Michael Willis
Semester at Sea
Spring 2016

I have prepared for my study abroad experience by booking all necessary flights and materials to get out of the country. I have gotten my passport and my necessary visas for travel. I have packed my bags and decided what type of weather I will actually be experiencing while I am abroad. I will not be in one country for long and will mostly be at sea, so I will need to plan very appropriately as each country will have a different climate.

A Voyage Around the World

102 Days, 15 Cities, 11 Countries

• Embark: San Diego, CA, United States 1
• Honolulu, Hawaii, United States 2
• Yokohama, Japan *
• Kobe, Japan *
• Shanghai, China *
• Hong Kong, China *
• Ho Chi Minh City, Việt Nam
• Rangoon, Burma
• Cochin, India
• Port Louis, Mauritius 3
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Takoradi, Ghana *
• Tema (Accra), Ghana *
• Casablanca, Morocco
• Debark: Southampton (London), England

I am most looking forward to experiencing all of the different countries along the route of the voyage. Although I am not in a single country long enough to get to see the entirety of the country, I will get almost a week in every port to experience the City that we are in port for. I am most looking forward to seeing Japan, India, and Morocco. These countries have very unique and interesting cultures that can be similar to the United States but absolutely different at the same time. Getting to see first-hand what these cities and countries cultures are makes me very excited.
I am most nervous about sea sickness. I am very at home on the water in a canoe. However, this is the first time that I have ever been on a cruise. There is the inherent problem of sea sickness while on a ship, and talking to many alumni of Semester at Sea, it is a very common problem that everyone will experience once, at least. I have acquired many home remedies to hopefully not get sea sick, but we will see as the semester progresses if I get my “sea legs” and this no longer is a problem.
My goals for my time abroad are simple. I hope to get to experience as much of a cities culture while I spend my time there. Every city has a unique and characteristic flare that makes it its own and distinct. I hope that I can find and get to experience a part of these distinctions and see what society outside of the United States is all about. Another goal is to not be the typical American tourist. I am traveling abroad and am a representation of myself, my school, and my country. I do not want that to be a poor representation of anything that I represent. My last goal is to excel academically. I will have a different set of distractions than I do on campus. I hope to do better academically on board the ship than at Hampden-Sydney. I will implement a strategy to be successful and hope to uphold that strategy in and out of port.