April 4-7, 2011

I think from now on, I'm going to try and not plan things in advance when circumstances permit.  It makes a world of difference in many instances. 

I had planned nothing before docking in Taiwan, and in return gained one of the most self-reflecting experiences I could of ever asked for.  

First of all, my time in Taiwan was primarily spent with Hannah, who happens to be the best traveler ever.  Between a full day of hiking in the rain, which happened to be a mistake which turned out phenomenal, renting a taxi driver for dirt cheap to tour the east coast, and a full day of city sightseeing and shopping, my time was well spent in every aspect of life, even though no plans were thought out prior to embarkation.  Throughout the three days there, I hiked and visited the Yangmingshan National Park’s border of the Taipei Basin, the Jyuansih waterfall there, the Cingtiankang grasslands, the historic Taiwan Gold Company site, the Longdong Geopark, the Pitou Cape, the Longdonwan Cape Trail, and other surrounding areas down the Eastern Coastal Highway of Northern Taiwan.

Besides the daily sightseeing of the countryside, mountainside, city life, and a bountiful amount of modes of transportation, I was able to experience the Keelung night market, which is a whole new venue that I had never even new existed.  Venders side by side with little room to budge, with a variety of selling items which can vary from ginormous crab legs, squid on a stick, food I don't even want to share publicly, to clothes, head scratching devices that I couldn't even handle, and your occasional poor man who would walk around with flowers, and ask you 20 times if you wanted to buy them.  The night market was absolutely incredible, and it was an experience I will never forget. 
With all that said, this trip has gone by way too fast.  You don't realize how short life really is until your put into a situation which you would do anything to stay in for the rest of your life; knowing that there really is an end to this experience, I can't believe it's right around the corner. 

The last international port of call was a success, and luckily for us we didn't end up going to Japan, where the natural disasters continue to torment the everyday lives of the residents who live there.  Hopefully one day I can visit the country, but in the meanwhile I'll continue to keep these unfortunate people in mind and simply hope. Hope for an end to the disasters.  Hope that they can go back to the place they call home, and see that not much has changed. 

Pacific Ocean, you are beautiful.  You make me realize how small we really are, and how incredible this place we take for granted really is.

I'm going to miss the constant rocking of the ship, the plentiful amount of incredible people including the students, faculty, crew, and life long learners whom I've lived with for the past 3 months.  I'm going to miss the every day vibes that comes from sailing the world.  I'm going to miss the access to the front of the ship, where you can simply stand in fresh air that flows across your face, looking out into ocean, nothing but calm and peaceful blue ocean.  I'm going to miss my steward, who cleans my room twice a day completely, and happens to be the happiest person I've ever met.  I'm going to miss unending games of ping-pong on the ship, which feel like your playing on a roller coaster.  I'm going to miss the stairs, which bring me from my room to the rest of the ship.  I'm going to miss the Dean Dan, and the amount of respect each and every person receives from him (I still don't see how the Dean could be as nice as he is with all of his responsibility).  I'm going to miss the best slushy’s in the world, most importantly the Strawberry Banana ones. 

I could go on for days, but I've got too many papers and projects to do before Finals day.  I should get to that.  Yea, I should definitely get started on that. 

But most importantly, I'm not going to miss the things I've learned throughout this entire journey.  I'm going to bring these things with me for the rest of my life, and hopefully teach others my experience, as it might help them with their lives and more importantly, the lives of others who live on this Earth with us. 

Peace World,
Eric