And Here We Go

I'm drafting this post on my flight from Boston to London. It's about a 6 hour flight which is just short enough to make sure that we'll all be horribly jetlagged & cranky when we arrive in London at 6:10am.

Despite my impending crankiness, I am very excited to see London again. I've only been to London once before on my backpacking trip 7 years ago. I have nothing but good memories of my time there (cool shop! Delicious tea! Free museums! Pubs!) so I'm excited to sneak away from my research for a few hours each day to really see the city.

Where are We Going

I leave for London in just a few days, which is both exciting and overwhelming. I have some dissertation research to do before the voyage so I'll be working in London for a couple days before heading to meet the ship in Southampton.

Summer voyages mean that the program focuses on a smaller area whereas the full semester voyages go around the world.  As you can see from the map above we're going to some pretty spectacular places this summer! I'm excited to visit some new places (Portugal, Scotland, Norway, Sweden & Poland), and of course I'm always excited to return to Saint Petersburg. 

The voyage is also going to be a little bittersweet since it's the last summer voyage for the MV Explorer.

Let's Sail Away

(Picture via Semester at Sea)

Five years ago I had the amazing opportunity to serve as faculty for Semester at Sea.  I figured it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I am so fortunate that I was hired again so that it's now a twice in a lifetime opportunity as I once again sail as faculty for the 2014 Summer Voyage.  This time we're sailing around Northern Europe (with stops in Portugal and Spain before we head north).

I'm so very excited to do this again.