September 4, 2025 • 46 mins
#176 - What does it take to sail around the world? For Alison Gieschen, it's required facing her worst fears while clinging to a dream she's had since childhood. From the moment she and her husband Dan met at a sailboat race and discovered their shared ambition to circumnavigate the globe, their path was set – though hardly smooth sailing.
Alison's journey began far from any ocean, on a 100-acre farm in upstate New York where she developed her first great passion: horses. Rising to elite competitive levels and eventually building her own equestrian vaulting program that became the largest on the East Coast, she never imagined trading stable ground for the unpredictable waves. Yet when she met Dan, something clicked. After just one weekend together, they recognized in each other the perfect sailing partner, and soon after, life partner.
Now seven years into their global circumnavigation, Alison shares harrowing tales that would make most people head straight for land – surviving "The Perfect Storm" with 20-foot waves that ripped equipment from their boat, enduring five catastrophic failures during a Pacific crossing, and facing a tsunami just days after reaching French Polynesia. Through it all, she's maintained her creative spirit, writing prolifically across genres from sailing memoirs to horse novels to children's books about mermaids.
What makes Alison's story particularly compelling is her honesty about fear. Despite visiting nearly 50 countries by sea, she calls herself "the bravest chicken on the planet." This paradox captures something essential about courage – it's not fearlessness but perseverance despite terror. When their first ocean crossing went terribly wrong, a chance encounter with her sailing mentor provided the perspective she needed: surviving your worst fears is actually a gift that proves you can handle anything.
Whether you're dreaming of distant horizons or simply looking for inspiration to face your own challenges, Alison's adventures remind us that, as she puts it, "Life is what you make of it, and if you have a dream, you need to go for it, because life's too short not to."
To learn more about Alison and get her books check out www.alisongieschen.com.
Want to be a guest on Journey with Jake? Send me a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/journeywithjake
Visit LandPirate.com to get your gear that has you, the adventurer, in mind. Use the code "Journey with Jake" to get an additional 15% off at check out.
Visit geneticinsights.co and use the code "DISCOVER25" to enjoy a sweet 25% off your first purchase.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
She's circumnavigating the globe on a
sailboat with her husband,writes books that span every
genre and previously ran a horsefarm.
Allison Gation doesn't justlive stories, she creates them.
Get ready for adventure on land, sea and the page with Allison
Gation.
Welcome to Journey with Jake.
This is a podcast aboutadventure and how, through our
(00:21):
adventures, we can overcome thechallenges of life that come our
way.
While I expect you will learnsome things about different
adventures, this show willentertain you.
Each episode will feature adifferent guest or guests, as
they share experiences andstories from the different
adventures they have been on.
Not only will you beentertained, but you will also
hear the failures and trialseach guest faces and what they
(00:42):
have done or are doing toovercome the hardships that come
their way.
My goal is to take each of uson a journey through the
experiences of my guests, withthe hope that you'll be
entertained and inspired toovercome your day-to-day
challenges.
After all, it's not all aboutthe destination, as it is about
(01:12):
the journey.
Welcome to Journey with Jake.
I'm so glad you're here.
Before we dive in, make sureyou're following me on Instagram
at journeywithjakepodcast andcheck out my YouTube channel for
video versions of theseincredible stories and, of
course, hit that subscribebutton wherever you listen to
podcasts so you never miss anepisode.
Journey With Jake is proud tobe part of the PodMatch Podcast
(01:34):
Network.
Check out PodMatchcom forwardslash network for some great
shows from other podcasters likemyself.
Today's guest is Alison Gieschen, an author with a wide range of
books, an adventure currentlycircumnavigating the globe by
sailboat with her husband, dan,and someone who lived on a farm
and grew up on the backs ofhorses.
We'll talk about life on theopen sea, her deep love for
(01:57):
horses and the creative drivethat fuels all her adventures.
If you enjoy this conversation,you'll also love episode 163
with Brandon and Amber Morse,another inspiring story of a
couple who sold everything tosell the world with their family
.
Okay, let's get to myconversation with Allison
Gieschen.
All right, this is exciting forme.
Today I've got Allison Gieschenwith me today.
(02:19):
Allison, welcome to Journeywith Jake.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Thank you, jake, it's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I love that you're coming from your boat.
You're on a boat currently.
Tell us, yeah, before we getgoing into, we're obviously
going to talk about that, butwhere are you currently?
Tell us, kind of, give us thatpart first.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Okay, well, currently we are on a small island called
Hiva Oa in the FrenchPolynesians, and this was the
very first island chain wearrived at when we crossed the.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Pacific Ocean from Panama.
Okay, so you went Panama acrossthe ocean to this location in
French Polynesia.
