Happy Earth Day to you! And Happy Earth Day to the Earth – 4.7 billion years young today, or 6,000 years for the creationists. Either way, pretty darned old. Earth Day was created by Gaylord Nelson in 1970, and was designed to inspire appreciation and awareness of our planet. I’ve been thinking about the Planet Earth a lot today, on many different levels.

First, the technological level. Several developments on this front today.

This morning I was emailing with the Googlers about how we’re going to include Stage 2 of my Pacific row in the Exploration layer of Google Earth. My postings from the ocean – blogs, photos, videos, and maybe even Tweets – will be geotagged so they are associated with the particular location where I sent them, as I wend my winding way across the Pacific.

Later today, Jim, my director of technology, emailed me to suggest adding a map to my website, using GeoVisitors, that will show the location of my website visitors. This sounds really cool. A Google Map would show a little marker for each visitor. I love this kind of technology – such as Twittervision, which shows who is doing what, and where – a fascinating insight into human activity around the world. Watching it makes me feel incredibly connected to this amazing, incredible species called humanity.

Which brings me to the emotional level. Filming Ian and Joel earlier this week as they worked on my boat’s electrics, it struck me as interesting that when we install certain kinds of electrical devices they have to be “earthed” – connected to an object that connects to the ground, so that excess energy is safely discharged. I wonder if human beings are the same – that we also have to be “earthed” in order to function properly without blowing up. We feel at our best when we are connected to Mother Nature and “grounded”.

And then there’s the macro level. Seeing all these images of the planet makes me feel a strong sense of its fragility. It looks so small – just one tiny globe spinning through a vast expanse of darkness.

So I’m going to mark this Earth Day by renewing my pledge to do all I can to reduce my own personal impact on the earth, and by writing this blog – today and every day as I cross the ocean this summer – to try to inspire others to do the same. It would be nice if we remember to cherish and respect the earth every day of the year. Our planet is our life support capsule, and the only one we’ve got. So let’s treat it with the love and respect that it deserves. Our lives depend on it.

And on a lighter note…

T-shirt seen today in Waikiki: “Keep the planet clean. It’s not Uranus.” ☺

Other stuff:

Today our plans to move the boat to a building on Ala Moana Blvd fell through. Just not enough time to complete the paperwork and insurance arrangements. I would have been willing, but it takes two to tango.

So I am temporarily out of options. I really need a large, covered space, where I can lay out all my provisions and equipment, get it all organized, and then pack it on board. I have tried every avenue I can think of, so far without success. The team is on the case, but if anybody knows of such a space, please contact me via this website or on Facebook. Specific suggestions only, please!

Last night Ian, director of boatworks, reached the end of his stint in Hawaii and left to go back to the mainland. Thanks, Ian, for all your good work. We miss you already!

Huge thanks to Steve at International Paints, Bobby at Pacific Shipyards – and most of all @sistaliz for finding some blue antifoul paint for my bottom!

Roz Recommends: on Earth Day it seems appropriate to recommend one of my very favourite iPhone applications – Moonphase by Romanduck.com – “apps for the easily bemused”. It shows sunrise and sunset, moonrise and moonset, moonphases, plus all kinds of cool celestial information. Favourite features: choice of full moon names including Native American, Colonial, English, Celtic or Wiccan – and “Werewolf Warning”!

[photo: "Earthrise" by William Anders, taken during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968.]

One of the things that gives my mother the biggest kick, and enables her to forgive my rather unusual career choice, is when we receive messages from people who have been inspired to review and reflect upon their lives when they heard about my own change of direction. One such is Andre Branco from Brazil, who asked me how I did the obituary exercise that first brought it home to me that my life was heading in the wrong direction. (I briefly describe this in the intro video on my home page at www.rozsavage.com.)

As I recall, my answer was rather vague, along the lines that I just sat down and did it. Andre has taken this to a higher level, and I’d like to share with you what he wrote to me a week or so ago – in case you’re thinking of doing your own life audit.

Warning: this process can seriously change your life!

Over to Andre….

Roz:

For the last three months, I deliberately squeezed myself between two pressures: the shame of replying your last Facebook message with anything different than what I’m about to say below; and the shame of taking too long to reply.

The first nudge prompted me not to reply until I acted; the second prompted me to reply. So I had no choice but to act.

It worked wonderfully: I’ve “finished” my Dream Obituary.
(I quote the “finished”, since I believe it will always be a work-in-progress document; a wonderful and very well-thought 80/20 nevertheless.)

