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Showing posts from December, 2021

Enjoying Work

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  Waking up excited about work is a reality for me. I lead expeditions around the world onboard adventure cruise ships and privately to destinations like Hawaii, Alaska, Antarctica, and Africa. Sharing these wild places with excited guests is an extremely rewarding experience. I constantly see the locations, wildlife, and adventures through their eye....like I'm seeing it for the first time. I feel very lucky to be in this position and I do not take any of it for granted. I've worked many different jobs that have culminated in being able to excel in this career.... teacher, marine biologist, boat captain, naturalist, whale researcher, photographer, lifeguard, guide. Something I heard once as a young man and took to heart was, "If you do something you love long enough, someone will start to pay you for it."   It makes the 14 hour days, the bad weather, the unruly guests, and the last minute contingency plans all worth it. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of

UnCruise-ing in Hawaii

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 I've made it back out to the islands, leading trips aboard the small, 34 passenger expedition ship Safari Explorer. We came in to the season with a lot still to be put in place, thanks to Covid. Restrictions for bigger cruise ships were also effecting us, although no one who knows our program would consider us in the same class as large cruise ships. We had to shuffle a few things around and come up with a few contingencies but are on the final hours of our first weeklong trip here in Hawaii.    We started off on the island of Molokai. Contingencies started early with the DOT and DLNR not allowing us to use their docks. So my guide, Wilson, and I flew to Molokai on a small 12 seater and checked into the one hotel on the island, the Hotel Molokai. In typical UnCruise flexibility we did the first two days of the trip based out of the hotel. Not only did the guests do the typical activities, including a very unique cultural immersion in Halawa Valley, waterfall swimming hike, and a p