How long did that take you?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Well, we were supposed to take around maybe 25
days, 27 days, but we had tomake an emergency landing in the
Galapagos.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Okay, maybe we'll talk about that here in a minute
.
This is part of the adventure,part of the fun.
Okay, wow, okay.
So you had to make a littleemergency stop.
Obviously, we're going to talkabout your sailing life, but I'd
like to know a little bit aboutwho you are, kind of what's
going on with you, allison?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
So, if you don't mind , take us back a little bit.
Give us a little background onon who allison is, where you're
from, all that good stuff, okay,so I?
I the first half of my life, ornot half half of my childhood
until the ninth grade.
I grew up on a hundred acrefarm in upstate new york.
We had every animal known toman and gardens and all organic
stuff and raised everything thatwe ate.
It was a really uniqueupbringing.
(03:43):
Horse horses were involved and Iwas competitive in my 10-11.
I was seriously competitive inthe horse industry.
Then my dad got transplantedthrough IBM to Charlotte, north
Carolina so I became asoutherner but I was able to
bring a couple horses with meoff that big farm and I
continued to compete and Iactually qualified for the
(04:06):
screening trials for the JuniorOlympics.
But that wasn't meant to be.
So I got into sailing and itstarted on a lake in North
Carolina, a giant man-made lake.
When my mom and dad retired theymoved to New Bern, north
Carolina, and my mom decided shewas going to be the fastest
woman sailor in New Bern, northCarolina in their competitive
(04:27):
Camlico Sound racing.
The problem was there were noother women, so she just decided
she's going to be the fastestsailor period and this is
important because I went to joinher for a race, this big
Michelob Cup race, and my cousinbrought this friend of his with
him from Philadelphia who wasmy husband, and we met at that
sailboat race and that weekendwe spent the whole weekend
(04:48):
together.
Right before he was leavingbecause I was going back to
Charlotte, he was going back toPhilly.
He said you know, my dream isto sail around the world someday
.
I said mine too.
Let's get married.
And he proposed four days laterand I said yes.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Wow, what a story.
I love it.
Horses were big for you thenyou were competitive.
Now, when you say competitivelike jumping horses vaulting, is
that what they call it,Vaulting?
I'm not sure what they call it.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Okay, so I did eventing, which is dressage,
cross country jumping andstadium jumping, and then they
combine the three scores andthat is an Olympic event.
But when Dan and I got married,we built a horse farm and I my
sister got me into this crazysport called equestrian vaulting
, which is gymnastics on horses.
So I totally changed direction.
(05:35):
I started training thesevaulting horses and I started a
program and we got to be thebiggest team on the East coast.
I ended up going to two worldequestrian games, which are like
the Olympics they're held everyfour years.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Just seven riding disciplines in a different
country In 2018, my daughtertook eighth in the world in Pas
de Deux in one of the events inequestrian vaulting, wow, okay,
we probably could have had awhole, nother separate show just
about the whole horse thing.
Because I knew you had grown upwith horses but I didn't
understand to the extent of itYou're competitive, had to move
(06:07):
away, took a couple of horseswith you but gotten, then got
involved in sailing and then.
But once you got married to DanDaniel, I think his name, your
husband then you got horsesagain.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
You kind of you and Daniel have your own horse farm,
if I'm not mistaken, right.
Well, I never got rid of him.
I took my horse to college withme, kept it on a farm and still
continue to ride and teach.
And then I gave him a horse fora wedding present and he's like
what do I do with this?
Because he didn't really rideand I'm like I don't know.
But he loved ice hockey so I'mlike why don't you try polo?
(06:38):
It's like ice hockey on horses,and we actually found a startup
program in our area.
He became so possessed withthis sport.
He got nicknamed Frank in poloand he became one of the best
local players, you know,traveling to all the different
fields and playing in games, andhe was actually really, really
good at it.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
That's amazing.
Wow.
Okay, so you've horses.
What is it with horses, likewhat?
What's the fascination for youand horses?
Why do you love horses so much?
I've never had a horse, I don'tknow.
Tell me about it.
What do horses mean so much toyou?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
My earliest memories of anything in life are being on
the back of a horse.
My mom actually had me on ahorse before I could walk, when
a baby would be born on our farm.
I would sit there with thatbaby all night long and cradle
its little head in my lap.
I would spend hours, I wouldget on my horse and just ride
out.
We're in the middle of nowhere,upstate New York, in the
Catskill Mountains, and my momnever said where are you going?
(07:32):
How long are you going to begone?
I would just get on my horseand I would just go.
And they're just so ingrainedinto me Like I just have this
bond with them.
That's crazy and I guess if youread my novel the Seven even
though it's not about me or anyparticular person's bond you
will understand how horses bondwith humans and how that exists
(07:54):
and happens.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
And that's a good point, because I know a lot of
people have their pets, theirdogs, cats, whatever, but horses
.
