Thesis OUT!

Here it is... signed, temporarily bound, and read to submit. My thesis (aka, my ticket to graduation).

This felt GREAT to turn in. Many months of work, only a few seconds to hand it in.

Thanks to all who helped out along the way. You know who you are.

B V I - Three letters, One Great Trip

This post one took a while, and is a long time coming.

The British Virgin Islands. Every year, the graduating MBA class goes on a sailing trip to British Virgin Islands. Boats are organized and rented by individual groups of classmates (who also had to find a certified or at least confident skipper to take responsibility for the boat). There were a total of 18 boats rented for this year's trip. Flights are booked individually. But once we are down there, we were one big group organized by a core group of classmates, which I will now call the boaters.

Each boat was a 46foot long, catamaran style yacht that slept 10-12 people (do the math, that's a group of about 180 people). The boats were complete with beds, bathrooms, full kitchen, dinning areas, showers, a grill out back, and plenty of sun (and some shade provided by a drawn sail).

We arrived to the islands in some TERRIBLE weather (nothing dangerous, just nothing like any of us pictured). It was humid, slightly chilly, grey skies and continuous rain. Many of us were thinking "why did we come down here for the same weather we could have had in Boston". We went to bed on the docked ships hoping it would clear for our first sail the next day... but it didn't.

Our first day on the boats was grey and gross. We set sail, one of the first groups out of the boat rental place after scrambling to get last minute supplies, non-salt water showers, and ice. As we left the bay (and still somewhat unfamiliar with the boat), we quickly hit some waves... big waves! These were 3 to 5 foot waves. The boat was pitching and rocking violently. I immediately thought, "I did not sign up for 7 days of this!" Reassured by our skipper, this was not normal, we all held on tight, looked to the horizon, and tried not to get seasick. The afternoon calmed down, putting many of us at ease.

Our tour was organized by the boaters who provided a day by day itinerary including information about the islands we stopped at each night. While the itinerary was specific, each boat ended up on their own schedule. Some boats set sail really early in the morning, others stayed behind for a lazier start of the day.

There was swimming (which was incredibly easy in the salt water ocean), snorkeling, kayaking, hiking, lounging, reading, playing cards, sailing, cooking and CLEANING to be done each day. I'm not one who sits still very well, thus I was a bit nervous for all of the "free time" on this trip. But I found that with the beautiful surroundings, there was always something for me to do or see. I ended up not reading a single page of the multiple books that I brought.

Each night, we cooked (and by we, I mean Todd) a delicious dinner for our crew of 12. On the third day of the 7 day trip, I realized it was getting hard to remember what happened on what day, thus the start of the Captains log. I pulled out a pen and paper and our crew collectively recalled the fun and exciting details of each day. These Captain' Log sessions quickly became a tradition that the crew looked forward to (who doesn't enjoy reliving some incredible experiences).

After 7 days of the most beautiful beaches and waters that I have ever seen, we headed back on land and stayed at a hotel before our flights the next day. The hotel was a very nice hotel right on the beach. If we had just gotten off the plane from Boston, it would have been paradise, but having just been somewhere so much better, the hotel's setting felt a little lackluster - yes, I know, we were a bit jaded. Regardless we enjoyed one last dinner as a crew, then went to bed for our last night of the trip.

This was probably one of the coolest and most unique trips I will ever go on. 7 days on a yacht in the British Virgin Islands with a great group of 12... and all I have are these 2000+ pictures to remember it by!