We are a young(ish) couple that have always been fascinated about travelling the world and exploring new cultures. The idea about sailing around the world was half-jokingly mentioned on our very first date. We are both of the opinion that dreams are to be followed sooner rather than later, and only 6 months after our first date, the purchase documents for SV Tengah were signed and the dream got one step closer to reality.

Between us we have 4 cultures (US, Vietnam, Denmark and Sweden), and no real place that we call home. This makes us true world citizens, and what better option is there than to live on a boat?

We don’t see ourselves as true environmentalists or idealists and neither do we expect to be able to make all the right choices, but being lucky enough to sail around the world, our hope is that we will be able to educate ourselves (and maybe you?) about the impact that our rich world consumption is having on the environment and particularly those less fortunate than us and see how we can reduce this impact. We are humble in this aim, in the sense that we do not expect a revolution or movement based on our findings and experiences. On the other side, we do acknowledge the necessity of making changes to our over-polluted and over-populated world, so our aim is certainly to reach out to more people than just ourselves.    

Presenting Scott

Scott’s life has been action-packed from the beginning. Only 4 months old, Scott’s family, after 11 failed attempts, finally succeeded in escaping, by boat, from post-war Vietnam. Prior to this, his father spent 3 years in political prison and his entire family was blacklisted by the Communist regime for their involvement with the former South Vietnamese democracy. Scott and his family spent 16 months as refugees on Pulau Babi Tengah Island off the east coast of Malaysia, before starting a new life in the US. SV Tengah is named after the island that represented a significant milestone on his family’s journey to a better life.

Starting all over in a new country, Scott’s parents accepted jobs as janitors, a position far below their previous social standing, so their kids might have a brighter future.  Scott and his siblings all finished university or advanced degrees, started a few successful businesses and one holds a high-level government position, so their parents felt the sacrifice was worth it even though Scott subsequently decided to become a sailing bum.

While his passion for adventure has led him to racing cars, motorcycling, mountaineering, kitesurfing and breath-hold spearfishing among other stupid pursuits, hearing his parents’ story and having his own experience nearly losing everything when starting his own business has also made him very risk aware. A typical sequence of events for Scott is to spend days ensuring that his (former) racecar is in track-ready condition, verifying that there is a hospital within 15 minutes by helicopter, learning the other drivers’ histories to ensure there are no unsafe drivers, taping relevant medical insurance information to his chest…and then going out on the track and (safely) driving like a crazed lunatic that sometimes makes his passengers pee in their pants. You could call him risk-schizophrenic.

Scott has already completed a two year, 44 country ‘round-the-world’ trip on land, visiting all seven continents with some notable locations including Antarctica, North Korea, Siberia and Everest’s northern base camp. During that trip, he stayed at ground level, preferring to travel by car, 4×4, motorcycle, train and bus. Since he flew over most oceans on that previous trip, he is trying to fix that mistake with this trip.

If you want to make Scott happy, give him lots of kale, Vietnamese drip coffee (but without sweetened condensed milk and only in the morning), and some wind so he can either sail or kitesurf. Just don’t give him sugar. Ever.

Presenting Mie

Mie grew up in a very small coastal village near Svendborg, Denmark where her dad worked as a ferry captain and her mom as a legal secretary. All her life, her dream has been to sail around the world. With not enough money to do exactly that, she joined for 6 months as the only female crewmember on a big-ass Maersk container ship when she was just 18. She quickly realised that sailing container ships was not exactly the dream she had in mind, and decided instead to pursue the need for money to make her dream a reality. That took her through a master’s degree in Economics and different Management Consulting jobs in Denmark and Sweden.  

In order not to forget her dream, 8 years ago Mie bought a small 22 foot sailboat named Freja and just like her Viking ancestors, sailed from Copenhagen, Denmark to Stockholm, Sweden. Unlike her ancestors, however, her main goal was not to rape and pillage, much to the relief of the Swedes. And just like their ancestors, some Swedes stared in astonishment (and/or fear) when they saw her sailing Freja around the Stockholm archipelago with her Danish flag. Freja was sold just before embarking on this trip, but she still sails the waters of Stockholm’s archipelago, reminding the new owner about not letting go of dreams.

Mie’s thirst for adventure led her on a solo trip around Australia when she was 19. Unfortunately, that trip was cut short when she got a mysterious blood infection from a mosquito bite in Kakadu National Park and ended up hospitalized for three months. Not deterred by such ‘minor setbacks’, she has travelled far and wide ever since. Some adventures included a winter trip to Svalbard sleeping among the sled dogs, driving 2000 km across Sri Lanka in a tuk tuk (Lanka Challenge), partying with the Ottoman ancestors of Oman, ice patrolling in Greenland, surfing above the Arctic Circle in Lofoten, Norway and a solo trip to East Africa.

Mie is a true optimist, often forgetting to think about things that can go wrong. Luckily, Scott is Risk Manager number 1, always there to remind her :-).

If you want to make Mie happy, give her a dog or a cat to cuddle, good cheese, beer (and wine) and some chocolate. Just don’t give her durian fruit. Please don’t 🙂