I know a lot of people I've hada few people on who've had
relationships with horses.
There seems to be somethingspecial about a horse as well
and for me, you know, I look ata horse and they're majestic and
they're big and you knowthey're different than just a
dog and you can have some prettybig dogs, but horses are bigger
(08:20):
.
Tell me, I mean, what's thebonding part?
How does that kind of work?
I mean, are they just like, canthey be like puppies?
I mean, what's it like with ahorse?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
They're very different than dogs.
I mean, I had the most amazingrelationship with my dogs as
well.
They were, you know, just partof me.
My dog actually got on and rodethe horse with me.
I'd go on trail rides and takemy pug Jack Russell mix in front
of me on the horse.
Like you said, they're biganimals so you don't have the
(08:50):
same intimate relationship thatyou do with a dog climbing on
your lap, but they stillinteract with you in a really
special way.
For instance, every time I tookmy 2,000 pound draft horse out
for vaulting, first thing hewould do is he'd come up to me
and he'd take his nose, hisgiant nostril, and put it around
my ear and he just took thisbig inhale and it was just like
he knew my scent.
You know, he knew everythingabout me and he just.
We had a communication that wasso refined.
(09:11):
He's on the end of a lunge linegoing around in a circle and I
could move my head in adirection.
I could take my head fromcentral and move it over my
shoulder and he would respond toit.
Or I could turn my bodyslightly one way and he would
respond to it, or I could turnmy body slightly one way and he
would respond to it.
If I made a single sound, if Iwent, he would stop dead, no
matter what was going on.
He would stop dead and not moveuntil I told him to move again.
(09:33):
I mean, that's pretty amazing,considering their size and you
know their nature.
That's the best I can explainit, I guess.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
No, I love it.
No, thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I just kind of want to know a little bit about that
with you.
You also kind of mentioned youmentioned a book called the
Seven.
You're an author, you're awriter.
Where did that come about foryou?
Was it something that you knowin school?
Did you kind of pick it up inschool?
You know, kind of give me thewhole elementary school, because
the kids are a lot more fun.
High school English they hateEnglish, you know.
You got to get them before thatage and install all of the
writing.
So that's what I did.
I wrote my first novel back in1980-something, just a fictional
novel.
And then I wrote a nonfictionabout one of my draft horses,
(10:20):
one of my vaulting horses, andthen from there the books just
started coming.
And now that I'm on a sailboatand I have all this time to
write and these amazingadventures, I've written the
first five years of our sailingjourney.
That's published on Amazon.
I have the sequel written andwe're publishing that soon.
I have a children's mermaidbook that's coming out in a
month.
I just I write all the time andthen I blog and I, you know, do
(10:42):
travel journals.
I write all the time, then Iblog and I do travel journals.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
I think what's amazing is the different types.
You mentioned children's books,you mentioned fiction, novel,
nonfiction.
You run the whole gamut ofthings.
Do you find there's one thatyou particularly like, or do you
enjoy it all?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
I just write what I'm inspired to write.
I'm very ADD.
I'm all over the place likeRicochet Rabbit, so when an idea
strikes me, it becomes a book.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Has there been any?
I don't know.
You said you were an Englishteacher.
Was there?
What's what inspired that?
Was you have any?
Did you have any teachersyourself or anybody that
inspired you to kind of go thatroute?
I?
Speaker 2 (11:20):
think the reason why I wanted to become a teacher one
is I loved writing.
I had three children.
They were 18 months apart, sothey were like separated by one
grade each, and they were goingto elementary school and I
wanted my summers off.
I wanted to be able to spendthem with my kids and same
holidays, and it just made senseto be a teacher.
I could work in their schoolwith them.
(11:41):
So when they were in elementaryschool I was actually the
computer teacher because theydidn't have a position for me
anywhere else, but it wasperfect because I was there with
my kids every day.
It was wonderful to have thesummers off and that's what I
did.
Most of my vaulting program wasduring the summers, so I had
camps and we traveled tocompetitions and all that kind
of stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Okay, you had a lot going on because you had.
You know you're running thehorse farm, you're a teacher,
you have three kids, 18 monthsapart each of them, which you
know one grade apart for each ofthem.
I'm guessing they're all.
Are they all grown up out ofthe house now?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
They are and they're all best friends, which I love,
and they all have one to twokids all around the same age, so
the cousins.
It's really neat to see all thebabies together.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Boys, girls.
What are your kids?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Two boys and one girl .
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Very good, nice.
Two boys and one girl.
You got some grandkids andyou're, in the meantime, you're
on a boat.
You're out sailing the worldwith your husband.
How did this come about?
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Well, like you know, I spent that night.
That last night we weretogether after that sailboat
race.
He's like I want to sail aroundthe world.
