Our Nonfatal Voyage

Tucked away in this secluded corner of Florida, I worked on my latest article between trips to the beach and Aviation Museum. The goal was tangible: after I finished the article, I was allowed to read The Fatal Voyage, a nonfiction account of Captain James Cook’s 1776 quest for the Northwest Passage, where he charted the western Canadian coastline, sailed around Alaska, and was the first Westerner to land in Hawaii. Where the Hawaiians beat and dunked him to death. Fascinating stuff!

We will spend four months in California this winter preparing for our own trip to Hawaii. It’s kind of a weird amount of time to live somewhere. How involved and invested can you get in four months?

Get this: it took Captain Cook’s ship 98 days to get from England to South Africa, where they waited a month for their companion ship to show up. And the Apostle Paul got shipwrecked in Malta for three months on his way to Rome. So while a few months might seem like a weird amount of time to be somewhere, it turns out there’s a historical precedence for it. Traveling takes time, no matter what century you’re in. At least we’re in good company!