A typical day on the ship for Lindsay Bogan:
Wake up sometime between 7:30-8 to go get breakfast
Eat yummy fruit and yogurt perhaps a bagel
Go get super fresh in the shower
Meet up with my girls for Global Studies
Go to my other classes
Enjoy(maybe) lunch, which usually consists of salad, pasta, veggies, and some kind of meat. The food is questionable sometimes.
Read and relax on the outside deck 7
Go to my last class
NAP TIME! (the best time.)
Eat din din: also questionable some days, but usually pretty gooooood
Read for class/watch a movie with my girls (lately we’ve just been watching DEXTER)
[Most days we’ll hit up the gym. But usually (like today) we have too much to do.]
Usually I pass out sometime between 9:30 and 11

As you can see, its just like any other day.. except.. im on a boat! Deck 7 is usually the hang out spot for the girls and I, but we’ve been having some nasty weather lately, so we always end up hanging out in cabin2060. Cause it’s the best. (its mine. )
“We’ve only been on the boat for 12 days…Isn’t that weird? I feel like I’ve known you for wayyy longer!” –Caitlyn (my roommate)    It really does feel like ive lived on the ship my whole life. Climbing 4 sets of stairs is a breeze now. Even after doing it 10 times a day! I’m comfortable. Which is totally fine for when I am on the ship.. But I want to make sure Im not comfortable at each port. Ive discovered that I have the most fun and I distinctly remember the moments I am uncomfortable. Its trying something new that gets me going.

“Kulia I ka nu’u” –translation= Strive to reach the highest

Alright alright, im supa behind with blogging. I’m just having toooooo much fun in Hawaii!! We actually depart Hawaii in an hour though..(sad).. so now I have time. And how do I spend my time? I’m watching Enchanted while I blog. Oh boy. Rough life.  Ok. My right foot is  covered in blisters. I know you probably don’t want to read about this, but I had to dissect my blisters after I went kayaking today, because they hurt an incredible amount. So.. before we made the trek back to TheBus stop.. I had to duct tape Band-Aids on my foot. My foot was almost completely wrapped. My foot felt sooo much better though.

Ok ok anyway, Day 1 in Honolulu (Jan 27) : We hiked Diamond Head. It was superr intense and difficult. And I feel like I lost 30 pounds from that hike. Im not saying I didn’t enjoy the hike. I absolutely loved it actually. The view from the top was extraordinary! I love earth. J We were definitely drenched in sweat by the time we got to the top though. (hope that doesn’t gross you out) . So after the hike back we went over to Waikiki beach. Which was very very busy with tourists. I saw maybe 2 Hawaiians. Anyway, soon as we hit the beach, we were in the water. It was perfect. Sucha gorgeous beach. I definitely fried though. I was purple by the time we got back to the ship. My shoulders were raw (they are still kinda raw actually.) I do look quite brown today though, so that’s nice. J OH! We went and got our Japan rail passes! (they were kinda expensive, but im just glad to have transportation covered!) So that was basically day 1 Honolulu. Oh and we decided its super hard to find dinner in Honolulu. We walked around until 9pm looking for food.. But everywhere we went was a bar. We finally found this pizza joint that made pretty bomb pizza pies. I forget what the place was called.

Day 2 Honolulu (Jan.28) (TODAY!) : I tried something awesome today, and I discovered a new hobby of mine. Im gunna have to invest in a kayak. Rachel and I woke up at the ass crack of dawn so we could catch a bus to Kailua (which is about a 30 minute bus ride from Honolulu.) Our mission: Kayaking. When we got there it was raining.. and that turned into mist.. so we kind of questioned what we were gunna do. When we first got there we just decided to cruise town. We found an awesome coffee house (made the best iced mocha ive had yet) and a cute little book store. (I found DEXTER!! The book! I was super excited, so I had to buy it! )  And then we made the trek to the beach. We found a cute little surf shop on the way, cause I needed to buy some aloe vera (because I fried yesterday) and I ended up asking about kayaking. It was sucha good deal, we had to go for it. So, Rachel and I kayaked out to a small island right off Oahu! It was a little nesting area for a shore bird. We felt so accomplished making it there without flipping the kayak! I was kinda scared that if we flipped it I wouldn’t be able to get back in. haha so thank god we didn’t flip. It was so cool though!!! We went right over a coral reef! It was kinda scary, but sucha great experience. And I loved it. And now I need a kayak. We successfully made it back to the mainland and found an awesome pizza place (it was the only food in the area. I feel like im living off of pizza now.) and then I dissected my foot and duct taped me back together.    Kailua was a really great adventure. Sucha beautiful city. Im kinda glad it wasn’t sunny because I didn’t really feel like I wanted to burn over my burned skin. It was perfect and cloudy and a little misty, but not cold!