And I actually, on my farm inupstate New York one day, I was
just walking out to the ridingring and I pictured a boat and I
pictured being on the ocean andI thought how cool would it be
to sail around the world someday.
And I don't know where thatinspiration came from, because
there wasn't water anywhere nearus.
It just came to me like avision, like I want to learn how
(13:07):
to sail.
I someday, I just want to sailaround the world.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Boom, and here you are making it happen.
When did you start?
2015, 16?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
2018.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
2018.
Okay, so you've been out there,well, the last seven years then
, or so, yeah, seven years, wow.
Okay.
So you've been out there doingit the last seven years, then,
or so, yeah, seven years, Wow.
Okay, so you've been out theredoing it.
And I know you met your husbandat a sailboat race, so I'm
guessing he's got some sailingexperience as well.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
He was a merchant marine graduate from Kings Point
and he was on their sailingteam and he won three national
championships in dinghy racing.
Not big boats, dinghy racing.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yeah, he's got a lot of experience, which is super
helpful, going out and gettingthe boat, okay, wow, this is
amazing.
So where, okay, where, did youstart, kind of where?
What was the first experience?
What was the first majorcrossing you did?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Well, that's kind of a rough story.
I didn't want to cross my firstocean all by ourselves, so you
can join something called arally, and a rally is a group of
people sailors that gettogether.
It's a professionalorganization that you join.
There's several of them.
We join the ARC rally.
They help you prepare.
You have to check off all thesesafety equipment lists and
(14:15):
things like that, and then youall leave together to cross the
ocean.
So our first crossing was allset up, we're all ready to go,
but we heard a strange noise inour propeller and Dan wasn't
sure that he wanted to crosswith something wrong with the
boat.
So we went back to shorebecause we were paralleling the
coast, going south, down fromVirginia down towards North
Carolina.
He said let's just go get itchecked out.
(14:36):
Well, that turned into a 10-daydelay, oh dear.
So everybody else was gettingacross and finally the weather
router was.
We have a weather router whotells you when it's good to go
and what the conditions aregoing to be.
And he finally said okay,there's a good window
opportunity.
If you leave in the next couplehours, you can get across the
Gulf Stream, which isnotoriously rough, and you
(14:56):
should be fine.
Well, he was dead wrong and wegot across the Gulf Stream just
fine, and then we got caughtbetween two storms, like you
know the movie the Perfect Storm.
You were in the Perfect Storm,we were in 20-foot waves and
they were being compressed bytwo storms pushing them together
and 20-foot waves were crashingonto the bow of our boat and it
just was horrific.
(15:17):
I mean, I just I was horrified,I really thought this is it,
we're going to die the firstocean crossing.
It actually ripped the dinghyoff the front of our boat.
It ripped the handrails out ofthe boat through our dinghy, out
through the lifelines, whichbroke the lifelines.
We lost a solar panel, thewindsurfer, a whole bunch of
stuff.
We had $14,000 worth of damageand we had to turn and go back
(15:39):
to shore.
So we ended 20 miles from wherewe started in North Carolina
and we did 500 miles and endedup 20 miles from where we
started and I was severelydamaged from that.
I just I didn't think I couldever cross the ocean again.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I was gonna say here you are sitting in French
Polynesia as we do this podcast.
That experience though, I meanI would have wanted to quit.
It sounds like you kind ofwanted to quit.
You had that in your mind.
How did you overcome that?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Well, I didn't want to quit, but my fear was so
great that it was reallyweighing on me.
And we did get across.
I made myself get across.
And we got to the VirginIslands and we were getting
ready to make the trek toBermuda and then all the way
across to Europe.
And I'd wake up every morningand say today's the day.
(16:29):
I'm going to tell Dan I can'tdo it, I'm just too fearful,
it's just too stressful.
He's got to get somebody elseto crew with him.
I'll fly over, I can't do it, Ican't do it.
Well, we pulled into a harbor inSt Martin, three boats away.
Now there's a hundred boats.
In this harbor, three boatsaway, was our mentor and the
person who we got all oureducation from and prepared to
(16:49):
be liveaboards and cross oceans.
And we met him at a boat show.
He was a presenter and I hadall five of his books and I
actually paid to go on atraining passage with him, a
thousand mile training passagein heavy weather, just to
prepare to be on a boat, becauseDan had great sailing
experience.
I had no experience on oceans.
I said, dan, I need to do thiswith this man, I need to do this
.
So we went sailing with JohnKretschmer and he said you two
(17:12):
are going to be fine, you'regreat, you're ready to go so
fast forward to the crossing andthe horrible storm and me being
just emotionally a wreck.
And we pull into a harbor andthree boats away is John
Kretschmer.
We go over there for happy hourand John goes hey, how's it
going, allison?
And I'm like it's really bad,john.
