I've been wondering lately why most of the trips we plan
seem to involve the ocean. On one hand, the ocean is totally awesome. There's
simply no way to describe the feeling I get when staring out at the vastness of
it. To stand on the cusp of the Atlantic and realize that on the other side of
it lies Mexico
(I have a very American sense of geography) is enough to make one realize just
how small they really are.
On the other hand, the ocean is fucking creepy as shit.
There are so many ways in which one can die in the ocean, it's enough to keep
me out of the water entirely. Sharks? Sting Rays? Jellyfish? Sticks that feel
like they might be jellyfish when they rub up against your leg? Rogue waves? Manatee? Who wants to take that kind of
risk just for a really big, overly salty body of water? And don't get me
started on the sand. Walking is already hard enough. Do I really have to spend
my time watching my steps so that I don't step on a vicious crab? Fuck that.
There are plenty of lakes in Michigan
where the most dangerous thing you have to worry about is Asian carp.
Still, since I got my first taste of it, I haven't been able
to resist the allure of the ocean. My family wasn't much for traveling when I
was younger. We'd take yearly trips, but they were almost always confined to Michigan. In fact, the
furthest outside of Michigan we ever traveled
was Ohio and
some would say that that is almost worse than not taking a vacation at all.
(They would be right. Ohio
is a piece of shit.) When I hit my early twenties, I knew that the ocean was
something I had to see, if only as a rite of passage as a traveler. Here's a
picture of me standing in the ocean for the first time.