So, as you can read.. I am having a glorious time on my great adventure around the world. We are currently pulling out of Honlulu. Away from the states. The real struggles start in two weeks, when we port in Yokohama, Japan! Im so ready for this to happen.

Hey everyone!! At the moment im in Honolulu, Hawaii!! But I’m going to fill you in on what happened in Hilo, Hawaii and then go from there. Okay so I arrived in Hilo on Jan. 25^th. My friends and I woke up at 4 am so we could watch us dock in Hilo! So incredibly early, but very worth it. While we were standing on Deck 7 at the front of the ship, we saw an absolutely gorgeous shooting star fly across the sky towards the city lights of Hilo! The star left a blue/green/purple streak across the sky. We saw about 3 or 4 other shooting stars following that one, but they weren’t as amazing.. 

We were allowed to clear the ship at around 8 am. Soon as we exited the port we went to go find a taxi driver that could take us to Acaca Falls for cheap. Our high hopes were shot down when one particular taxi driver told us it would cost about 100 bucks to get there. We politely told him that there was no way.. and we moved on to the next taxi driver. Haha his name is Paul, and hes awesome. We basically told him that we wanted to do some hiking and then jump into the beach afterwards. He offered to take us to a locals beach, where all the surfers hang out at. There was a beautiful rainforest behind it, where we could walk and see waterfalls. The taxi ride cost 21$.. split between the 3 of us. We saved a lot of money. So, we hiked the gorgeous rainforest! Got naked in the rainforest (changed into our swimsuits hehe) and then went down to the beach ( it was called Honoli’i) to do some swimming. We ended up asking some of the locals (named Brent, and Daisy) where we could find some food. That conversation turned into our life stories, and the details about our semester at sea. They were super nice, unfortunately there wasn’t anywhere to eat around there. So we just continued to swim. After a little bit, Daisy came back down to the beach, came up to us and was like “hey, my moms going into Hilo. Would you guys like a ride?” We all responded with a “hell yeah!” and quickly dried off and ran up the hill to their car. We met Daisy’s mom at the car, and she was wayyyy chill! Her name is Jen, and she had a broken leg.  We introduced ourselves, and told her whats up. She actually wasn’t a “local” at all. She and her family had moved from Colorado about 3 months ago to Hilo, But she was so intelllegent!! She knew all the facts about.. everything Hawaii! Haha We were kinda hanging around the car when she asked us if we had seen the whales. My jaw dropped and I gave her a good stare until I finally responded with a “WHAT!!! WHERE??!!” She grabbed her binoculars and told us we weren’t allowed to leave until we each saw a whale jump out of the water. Jen taught us how to watch for the whales. They were breaching left and right! It was the most beautiful thing ever!! The whales were having too much fun out there. We spent a good 15-20 minutes whale watching. She also showed us where the sea turtles were hanging out right there on the beach.. where we were swimming!! I hadn’t seen them at all! So we finally took off towards town. She was asking us what we felt like eating, and we basically told her to take us somewhere cheap and delicious. She also asked us what we had planned for the rest of the day. We didn’t exactly have an answer to that. So she decided we should go see Rainbow Falls. She drove us to rainbow falls after showing us around Downtown Hilo. We hiked a bit, with Daisy and her little sister Isabella (11) , while Jen waited at the bottom (because of her broken leg.) It was a gorgeous hike!! The girls showed us the Banyan tree forest (which I completely fell in love with, and didn’t realize trees could be so gorgeous). The girls were just as intelligent as their mother! They knew all these facts about the trees, and they knew the names of all the trees! It was insane. They are homeschooled.. that’s why. Haha. Anyway, so we left the falls, and Jen decided we needed to see a Macadamia nut field, strawberry guava field, papaya field, Mango grove( it was on the side of the road. The road was gorgeous though!!! It looked like we were in Fern Gully. There was a ceiling of trees. It was like a tree tunnel!), Issac Hale beach park(it was a total pro-surfer district. And amazing. We watched the surfers for a bit, and then climbed some crazy trees right there on the beach. Oh ps. There was a crazy hippie van there. It was rainbow striped and had a hundred bumper stickers on the back.. yeah it was also from Oregon. So that made me really happy.), Banyan tree state park, Malama Ki forest reserve, and this amazing volcanic cliff where the ocean crashes into the side, and people fish off of it. It was glorious. So, in conclusion… Jen, Daisy, and Isabella are amazing people!! They took us all around the island and we had an absolutely amazing time with them! On the way back to the port Jen showed us where the beaches are so we could go swim there the next day. There were sea turtles just hanging out at the beach, sleeping and such. It was awesome. So of course we stopped to take pictures with them!! We exchanged information with our new friends, and said our goodbyes. In total, we spent 12$ each. It was a good day.        Later that day we went to a Lu’au through SAS. It really wasn’t cool.. at all. The only part I really enjoyed was the entertainment dances. The Samoans were crazy and amazing.