(17:33):
We just had this reallyhorrible time.
I'm so scared now and I don'tthink I can ever sail again
across an ocean.
And he starts laughing and I'mlike what Excuse me?
He goes do you have any ideahow lucky you are?
I'm like no, and he goes do youknow how many people have an
experience like that?
They instantly sell the boatand they're like okay, I'm done.
(17:53):
And they they're done.
You survived it, your boat didfine, your husband did fine and
you're still out here becauseyou know what.
The chances of that happeningagain are like zero because you
made it, you did it.
And he was the only person inthe world that could have looked
me in the eye and said that tome and I would have believed it
(18:14):
wow, I I see a few things here.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
I see just how fortunate you were that he was
there.
Like you said, he was the onlyone that could have said that to
you and, and you would believeit, the only person in the world
and he was three boats away,100, and he's three boats away
because there's no, yeah,otherwise you would still have
that fear and that you know andand trust me, I'm guessing
there's time he's still, thefear creeps in.
I don't think you would be ohyeah normal if that didn't.
(18:38):
That didn't happen, but I thinkit's so fortunate that he was
there.
There's a lot of lessons.
I'm taking some.
This is why I love doing thisshow, because I I learned so
many things when I talk topeople and I'm sitting there
taking away lessons too, aboutjust keep going and hey, you
survived and it builds somethingand it helped you learn
something, and it's just amazingthat they did it.
So then boom you.
(18:58):
You left there and went acrossto to Europe.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yes, we did.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I want to ask if there's anything about sailing
that you just absolutely love.
Is there part of it that justbrings so much joy to you?
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Definitely landing in a new harbor, in a new country
or a new Island and being ableto look out and say, today, this
is where I live, because thisis our home.
So every time you pull intosome exotic, beautiful,
wonderful new place, you, justyou live there and it's just the
most incredible feeling.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
How long do you stay in particular places?
Speaker 2 (19:32):
The reason that we stay someplace for, let's say,
three to five months is it'salways waiting for part that we
need to repair our boat.
We've been in five countriesnow for three to five months
waiting for parts.
Otherwise it's usually just inand out, maybe a week or two,
and then on to the next place.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
When you have those moments where you get into a
place for a week or so, orwhatever the case may be, what
kind of things are you doingthere?
Are you taking advantage ofseeing the sites and being part
of the culture?
What are you doing, you and Dan, when you're in these places?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
It really depends where we are.
For instance, we got stuck inCape Verde, which is the little
island off of the coast ofAfrica.
It's down, I guess, aboutmidway down Africa.
That was a really hard threemonths because there just really
wasn't much to see or do thereand some very nefarious things
went on.
Let's just say that was areally really tough three months
(20:22):
.
Say that was a really reallytough three months, but for
instance, when we were in Spain,a Coruna, spain, that was a
wonderful place and we did a lotof touring and bike riding
because we have collapsiblebikes on our boat so we can take
them to shore and just goexploring.
So it really depends where weare stuck as to what we do.
Oh, we were stuck in Irelandfor two years because of COVID
(20:44):
COVID hit.
We were stuck there for twoyears.
Oh, wow, now in Ireland for twoyears because of COVID COVID
hit.
We were stuck there for twoyears.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Oh wow Now that's a great place to be stuck, Okay
good.
I know it well.
I was going to say you probablylearned a lot about Ireland.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yes, we rented a car and drove all the way around the
entire island, so that wasreally neat.
And we also got to house sit ina place the size of Downton
Abbey for three months becausethe owners were traveling in
Australia.
That was absolutely incredibleto be on a 200-acre mansion on
Bantry Bay, which is SouthernIreland, and just live in this
(21:20):
beautiful place.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
It's amazing, while you're doing all this traveling
and you're stuck in certainplaces waiting on parts and
things like that, what about thekids and the grandkids?
How often do you see them?
Kind of what happens.
Have they been to visit youanywhere?
Like what's going on with thatllamas in the Caribbean.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Our children are not fans of us doing this.
They would love if we werethere, but thanks to FaceTime, I
can see them every day, if Iwant, and talk to them and know
what's going on in their lives.
And we talk every day.
(21:56):
I talk to one of them every day, at least one of them every day
, and we have Starlink on ourphone.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Perfect, so you got connection all the time.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
And my mom is 95.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
As you know, she's a sailor and she calls me all the
time.
It's amazing today, with thetechnology, just how we're still
connected, you know, and it'sso nice that we still have that
connection.
All right, any other moments ofI don't know, I don't want to
say if it's fear or just anyother tough moments.
I mean, obviously storms soundlike those are pretty bad, I'm
guessing.
When things break down andyou're in the middle of the
ocean, maybe that's a littlescary.
(22:31):
Any other moments or any otherexperiences you can share with
us?
