Over the course of my lifetime I have spent approximately 71/2 hours on a sailboat. In one week I have tripled that.

My dear friend Sean advised me once; "... in a split second your whole world can flop 180 degrees." Sitting on my couch a month and a half ago, it did. I was watching television, as if it were a crystal ball, feeling dissatisfied with the path I was on. Where it came from I don't know; on the evening breeze blowing through my Manhattan apartment window, on the heels of an electronic wave flowing from the television, or deep from within my restless soul? I don't know, but like a diamond bowling ball, a beautifully insane idea hit me squarely: sail around the world! Flop.

I called my best pal G.D. before that thought had even fully registered. He picked up the phone to hear a seemingly simple statement: "Let's sail around the world!" Astonishingly, his instantaneous reply was "Yes! What a great idea!" Since that moment we have committed to this new path wholeheartedly. G.D. has taught himself how to build a website with no prior knowledge. A couple of former landlubbers, we have enrolled in an intensive series of sailing classes and will be certified to charter a 45 foot vessel by mid January.

When, excitedly, I have shared this dream with friends and family it has been met with a mixture of pure enthusiasm, disbelief, and an occasional condescending good luck pat on the back, as if to say "Yeah, sure, you're gonna sail around the world." I believe as a society we have, in many respects, lost our ability to dream. Many, many people no longer carry the powerful knowledge that each one of us can do ANYTHING.

My hope is to help re-instill the joy of the dream for myself and those I encounter on this journey.

Tomorrow morning at 9am with a warm cup of coffee in one hand and a backpack filled with the days supplies slung over my shoulder, I will walk with my best pal G.D. to the subway station that will take us to a waiting boat and the sea.