The World is Our Campus

Kara Leta Zucker has officially made a complete and successful tour and is now apart of the less than 1% of the world population who have circumnavigated the globe.



With a total of 15 countries, 16 ports of call, 901 passengers and over 29,000 nautical miles traveled in a time of only 106 days.

The last couple of days spent on the ship seemed to go by like a blur. We had our last few finals and summed up our grades from the last few months. I have enjoyed the sunset more times than I can count, but still can never get enough of the watercolor of different schemes and clouds drifting through the skyline. I cannot explain this experience in words. There are few moments which come to my mind that even have words. I am both excited to see my mom and sister and the rest of my family, but dreading leaving the ship. It has been my home and I love everything about this community. Part of me just wants to backpack through South America and eventually make my way back when I am ready. There is still so much left to see in this incredible world and though I have seen so much in the last three and half months, there is always more to discover. I have found that traveling is an addiction and something I will love for the rest of my life. Just by being somewhere unknown and different than what you are used to is exhilarating and exciting all at the same time.


Our last few days on the ship were enjoyed in many ways. We had a lovely Ambassador's Ball on the ship, in which everyone looked divine. I wore a beautiful blue dress I had made in Thailand, with matching shoes from Vietnam (only $8 US!), a pearl necklace from China and earrings from India. You know the normal dress code for a ball. It's weird to think about. We went through the Panama Canal! It was really interesting to see how all the locks worked and it was a really tight squeeze. I loved being able to go through the various stages and it took all day to get to the Atlantic side. I especially loved the views from the ship too. We had reflection and reentry seminars about adjusting to going home and knowing that people will only want to hear so much about your voyage and adventures around the world. Things have been happening at home, which may seem less important to us as what we have seen in the countries we have visited. To some of my friends, a great party where everyone was up till 3 a.m. just drinking is "awesome" to them, but in my mind I will think a little differently. As for me, "awesome" is waking up at 5 am to know that you have not froze to death but have instead watched the sunrise over the Great Wall of China and can view the wall spread out into the distance and go on for what seems like forever, now that is "awesome".


Some of the things I have learned on this voyage include being open to new ideas and how people live their lives. Just because you see someone who only owns the clothes on their back, does not necessarily mean that they are unhappy. They may have no idea how their conditions are in comparison to how you live your life. I realized that I can live with few things and less is definitely more. I hope to use my knowledge for the differences in religion, politics, cultural norms and other things I have experienced and share them with others who are curious and have the desire to learn.


I will miss the cobblestone roads in Spain, the delicious mint tea of Morocco, vast and ongoing sand dunes of Namibia, the beautiful and ultimate tip of Africa at Cape of Good Hope. I will remember that it did not matter if the women were rich or poor in India, each one looked beautiful in their brightly colored saris as they walked down the dirt covered streets of Delhi. I will miss the friends I had made and spent time with them in Thailand and Vietnam. I know that the image of Ankor Wat at sunrise will forever be in my mind when I envision a place with so much history and beauty. I will never forget the tremendous work and detail put into the Great Wall and how it spread for miles far from what my vision could reach. I will always remember waking up at the crack of dawn and seeing all the types of fish at the market in Tokyo. I loved learning the Hula on the ship with fellow Hawaiians and roasting marshmallows over fresh lava on the Pacaya volcano in Guatemala. I already miss the people on the ship who I consider another pair of parents, the professors who I would exchange in conversation over lunch on the arms trade. The comfort of coming back and seeing the beautiful MV Explorer light up and enjoying the hugs of perhaps people we had just met and asking our friends about their experiences in the place we had just been. I will incredibly miss the dance parties with my roommate, the matzah picnics with jam, the sharing of letters and things which happened to us at home while we were on Semester at Sea. I will never forget the hard times on the ship where we spent time together and supported one another. These were times where we tried to help with the problems back home where we couldn't do anything because we just weren't there. It is the comfort of knowing that in that moment of waving goodbye to our parents, as the sun was setting in the distance while watching the islands of the Bahamas drift behind us; we were about to set out on an adventure of a lifetime.

This summer I will be Phoenix during May and in Boulder for June and July working for Senator Bennet of Colorado. I am looking forward to relaxing a bit and perhaps remembering my thirst for adventure and visiting the small towns in Colorado which are right in my backyard. I would love to hear from you. My semester at sea e-mail address is now expired, so please use my school address (kara.zucker@colorado.edu)**.

I only ask you to think about what questions you would like to ask. The general, "How was your trip?" is a little overwhelming and I honestly have no idea what my response will be to that question. Instead consider what you personally found most interesting and what you would like to learn more about. Such as, "What really stuck out for you while visiting India?" or perhaps "I really loved your story in South Africa, will you tell me again what happened so I can remember?" I would be more than happy to answer any of your questions and do not be afraid to ask. I just ask you to think about them beforehand.

I hope you have learned one thing from my experiences and I hope you try to reevaluate the way you live your life. Do not be afraid to take a chance and try something new. Life is too short and the world is much smaller than you might think.

I have attached a poem below from one of my friends which I really felt summed up the voyage. See you in the states!

No Definition

Looking through the dictionary, you can find nearly any word

you want—from 'anecdote' to 'zesty', from 'bubbles' to 'xenophobia'.

But nowhere in the dictionary can you find a word that

describes what we've been through.



Semester at Sea has no definition.



There is no definition for the feeling you get as you stand on the unfamiliar deck and watch your family, the pier—from the Bahamas—get further and further away.



There is no definition for the sheer exhaustion you feel after losing so many hours you cannot even count them anymore.



There is no definition for the exhilaration you feel as the ship tilts 40-some-degrees and you slide down Tymitz Square with your new friends.



There is no definition for the contrasted emotions you feel as you see the Taj Mahal one minute, then walk outside and see indescribable poverty and suffering in the next moment.



There is no definition for the complete relief you feel when you see the MV Explorer—your new home—after a draining five days in port.



There is no definition for the love that you feel for your new friends that you've become so close to.

It feels like you've known them for years and yet there's still so much to learn.



There is no definition for the sadness you feel when Luke mentions disembarkation, or the strange guilt that creeps into your mind when you think about all of your family, friends, even pets,

that you cannot wait to get home to.



There is no definition for the time when nothing goes as planned, and the realization that it's okay—your experience

was still perfect in its own way.



There is no definition for the feeling of lead in your shoes as you walk up the steps on your very last trip up the gangway.



There is no definition for the collective laughter that comes alive in the Union during a "John Pre-Port",

when Les mentions the most recent peanut butter phenomenon,

or when Luke starts singing excerpts from Willy Wonka.



After coming to all of these conclusions, I realized that although I will never be able to do justice to this life-changing experience, there are words in the dictionary that come to mind when I try to sum up our Spring 2009 Voyage.

They are:

Extraordinary. Change. Believe. Hope. Friendship. Family. And Love.



-Kate Shields

5/1/09