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Yes, crossing the Pacific was our fourth ocean
crossing and it was horrendous.
All of my worst fears, otherthan sinking, absolutely came
true.
So the first thing thathappened is my freezer went and
that's where I had all myprepared meals.
When it's rough, you don't wantto start having to put a meal
together, so what you do is youprepare everything in small
(22:54):
packages, put it in your freezerand then you can pull it out
and heat it up and cook it.
So before we even pulled out ofPanama, the freezer went.
I'm like great, we're going tocross an ocean for 30 days and
the freezer went.
I'm like great, we're going tocross an ocean for 30 days and
I'm going to have to, likephysically prepare every meal
and, plus the fresh stuff, onlylasts a week and then we're
going to be eating out of cans.
Like it's going to be miserable.
But normally you can fish, whichwas some consolation, but it
(23:17):
was too rough to fish.
We couldn't, didn't put afishing line out one single time
because it was so rough.
But we didn't even make it tobegin our journey very far when
our jib, which is our big sailout front that we rely on,
especially for going downwindand this is a downwind passage.
It ripped to shreds because theforestay which holds the jib we
(23:38):
had just paid seven thousanddollars to repair and the guy
didn't put loctite and all 40screws holding that together
fell out.
So our sail like slid down andripped to shreds, which is why
we made the emergency landing inthe Galapagos.
Also, our engine was giving ustrouble.
It was leaking oil and Dan wasafraid that we were going to
lose our engine.
So we went to the Galapagos andwe spent two weeks there.
(24:00):
We paid like $600 to get thesail fixed.
It was $1,200 just to dropanchor.
We paid to have the enginefixed.
We thought we're all good to go.
So we set off again.
Now we're closer.
We're maybe 24 days away fromFrench Polynesia.
We had our sail up.
Well, the bottom of the horseday fell out and our sail got
(24:21):
caught and ripped again and itwas ripped so badly A second
time that we had to take it,take it down altogether.
So now we don't have like oneof our most important sails.
So we've got our main and thisreally tiny stay sail, but we're
like it's okay, we can stillsail, we're still alive.
We're still alive, we're stillin float, afloat, we can make
this well.
The other biggest nightmare forme is if we lose our autopilot,
(24:43):
because then you have to handsteer, and these big sailboats
are not easy to hand steer inbig waves and with only two
people you can't hand steer 24hours a day.
It would just be absolutelymiserable.
So halfway across our autopilotwent and we still had 650 miles
to go.
I was really traumatized.
I'm like you know, dan, whatare we going to do?
Like I can't do this.
(25:11):
And so this poor man had to handsteer for like three hours at a
time and then I'd take over formaybe a half hour.
It was so physically difficultI could only last like a half an
hour at a time, and then everynight we would have to heave to.
We'd have to turn the jib, keepthe main sail on one side, turn
into the wind and then backwithin the jib up front, and it
keeps you pointed into the windand you don't have to steer, you
just float.
Fortunately the current wasgoing with us, so we were still
doing like two miles an hour inthe right direction.
(25:33):
So we could sleep at night,wake up in the morning and then
start all over again.
And that was good until oursteering started going, which is
my other big, huge nightmare.
Like what happens when you losesteering on your boat, like
what do you do?
You have to get helicopteredoff the boat.
Well, dan said, oh my God,there's this noise in our
steering cable.
This is really bad.
It means it could go at anysecond.
So we had to heave to and hehad to spend a whole day taking
(25:56):
apart the steering column, allthe parts of the boat to follow
the wires all the way through tothe back of the boat where the
rudder is.
And thank God he's a mechanicalengineer and he found the
problem and something hadloosened and he tightened it and
got the steering back together.
The freezer going, the rip sails, the engine, the autopilot and
the steering were like fivemajor catastrophes.
(26:18):
But we made it and we wereexhausted and it was just never
a smooth, calm day Like wedidn't have one single day where
we sat up on the deck andenjoyed the weather and the
views and the dolphins playing.
The dolphins didn't even comevisit us.
Never have we crossed an oceanand not had dolphins playing in
our bow wake.
And then we get to FrenchPolynesia.
(26:39):
We're here three days andthat's when the tsunami came and
we had to go back out to seaand wait for the tsunami to pass
.
So there's nothing like icecream on the cake when you throw
a tsunami into that equation.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Oh, my goodness, wow, okay, so much happened there.
But here you are, you'retalking to me, you're smiling.
What kind of things did youlearn from this?
I mean what?
I mean?
Why do you keep?
Why do you still have the smileon your face?
I mean, that's like a rough,rough way to have things happen.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
My mother.
My mother told me yesterday shegoes, alison, this is all your
fault.
And I'm like, why is that,mother?
And she goes?
Because you just told me thosewere all your biggest fears and
when you put that kind ofthought out into the universe,
you're making it happen.
