
Today, we continued our sail back to Bali, with watch team one seeing dolphins at sunrise, watch team two dropped the jib and the main and then rehashing poor squeeze questions of the past, and watch team 3 discussing a new type of sleepwalking. Students are still adjusting to life underway, all of its joys and all of its quirks. From interrupted sleep schedules to securing the dishy pit in big waves, getting rocked to sleep, eyes adjusting to red light, ears attuned to large splashes of exciting marine life, seasickness, and more. They are still largely in the phase of the trip where the destination is more exciting than the journey. But days on passage are the truly unique experiences this trip brings. There’s a quote from Thoreau about living life deliberately and deeply, and I think the passage is the perfect setting for that to occur. Going to bed at the end of each day with that satisfying level of tiredness. Laughing until your stomach hurts. Seeing a beautiful sunrise or set that no one else in the world will experience in quite the same way. Being kind even when you’re tired. Dancing to stay awake. Staying awake to dance. Learn about each other. Shake the lens of habit. Admit there’s beauty in everything. Find it.
Then laugh some more because it’s 2:37 a.m., and someone who was a complete stranger 15 days ago is sharing their most embarrassing moment. Because Lina’s imitation of Christian during the fire alarm is flawless. Because why wouldn’t you? It’s been two weeks, and you’re already fighting like siblings and sharing secrets. We will jump in the water and float on our backs with our ears just below the surface, hearing nothing but the waves mixing with our heartbeat. We’ll be at a safety stop and see our friends as close to astronauts as we can muster, surrounded by a seemingly unending blue. The stars will scatter and blur across the sky. Then, even the shooting stars will become a habit. And standing in a fully stocked supermarket with fluorescent lighting will become magnificent.
For dinner tonight, we got takeout from The Genius Cafe, a restaurant nearby with some good grub and a nice break for the chefs of the day. The squeeze question tonight was to share an embarrassing story in ten words or less, with the most intriguing stories then being chosen to be told in full. I won’t air out anyone’s embarrassing moments here for all to see, but it’s safe to say it was hilarious.