Adventurers Onboard

Viking has brought the most amazing speakers onboard, and their talks are a favorite feature of our voyage.  They keep our sea days interesting and our calendars full.

Mick Dawson is a Brit and a former Royal Marine Commando who has rowed, yes rowed, across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  His trips, either solo or as half of a two-man team, each covered thousands of miles and required months of “two hours on, two hours off” around the clock rowing in a boat that Mick himself built.  Tales of his adventures are spellbinding.  We’ve heard two of his talks so far and can’t wait to hear more.  Google “Mick Dawson” to learn more not only about his adventures but also of his humanitarianism.

Equally incredible are the husband and wife team Lisa and Simon Thomas.  Recovering from a life-threatening accident caused the couple to take stock of their priorities and reconsider the trajectory of their lives.  Nothing to do but get on their BMW motorcycles and ride the world!  Their initial plan was to devote twelve months to the journey that wound up lasting for seventeen years and covered more than a million miles.  They crossed Africa’s Sahara Desert, they rode through the heart of the Amazon jungle.  Tales of their setbacks, adversities, and triumphs are beyond inspiring.

But telling the story of their epic journey is only part of the reason they were brought onboard; they are mostly here to give photography workshops!  And what workshops they are!  SRO crowds at their earliest presentations caused the total schedule of onboard talks to be reshuffled, moving Simon and Lisa to the ship’s largest venue.  We have just this evening left Kauai and have five sea days ahead as we make our way to Bora Bora, French Polynesia.  We should all be well-prepared to capture the colorful sights that lie before us.