And then she told me she'sgoing to enroll me in this
(27:29):
course, about positive thinking.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Your mother is very wise.
I love that, you know it's.
You know the whole manifestingthing and I, I subscribed to a
lot of that and I, I believe ina lot.
That's that's so funny that youknow that she brought that up
and you know that, yeah, there'syour worst fears all came, you
know, came to pass, but here youare.
You made it to French Polynesia.
I don't even think you've evenhad any time to even get out and
(27:50):
explore yet, so I'm hopingyou'll be able to enjoy what you
see around there.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
We rented a Jeep two days ago.
We have a friend that'sactually here also, because you
meet sailors and you end uparriving in a lot of the same
ports, and so our really goodfriend, eric and Dan and I
rented a Jeep and there's onlyone road to go from one side of
the island to the other one roadand we did that one road and
got to the other side and sawthe island and it's absolutely
(28:15):
spectacular.
I just put out the video todayof part one of seeing this
island, hiva'oa, and the historyhere is incredible and the
stories of the villages and theremain.
You can walk through theremains and see the tiki
sculptures and everything andthe people here.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
You know what they did with their enemies when they
conquered the neighboringtribes they ate them oh goodness
okay yeah, so we learned allabout that wow, and I would okay
with all of thiscircumnavigating the globe that
you've done.
I'm sure you still got placesto go, but you've probably I
don't know how many countrieshave you probably been to.
(28:53):
A lot of countries.
How many countries have youboth been to?
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Almost 50.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Wow.
Okay, so you've been almost 50,which every country is unique
in its own way.
They all have their owncultures.
That's got to be pretty fun.
I know you mentioned Spain andenjoying your time there.
Africa not quite as much Anyother particular place that
you've just been like.
Wow, I'm glad we stopped here.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
The Azores were one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Where is the Azores?
Speaker 2 (29:16):
They're a group of island 900 miles off of Spain
and they are Spanish owned.
They're all volcanic.
There's I think nine of them,might be six.
I think there's six or nine ofthem and they're all different
because they were all differentlike a couple million years
apart in their creation.
So they have differenttopography and different looks
and different feels.
Somehow they're subsidized orsomething by their government,
(29:39):
because we would go eat like afive-course meal and it'd be $20
a person and that was with thealcohol.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Hey, not bad.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
And each island has its own cheese.
They all make their own cheese,so I could call I'm a huge
cheese lover, so I could go tothe grocery store and get the
seven different cheeses from theseven different islands.
And one of them makes wine.
They make a volcanic wine.
There's no soil down by theshore but they plant the vines
in the rocks and there's so manynutrients there that they grow
(30:10):
and you can't import this wineanywhere.
You can only get it there onthat island.
So there's just so many reallycool things waterfalls and hot
springs so you could go sit inthe hot springs.
Every island was like thisreally neat little adventure and
it's filled with sea life.
It used to be the whalingcapital of the world.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Now that you've crossed the Pacific, you're in
French Polynesia.
Where are your travels takingyou next?
Speaker 2 (30:34):
So we'll go to this island chain is called the
Marquesas.
There's also the Tamatu, with alot of really neat atolls we
are scuba divers and we have adive compressor on board With a
lot of really neat atolls.
We are scuba divers and we havea dive compressor on board.
So we are really lookingforward to the Tamatus, which
have really beautifullybeautiful clear water and manta
rays and all kinds of sharks andreally really neat things to
(30:57):
see.
We did go diving when we werein the Galapagos and we got to
dive with hammerhead sharks.
That was really cool.
But after the Tamatus there'salso Gambia, which we may go to
those islands, and then we'll goto tahiti and bora bora,
beautiful bora bora is my.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
I always tell people when they ask me, hey, where's
your?
The one place you want to goand it's bora bora is like on my
list, you know just you cancome join us hey, yeah, I would
love that.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Bora bora just seems amazing, so I would love that we
do have a guest bedroom withyour own bathroom and everything
.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Oh, very nice.
That's.
That's wonderful Talk aboutthat.
The your home is out at sea.
You know it's on the ocean,it's in a boat.
How has that affected yourrelationship with your husband?
What's that kind of been likebeing this close all the time?
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Well, he is my best friend and he is my soulmate and
he is the most patient man inthe entire world, because I lose
it all the time.
I am the bravest chicken on theplanet.
I really am.
I'm out here, but I amconstantly not trusting, and
he's so competent that I reallyshouldn't be afraid of anything,
(32:03):
because anything that we'vealmost been seeking like twice
we could have sunk, but he fixedthe problem both times.
You know, there's just likenothing that he hasn't been able
to fix or repair and I havetotal and complete faith in him.
But, like I said, I'm a hugechicken and it's just the fact
that he puts up with me how canI not just worship the ground
that he walks on?
