Last Updated on April 25, 2019

I’m in between trips again, just back from a weekend down in San Diego and about to depart for Pennsyltucky in two days to visit the family. All this recent traveling has got me to thinking: Just how can I travel more? I have friends flitting here and there about the globe, some sticking to one locale for extended times, others bouncing to the next destination every few days. And here I am locked into my cubicle with a measly two weeks of vacation. Something’s gotta change.

After this trip to San Diego, I’ve finally found a reasonable goal to shoot for: circumnavigate the globe a second time. My first such journey was just over ten years ago, on the now-defunct Universe, the converted cargo freighter that served as Semester at Sea‘s floating campus for many a year. This weekend I returned to the ship for a celebration commemorating two of the program’s most adamant supporters, and that bug to hit the open road, er, ocean bit so hard it left a mark. (Or that just might be a result of my gracelessness after a weekend of open bars.)

I’ve been trying my damnedest to sail again, this time on the luxuriously equipped M.V. Explorer, which makes the Universe look like a dinghy. I’ve been volunteering as the LA alumni chapter president for more than half a decade, went back to school for my master’s (to better my chances), and have gone on nearly every reunion voyage since 1997. I’m on the verge of giving up hope.

Now I heard about a program called the Peace Boat. Although similar to SAS, in that you’re on a student-laden vessel that’s circling our fair planet, Peace Boat isn’t academic, per se, but rather philanthropic, with a goal of spreading the greater word of peace. Right up my alley. Now, if someone can tell me how I get on this ship, I’d be much appreciative.