My overall purpose of this blog, is to create a connection between the adventure that I experience, and you, wherever you are in the world. It’s a slow, circuitous journey connecting us in ways invisible. For me, connection often comes in story form, threaded through a core memory of my life.

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.” Jane Goodall

When I made the decision to join the journey aboard this ship, I was excited to see the world. I wanted to explore the cultures, languages, flora and fauna from places I had read about most of my life. I was intrigued. I wanted to learn more, to get a first hand experience…to see for myself. It all stemmed back to being a third grade student in Mrs. Dworshak’s classroom.

One day she pulled down a map filled with colorful pieces, all neatly organized like a giant puzzle into land formations. We learned about continents, countries, and capital cities. The next day she placed on her desk a large blue ball that looks very similar to the previous map. The giant ball was anchored on a golden pedestal. As Mrs. Dworshak spun the ball, she announced, “This is a globe. It represents our earth. The globe shows seven continents. Each continent is color coded to represent different countries. Each country has people who live in their own culture, different from ours.”, I knew immediately that one day I had to explore this “globe” for myself.

In the fifty-plus years between then and now, I’ve read multiple books, and studied magazines; I’ve listened to stories from others who’ve traveled, and I’ve taught new generations of young students geography and history. It has all been preparation for now…a foundation of learning on which to build further understanding of the complexities of human history.

The trendy word, globalization is in fact, a misnomer. The interconnection of world economies, cultures and populations has been transforming the world for millennia. Globalization began before the Silk Road, or the Maritime Silk Road began. Pacific Island cultures have been exploring the oceans, and trading with other Island peoples for generations. Humans from eastern countries have been involved with long-distance maritime trade since the 3rd millennium BC. Trading among cultures in Mesoamerica, and Caribbean peoples occurred many years before “The Age of Discovery”. Quite honestly, Christopher Columbus was late to the party!

For hundreds of years the Indian Ocean has played a major role in globalization. As I have been sailing on the same ocean for the better part of two weeks now, I am astounded, and in awe of the ingenuity, and magnificence of the evolution of globalization. Most of all, I am immeasurably grateful for the perseverance of peaceful explorers who wanted to make a positive difference for humanity in the world they knew.

THREE VISTAS

Photos left to right: Thunderstorm on the Indian Ocean, Maldives Paradise, Mombasa’s Memorial.

TWO THOUGHTFUL THREADS

• Did you know the popular wooden block game, marketed by Hasbro, known as Jenga, is named after a word in the Swahili language? Kujenga means,’to build or construct’.

• Ancient Chinese explorers are known to have explored the globe decades before European explorers. They were also more advanced in ship building. The Treasure ships, as they were called, measured approximately 417 feet long, and 171 feet wide. Using a United States football field as a comparison, the ships’ width is equivalent to nearly two football fields in length. Its’ length is equivalent to four football fields, plus an additional 17 feet in length. Typically there were up to 300 ships in a fleet, including Treasure ships, Equine ships, and Supply ships carrying 27,000 navigators, sailors, doctors, and workers. The purpose of these sailings was to establish a network of trade and foreign relations, rather than colonization.

ONE HISTORICAL NUGGET

Absent from the history of western civilization is the story about Admiral Zheng He. A Chinese explorer, and diplomat Zheng He orchestrated seven voyages around the globe between 1405 and 1433 with the support of Emperor Zhu Di during the Ming Dynasty. The purpose of these voyages was an exercise in peace and friendship; creating a network of trade and foreign relations to benefit other countries/cultures, as well as China.