In a Nutshell:
I want to tell you how grateful I am for the insights you shared with me! Knowing how much you achieved after it gave me the will I needed to take the whole process serious. And now I have a solid photograph of who I want to become in my life, plus actions to take now to start bridging the gap. Nothing could be more important. =)

If you happen to be curious about the details of my experience, here it goes.

The Process:

• Printed the last message you sent me, describing how your process was, and took it with me to Buenos Aires. (I spent 10 days there on my own, between tango and cycling.)

• In the 1st Jan, I sat down in a quiet, nice cafe (see photos). I ordered some nice yerba mate to sip and stay focused. I re-read your message, meditated on how far you’ve gone by starting with this process, and dove into the blank paper.

• Some four hours later, I had a quite exhaustive-but-to-the-point four-page manuscript before me.

• Although an obituary is something read in third in person, I deliberately and consciously chose to write in first person to highlight to myself that the evaluation might be my point-of-view, not the impression of others. (If people happen to misinterpret my life and intentions in my obituary, that’s less of a problem, isn’t it?)

• Two weeks later, I typed the draft, corrected some phrasing and regrouped the assertions in five different sections for the sake of clarity and easiness to remember.

• Just today, after weeks of procrastination, I addressed every single bullet in there with two replies: STATUS and NEXT ACTION. I hadn’t so far thought about the gap between who I want to become and who I am, and the exercise gave me the chance to reflect on this gap and on how to bridge it starting today! The good thing: in some topics, I was either quite done or at least already very on track.

• Finally, I chose the frequency the document was going to be checked and reviewed, and calendarized it.
  

• Although the big picture is in my head all the time, I chose to address (focus on, think about, pay more attention to) one specific topic a week, so I don’t get overwhelmed and am sure to take baby steps, one at a time

• .…and that’s it. Now, lots of work ahead.

—André Branco
Rio de Janeiro
(right now kinda shielded from the way-too-noisy Carnival going on out there)

I hope you’ll find Andre’s process helpful – and thanks to Andre for allowing me to share.

Other Stuff:

Phew. This has been a heck of a week. About 20 meetings, plus various scheduled phone calls. Lots of really cool stuff happening that I would love to share with you, but it may be a little premature. So for now I’ll post a couple of photos and leave the rest to your imagination.

But be assured, it’s ALL good!

Presentation at Google – followed up with a meeting with Google Ocean folks.

Poring over charts with Captain Vince of the White Holly – the research vessel that helped me salvage the Brocade in 2007 after the aborted attempt on the Pacific. Hmm, where to land between Hawaii and Australia? So many options!

“Enlightened debauchery” is the enticing tagline for the Mindshare events series in Los Angeles – and although (as far as I saw) the debauchery extended no further than an open bar and a few smokers out the back, the tagline fits the vibe. Enlightenment has surely never been so much fun.

Ten days ago I had given a talk at the Pacific-Union Club in San Francisco, organized by the redoutable Ed Osgood, 90 years old and world tennis champion in his age class (I find myself wondering how much higher the age classes go). Ed recently married the vivacious Josette (go, Ed!) and it was she who created this opportunity in LA – she rang up her son, Doug Campbell, latterly of Tuxedo Travels and now the originator and organizer of Mindshare – and told him he had to meet me.

So after the venerable audience of the P-UC, and an equally distinguished audience at the St Francis Yacht Club last Wednesday, it was a big change to find myself talking to 200+ hip young things assembled in a nightclub-ish Hangar 1018, around the corner from a strip club in downtown LA.

After an hour or so of mingling and making the most of the open bar, the presentations began. I was a last-minute addition to the program, so I had just 5 mins. And I wanted to show my video which lasts 4 mins. So I just said a few very carefully chosen words – something like this:

“It was the year 2000, and I was supposed to be happy. I had it all – the well-paid job as a management consultant, a big house in west London, a successful husband and a little red sports car. But there was something wrong with this picture. I didn’t feel fulfilled. I didn’t feel I was contributing anything to the greater good. I felt I was here for a purpose – as we all are – and I didn’t know what it was, but I was pretty sure that management consultancy wasn’t it…

…Fast forward to March 2006. I am all alone, on a tiny rowboat, bobbing around somewhere in the western Atlantic. I am homeless, penniless, and divorced. All four of my oars have broken and I’ve had to fix them up. It’s been 3 months since my last hot meal. I’ve had no communications since my satellite phone broke 24 days ago. I’ve got saltwater sores on my backside and tendonitis in my shoulders. But I’ve never been happier – because at last, I have found my life purpose. I am rowing across oceans to raise environmental awareness. I am realizing my dream, one stroke at a time.”

