Monday, January 21st doesn’t exist. At least not for us on board the MV Explorer. As we cross over the international dateline on Sunday, January 20th we skip right into Tuesday, January 22nd, leaving the 21st in our wake.
For most participants on board the MV Explorer the loss of an
entire day is nothing more than a novelty. However, for three members of our shipboard community, the disappearing day on our calendar is personal. Ashley Krieger, Pedro Tom√°s Delgado, and Sarah Kluger will all be missing their birthdays this year due to our westward course across the dateline.
“When I first heard about it, it was kind of upsetting,” Ashley Krieger of the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa admits. “But it’s actually kind of cool that I can say to people in the future that I never had a 22nd birthday. People on the ship love it too. They’re intrigued to hear about the ones who don’t have a birthday.”
“I’ll be celebrating my birthday on Spanish time,” Pedro Tom√°s Delgado, an Unreasonable at Sea entrepreneur from Spain, says with a laugh. “In ten minutes starts my birthday in Spain!” Pedro claims that missing his birthday is actually a positive thing, “Now I’ll be 27 for the rest of my life. Eternally young!”
It’s not only birthdays that we’re missing. We’re also skipping right over a very important holiday: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Fortunately, Resident Director, Elizabeth Coder, is providing space for all members of the shipboard community to reflect on MLK and his dedication to service, despite the absent holiday. Coder has set out a large paper banner in Tymitz Square encouraging members of the Semester at Sea Community to share how they will create positive change and what they’re doing for others. The banner serves as an inspiring testament that the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. is alive and well on this ship, with or without January 21st.
