This play on words is a reference to the well-established educational opportunity afforded some privileged youth, taking them on a 6-month journey aboard a cruise ship to ports of call, far and wide. For some, I’m sure, it is a life-altering experience, for others, a party, for all, memorable. I was invited to steward some young men during the period between high school graduation and the entry into college. They kept referring to it as their “Gap Year’ which absolutely is inappropriate. I spoke with the parents and I spoke with the youngsters, I told them that in no way would I design a season of life preparation that would be referred to as ‘Gap’ so we ended up with Service at SEE, emphasis on ‘See’. Since I had never done this before I decided upon an epistemology that emphasized dynamic above content, experience above observation, participation above compliance and the sacred & profane above the safe and sound.

The itinerary began geographically. Hawaii, Ecuador, Mexico. Three destinations where I am experienced, and familiar and have friends who participate daily in the weaving of the ancestral, the current, and the future generations. In Hawaii, we will be received by Kimokeo Kapahulehua, cultural ambassador of Hawaiiana, founder of the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Association, founder of the Kimokeo foundation, star of the film ‘Family of the Wa’a’, and dear friend and brother. Here we will climb volcanoes, dive reefs, paddle canoes, practice ceremony, learn history, and participate in local events and rituals. The history of this archipelago is rich in celestial navigation and pelagic orientation as well as a deep understanding of our relationship with the spirits of the natural world, in particular the oceans. We will learn about the Amakua, the Kaduna and Kumu’s and Kuma’s

In Ecuador, we will enter into a variety of cultures and practices, including, but not limited to, many days in villages beyond roads, navigating rivers by canoe, exploring the indigenous genius of the jungle by foot, encountering the sacred and the practical among plants, animals, and insects while practicing the rituals and order cultivated through hundreds if not thousands of generations. We then go to the cloud-forest, a place of biodiversity even beyond that of the Amazon (because of its unique position on the flanks of the Andes, above the Amazon rainforest) more birds, butterflies, mammals, reptiles etc, than possibly any other place on earth. Here we will practice GIS, Art, and the study of its importance to the future of a generative and sustaining planet for future generations. We will be guests at the Maquipucuna Biosphere Reserve and explore the region and methods of regeneration practiced there. We will also go to the Andes, the longest mountain range on Earth and Home to countless active volcanoes. Here we will stay in an indigenous village, where condors soar above, take part in local traditions, integrate what we have experienced thus far, and settle into an environment both stark and beautiful and bountiful in a ritualized adherence to lunar, solar, and cosmic cycles. We then visit the Galapagos islands. Here we will be guided by a local ‘Colona’ or resident of the islands. Isabella knows how, when and where and why to move through this sacred land and sea-scape. Endemic plants and creatures that populate our dreamscape will be our everyday companions. Here, one of the most celebrated natural environments on earth will be our ever-present teacher, witnessing both the slow march of evolution and the rapid shift of this dynamic archipelago. This is a fitting finish for our Ecuadorean visit.

In the fall, the Baja peninsula will be our classroom. We will travel overland, on paved and dirt roads, on trails (senderos), and camp on beaches, in mountains, valleys, and deserts. Baja has peaks rising to over 10,000’ that few know about and the wildness, the wilderness, is largely intact even though it is traversed daily by adventurous travelers. A few miles of track and one will find generational ranchos, epic oases, deserted beaches, tranquil bays, hot springs, waterfalls, and archaeological evidence of the peninsulas’ original inhabitants. We will invite the wisdom of the people we encounter, from cetacean specialists to present-day ranchers to environmental stewards. This 90-day program is the first of its kind, though the interest in such a thing seems that the seeds of this will grow into a yet unimaginable tree.