And then I showed the DVD. And then a Q&A. It seemed to have made quite an impact. Many people came up to me for the rest of the evening – either with questions or just to say thanks for the inspiration.

What really seemed to have resonated was the search for purpose, connection, leaving a legacy. It reminded me that although raising environmental awareness is a key part of what I try to do, the message is so much more than that. It’s bringing awareness to EVERY aspect of living.

I regularly ask myself, am I living according to my values? Am I being true to my purpose? Am I heading in the right direction? Or am I spending too much time on those day-to-day details that, in the final reckoning, will be revealed as nothing but distractions and diversions?

And here endeth the sermon. Thursday night reminded me also that life is not to be taken too seriously – and that seeking enlightenment can be a great big enormous load of FUN!

Other stuff:

Various bits of equipment for the boat (VHF radio, GPS etc) have been delivered to Hawaii, awaiting my arrival there next week. I still haven’t found any under-cover storage on Oahu that I can afford – so do please contact me if you have any ideas.

Last Monday I met a fantastic bunch of women in Vallejo, at the home of Kathy Robinson. She and I rowed on the Greek Trireme in 1988. We watched the video of our crew slogging our way around the Aegean in a smelly, sweaty, ship – like Ben Hur but with frightening 80′s haircuts. How times have changed – from a crew of 170 to a crew of 1…

Had a great meeting in Palo Alto with Dr Margot Gerritsen of the Smart Energy Show to talk about how to reduce CO2 emissions and, ironically, the joys of travel.

Also met with Meng at Google – Meng was one of the early Googleers, and is now their kind of brand evangelist. His wall of fame includes pictures with the Dalai Lama, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, and countless others – a veritable who’s who of the 21st century. During a tour of the campus and lunch we pretty much covered the meaning of life, the universe and everything – and Copenhagen and the Nobel Peace Prize. I’ll be back at Google next month to speak – I can’t wait!

Plus various meetings in association with the short film of Limitless Horizon – being created for release in early October to coincide with my book of the same name, which is partly about my Atlantic row in 2005-6, but more about my transformation from office worker to ocean rower.

And, of course, I was reunited with my podcast guru Leo Laporte, at TWiT Cottage in Petaluma to record a new episode of Roz Rows The Pacific. It hasn’t appeared on the website yet, but hopefully will soon. Enjoy!

San Francisco, California

I love my new Google homepage. I feel like the pilot of an aircraft with a glorious dashboard of data laid out in front of me, but instead of speedometers, odometers, this that and the other-ometers, I’ve got quotes of the day, technology updates, headlines, moonphases and weather. I’ve got an all-dancing, all-singing life-ometer. Here’s how you can create your own customized overview of the world….

1. Choose Google as your homepage in your browser, if it isn’t already. How you do this will vary depending on what operating system and browser you use. I use a Mac and Firefox, and I go into Firefox/Preferences and set my home page there to http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en

2. From the Google home page, click on the link top right that takes you to ‘Personalized Home’.

3. Then click on the link top left to ‘Add Content’. You’ll be presented with a dazzling array of possibilities. You can filter them according to the categories on the left if you want, or just wander at will through the wonderful world of the internet, clicking on the ones that catch your eye. You can easily remove them later.

4. My laptop died while I was doing this exercise, and I swore loudly, thinking that I’d lost all my selections, but luckily Google updates your home page as you make your choices, so system crashes are not a problem. (Well, obviously they ARE, but not for the purposes of setting up your homepage.)

5. Once you’ve finished your selection, you can remove any items you decide you don’t want simply by clicking on the cross on the top right of each item. And you can drag and drop them so you have your favourites at the top, with less frequently used ones below.

These are the ones I chose:

Technorati Tracker
How to of the Day
Wired News: Gadgets and Gizmos
Google Videos
Wikipedia
Quotes of the Day
Quotes 4 All: HIGHLY recommended
Quote of the Moment
Top Stories
Weather
Date and Time
Current Moon Phase
This Day in History

All recommended.

My laptop has to go back to Mac this week. The interface from the hi-lo-triple-conflabdabricator to the thingummywingummywotsit is overheating, so it keeps shutting down without a moment’s warning. It’s going to be a nightmare for me – so much to do, and without my third arm. I should be able to carry on blogging using the computer up at the main house, but it’s all desperately inconvenient. How will I manage without my dashboard to give me an inspiring quote or tell me what phase of the moon we’re in?