How Sailing Across the Pacific Changed My Thinking About Plastic

I knew so little about the ocean when I accepted a job as a writing teacher with Semester at Sea and set out west across the Pacific. Mostly I craved an epic journey, and our four-month itinerary through a smattering of ports in Asia and Africa read to me like a guarantee. In between cities like Beijing and Yangon, the sea would serve as a palate cleanser.

It was early 2015. My new colleague Sal, our faculty marine biologist, had spent much of his life on the ocean but was still wary of our trip’s first leg between San Diego and Yokohama. “Don’t believe anyone who tells you they can’t get seasick,” he cautioned. “They’re like people who tell you they can swallow any hot sauce. They just haven’t met their match.”