DISCOVERING POSITIVE NEW WORLDS
I have always wanted to be an explorer. Perhaps that is why I spent so much time sailing around the world on my catamaran and driving outback and beyond in my Land Rovers.
Every time I explore a new world, I am reminded to not take my own world so seriously. After all, my world is not the world. It's only my way of looking at the world.
Exploration is important because it teaches me new ways of looking at myself and makes me into a different person.
For the past for decades, I have been discovering new worlds.
When I sailed to the Galapagos, I discovered the Garden of Eden, a place where man and beast lived in harmony. As we walked the trails on the different islands, the birds and sea iguanas went about their business as if we were not there. If we got too close to their offspring, they might squawk and scold us for our poor manners, but they knew we would do them no harm.
When I sailed to the Marquesas Islands, I discovered a nearly extinct world where tens of thousands of Polynesians lived until the explorers came with chicken pox and measles and decimated these islands with lethal microbes. Tropical jungle now hides the ruins of their ancient civilization from our twenty-first century eyes.
When I sailed to the Tuamoto Archipelago, I discovered a world populated by hundreds of atolls stretching over thousands of square miles. From bombed out Mururoa to Rangiroa, there were crystal clear lagoons inviting adventurers to drop their anchors in the craters of extinct volcanoes.
When I sailed to Tonga, I discovered an island world ruled by royalty.
When I sailed to Fiji, I discovered a world of more than four hundred islands, with each small island ruled by a tribal chief. If I wanted to visit their world, I needed to present a gift of Kava to the chief.
When I sailed to New Zealand, I discovered a world of immigrants, some of them ancient and some recent. The Maori came in their war canoes centuries ago, and the Europeans were the Johnny Come Latelys in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
When I sailed to Australia, I discovered a world that has it all. Tropics in the north, mountains in the south, and everything in between. There were over 35,000 kilometers of coastline to explore in the down under world called OZ.
We made excursions into the Hindu world in Bali and the Buddhist world in Thailand. We explored the Muslim world in the Maldives, Oman, Yemen, Sudan and Egypt.
We visited Pharos world, a place of temples, tombs and kingdoms that lasted for thousands of years.
We explored the Jewish world in Israel and discovered the Nabatean world in Petra.
We travelled back in time visiting crusader castles in Israel, Cyprus, and Turkey.
Next, we visited ancient Roman and Greek worlds in Ephesus and Heriopolis.
Finally, we swashbuckled through the Caribbean world where privateers ruled the not-so-high seas.
That's what it means to be a cruiser. Your small yacht is both time machine and transporter that takes you to dozens of new worlds.
Beam me down Scotty. It's time to discover another world!