So, that was day 1. Our first port. And it was glorious. Alright.. Day 2 (Jan 26): A lot more chill. The girls (Rachel and Caitlyn) and I had to run to wal-mart to stock up on snacks and purchase things that we forgot to bring. We then went to an organic vegetarian grocery store and had the BEST spinach and feta cheese calzone. It was the most delicious thing ever. After lunch we headed back to the boat, and then we walked to the beaches by the port. It was a really nice walk, and the beaches were gorgeous. You have to understand that the beaches in Hilo are all rock. Which is fine.. but your feet get really raw after like.. 2 minutes. So anyway we continued walking down the street until we found this homemade ice cream shop. Where we bought Chai tea floats (my float had cookies and cream ice cream in it. It was heavenly!!) The walk back to the port was really nice and relaxing. I spent a lot of the afternoon watching the whales from the back of the ship. I really adore watching them. Before we left Hilo, Rachel and I asked around to find out how to get on the shoreline (which is like.. a rock wall that goes across the ocean/harbor.. kinda like in Free Willy.. when he jumps over that rock wall.. yeah like that.) because I saw people fishing on it and I really wanted to adventure out there. IT WAS AMAZING! I absolutely loved jumping from rock to rock out in the middle of the ocean. It was kinda scary actually. I think that’s why I liked it. This is my time to try new things.

So that was Hilo, Hawaii. I absolutely LOVED Hilo! And I really think I could live there someday. Rachel and Caitlyn and I decided we want to open a shop in Hilo. Maybe like a café, or a book store or something. But its going to happen. Not until after I see the rest of the world though.

Alright im going to write about Honolulu in my next blog.

ENJOY!!

Hey guys! Sorry it has taken me so long to update you! I am having an absolutely amazing time! Its crazy how fast I became accustomed to life on the ship. It took me a couple of days to figure out where I was. I still struggle to find my cabin sometimes. I’m on deck 2, which is the lowest deck on the ship. And my cabin is located at the end of a long hallway. I have to climb 4 sets of stairs to get to anywhere. And I do that about 10+ times a day. So, in other words, I’m constantly exercising. Even walking around the ship has been an adventure, because we were traveling on rough waters for 5 straight days. Today is actually the first day that we aren’t rocking around like crazy. We aren’t bouncing off the walls anymore!! Oh! I don’t get seasick! Almost everybody on the ship does though. I wasn’t feeling so hot yesterday, but I think I was just really dehydrated. They don’t serve water on the ship if its not breakfast, lunch, or dinner time. Which is RIDICULOUS! I mean, its not the best tasting water… But its a lot better than the sink water in my bathroom! I just have to remember to fill up my water bottle every time we go to eat.

I have met the most amazing people on the ship! I’ve established an awesome group of friends. Who are all quite ridiculous like me! My roommate is so great. Her name is Caitlyn and she is from Maryland! She is the funniest girl ever. I really lucked out!  The crew on the ship is amazing as well! They are really good at remembering our names! Which is crazy, because there are 600+ of us. But they are the friendliest people. They make me feel kinda lazy though, because they bust our tables, and serve us our drinks. And basically..baby us. J My room is cleaned daily by the crew.  I basically just go to class, read my books, hang out with friends, and plan for my next trip! I am the most spoiled child EVER! 

We have been sailing for a week now, and today was the first time I saw another ship out in the Pacific. It really is a HUGE ocean. I learned in Global Studies yesterday that the pacific is so big that all the continents put together would make up the size of the Pacific Ocean. :O Blows my mind!

Anyway, Tomorrow we port in Hilo, Hawaii! Its going to be great to see land. A couple of my friends and I are planning on hiking to a waterfall right outside of Hilo, and spending the rest of the day on Waikiki beach, and then finishing off the day with a Lu’au! Its going to be absolutely amazing. I really just want to watch people surf, and maybe pretend like I can surf.. We will see what happens.

Hope all is well back on the mainland! Love you and miss you!

Im outa here suckaaaaas!

And there it is.. My itinerary!

Hawaii

Japan

China

Vietnam

India

Mauritius

South Africa

Ghana

Brazil

Florida

I'm off to San Diego in 2 days, where I'll catch a bus to Ensenada, Mexico. The glorious MV Explorer awaits me there!