A Journey of a Lifetime
A Challenge Story Told Through Pictures: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Having just been accepted as a writer for Snapshots, I decided to take their challenge of writing something that included pictures of “something old, new, borrowed, and blue.”
Back in 2016, I settled on a plan to pursue my passion for sailing by going to Spain and getting my YachtMaster Certificate. After completing that, I realized I needed more sailing experience, so I started crewing on sailboats — something I call Global Hitchhiking. I ended up global hitchhiking around the world! These are some of the pictures from that journey.
Something Old
First up, something old. On my circumnavigation, I ended up staying in Malaysia for 6 months and visiting much of Southeast Asia. Cambodia was on my list and I visited several cities there, including Sihoukanville, Phnom Penh — the site of the Khmer Rouge Massacre of 1975 — and finally I visited Siem Reap, home of the temples of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat was a large complex built by the Khmer King, Suryavarman II, in the first half of the 12th century. That would make it very old. It took 40 years to build, from 1110 to 1150. Here are a few of the pictures from that visit, although I have hundreds.
Something New
Of course, compared to something that’s 900 years old, I’m left with plenty of room to find something that’s newer than that. In 2019, after traversing the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, I arrived in Cartagena, Colombia. Ironically, it is known for it’s “Old City” and I spent a lot of my 2 months there, learning Spanish and visiting the area.
During my stay in Colombia, I also went to visit Medellin, a city that has a lot of modern historical color. I’m talking about the reason that many people are afraid to go to Colombia — the Medellin Cartel and Pablo Escobar. When all of that was going on it was insane there, but it’s been long enough that most of those events are considered in the past. I found the city to be exactly as it was described to me, the City of Eternal Spring. Even the name of this city emotes newness. I found it to be an incredible place to visit, and perhaps one of my favorite cities in the world.
I felt no fear or anxiety while I was there, despite all of the rumors about Colombia. And the city was quite new-feeling to me, especially compared to Cartagena. It has a public transportation system that is comparable to many large cities in Europe. This system made it easy to get around the entire city, including a 30-minute sky tram ride to Arvi Parque, 30+ kilometers from downtown Medellin. I don’t think there’s a system like it in the US. Here are some snaps of why I considered Medellin as being something new.
Something Borrowed
My entire circumnavigation was really an experiment in borrowing. Crewing, or Global HitchHiking is when you exchange your services for a room on a boat. You’re essentially borrowing space on their boat, while you share in the consumable expenses with them.
From November of 2016 to August of 2019, I crewed on 8 different boats from Virginia to Aruba, Panama to Tahiti, Tahiti to Tonga, Tonga to Malaysia, Australia to South Africa, South Africa to Grenada, Grenada to Colombia, and back to Panama. It was the journey of a lifetime, although I have plans to purchase my own boat and go again.
It was the journey of a lifetime….
These pictures are of me and some of the friends, skippers, and owners of the boats I borrowed space on during my journey.
Something Blue
I did happen to see a few blue things along the way as I sailed around the world. Here are some of my favorite blue shots from my circumnavigation. A couple of these are more of a blue-green, but I hope you’ll indulge me.
I appreciate the opportunity to share my story and photos in this publication. I look forward to writing more and sharing more of my shots. Thanks for the challenge!
Here are a few of my other articles. Also, please follow me on social media!
© Matt Ray 2021
