Grade 8 learner Aria and her sister joined the SelfDesign® Learning Community this learning year. They live in Comox, on Vancouver Island, but this year, their family took a sabbatical to go sailing. Aria and Micah needed an alternative to brick-and-mortar schooling to keep up with their learning during their travels, and SelfDesign’s flexible, personalized approach to learning provided a good fit.

We caught up with Aria when she and her family were stopping in the Caribbean, about halfway through their year-long adventure. Here is what she told us about sailing, learning, travelling and being on the water.

SelfDesign (SD): Where did you start your travels?

Aria: We started in Martinique, in the Caribbean, where we bought the boat in March 2022. My dad and his friends sailed it over to Gibraltar, in southwestern Europe. We met him there last summer and sailed the Mediterranean as a family. Then we sailed to the Canary Islands, about 1600 km (865 nautical miles) southwest of mainland Spain, and across the Atlantic. We are now back in the Caribbean but plan to head to New York in the next couple of months.

We’ll cruise up to the Bahamas, then over to the U.S. east coast. We plan to sell the boat in New York and fly home to Comox in August.

 

SD: Why sailing? 

Aria: We chose to go on a sailing trip to escape “normal” life, even if just for a year. My parents have always loved sailing, so when they saw their favourite boat for sale in the Caribbean, it was an easy decision.

We sailed from the Canary Islands to St. Lucia, in the Caribbean, because of an organization called the ARC, or Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. They organized our voyage, planned social events and have made sure we’re all safe.

Before this, my family and I had been sailing for 14 years — pretty much all my life!

 

SelfDesign: How did you and your family prepare? 

Aria: For the Atlantic crossing, we did tonnes of provisioning. My mom pre-made more than 20 frozen meals! Because we had two crew members aboard, we had to get more food than usual. We probably had 40 chocolate bars in the freezer as well!

 

SD: What has it been like being a SelfDesign learner on this trip? 

Aria: My SelfDesign experience has been very positive so far. At first, I was sceptical about home learning because I’d been at public school since kindergarten. However, my learning consultant, Lisa, has been very supportive and just spectacular. That has really helped me adjust to the different style of schooling.

Staying in touch with Lisa for school work has been challenging at times because it is sometimes hard to find WiFi on a boat. We also can schedule meetings when the time change allows.

Doing school work while on passage has also been a bit difficult. The boat is always moving, and papers are always flying. However, doing schoolwork while we crossed the Atlantic was a nice pastime. I mostly worked on math and writing. I also learned about how to fish in the ocean and to estimate our arrival time by looking at our remaining nautical miles.

My younger sister, Micah, who also attended public school until this year, is enrolled in SelfDesign with me. I find it hard to be bored around my eight-year-old sister.

 

SD: How has this adventure helped you meet your learning goals?

Aria: Before our Atlantic crossing, we did lots of travelling around the Mediterranean. We visited many museums and historical sites. Some of my language goals were met by communicating in France. Europe is so full of history and things to learn that I always had a project to do.

And on the ocean crossing, we plotted charts and trimmed sails, and my sister and I would also figure out the time of arrival based on our speed.

 

SD: In addition to sailing, what are your interests, goals and passions?

Aria: I enjoy basketball, biking, baking and more. On a boat, however, it’s hard to do those things. Since we left Comox, I’ve been picking up new interests such as crocheting, reading, writing, snorkelling, wing foiling (which is similar to windsurfing), swimming and painting.

I feel the change of scenery has made me pick up many new hobbies and interests.

 

SD: What stood out for you during your journey?

Aria: We went for a swim in the middle of the Atlantic — that was amazing. The water was breathtakingly blue and so clear to almost five kilometres deep!

On the crossing, I found myself feeling insignificant compared to the vast ocean. I also felt as if time was slowing down because we had no schedule at all, so it was a big change when we came back to land.

I found it hard to leave all my friends from the ARC behind in Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands… even though I knew I would be seeing them a couple of weeks later. But my favourite part of the crossing was arriving back in St. Lucia. Our friends cheered us when we came in after the 19-day passage. That’s probably what I will remember the longest from our trip.

My least favourite experience was the first few days of sailing. We had three-metre waves and 30-knot wind. The storm tossed the boat like pizza dough! It was unpleasant, but we made it.

 

SD: What would you share with other SelfDesign learners?

Aria: The most important lessons travel has taught me is to take it slow and to do what makes you happy. Take the ocean, for example: it always moves at its own pace and does whatever it wishes.

 

SD: What would you like to be doing in 10 years’ time?

Aria: I see myself attending medical school to become a surgeon. And I hope that I travel to Europe again for a summer with my friends from Comox.

 

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