Because any other man would havethrown me overboard by now,
(32:24):
like, oh yeah, she slipped offsomewhere out at sea.
I looked for her.
I swear to God, I looked forher Like that's what anybody
else would do.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Not Daniel, he's keeping you around.
He must.
He obviously loves you too.
You're his soulmate as well, Ithink.
So that's fantastic, you know.
It amazes me because when I'vetalked to a few people who sail
and including, I think you know,probably my top episode was a
young lady who's out sailing byherself.
She's like 25.
In fact, I think I think she'sin French Polynesia now, from
what I remember seeing some ofher posts.
But it's amazing the things youhave to know as far as just all
(32:55):
the little mechanical things andhow to fix things.
And you have to know how to fixthings on the fly.
When you're out in the middleof the ocean and something's
going out, you can't just say,you know, if you're out there
far enough away, you got tolearn how to fix it right then
and there.
And just hearing you talk abouthim, about your husband, yeah,
I can tell he's got some skillsand he's.
You know, I I would be, I wouldfeel comfortable knowing he's
(33:17):
there too.
I wouldn't feel comfortablewith myself, but I'd feel
comfortable knowing he's aroundto take care of things.
So that's awesome.
And his nickname is BoatMacGyver.
Boat MacGyver, it's a greatnickname for him, it's perfect.
So I kind of want to go back toyour writing that you're doing a
little bit, because here youare, you're out sailing across
oceans and you're taking care ofthat and you've got your blog
(33:40):
that you write.
You said you mentioned youwrite a blog, things like that.
I know you do stuff on YouTubeand put out videos and things
like that.
I'm guessing you're out in theocean so you have time to do it.
But what's your writing likeout there on the ocean for you?
Is it just whenever you get achance, do things just come to
you?
What kind of a writer are you?
Do you have to have everythingprepped and planned, write an
outline first, or do you justkind of go?
What writing style, especiallybeing out on the ocean?
Speaker 2 (34:03):
I've never written an outline or prepared anything
and when I sit down to write,whatever I'm writing is inspired
, so it plays like a movie in myhead and I just write it down.
Like it's so weird, like thebook the Seven has seven
characters from different placesin the world, different
countries, continents, and whilethey are inspired by people or
(34:24):
places I know or knew or havebeen, and I did a lot of
research, like every occupation,every part of their culture,
their histories, their jobs,their occupations are all
fact-based.
So I did tons and tons ofresearch.
But the actual storyline I justsat down and, like I said, it
was a movie it played and Iwrote it down and the funny part
is I got to the ending.
(34:45):
I had no idea how the story wasgoing to end but it culminates
with all seven people comingtogether and I just got.
I was at my computer for likethree hours and I just couldn't
stop writing and I'm like cryingbecause the ending was so
awesome and it's such a twistthat I never saw coming.
I'm like, holy crap, this is soamazing.
And I'm like, holy crap, thisis so amazing and it's just
really strange.
So I don't, I can't explain mywriting style?
(35:06):
I really can't.
I love to write.
It's just my thoughts and mywords coming out onto the
keyboard, and I write almostevery single day, whether it's
my blog post or just a postabout where we are, what we're
doing, or it's my next book, Iwrite every single day.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
I had an author, an author on the show a while back
and he like knew his endingbefore he even started with his
first sentence.
You know, he kind of he had itall planned out new before he
even started.
It sounds like for you you'vejust started going at it and
that's amazing.
You got to the end and it gotyou all excited because you were
kind of living it as ithappened.
For you it's unbelievable I was.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
I was absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
That's, that's amazing.
All right, so tell me a few ofthe books.
I know you mentioned the seven,kind of what's the background
of the seven, what's it about?
And then maybe tell me a coupleof your nonfiction, maybe a
couple you know, your, yourchildren's books I know you've
got a few books and then whatyou got coming up.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
Okay.
So, yeah, the seven like I said.
Yeah, the seven, like I said,was on my author website,
aliceandgeishincom.
I have a story behind the storyfor every single character in
the seven.
So there are thousands ofbreeds of horses on this planet,
so each story person's story istied to a breed that comes from
(36:19):
their location.
So I talk about the breeds ofthe horses and how they evolved.
I talk about some of the actualhorses and how they evolved.
I talk about some of the actualculture and history from those
places.
One of the characters isactually a real person.
His name is Eduardo.
Well, yes, his name is Eduardoin real life and the story the
last names are different, but heactually came into my life.
So if you ever read the story,you're gonna read it and you're
like holy crap, this is theperson actually came to
(36:40):
Allison's farm in New Jersey.
Like I said, I don't know howit all came together, he just
did Okay.
So that's the seven You'reasking about.
My books Riding the Waves ofReality, tales of Turmoil and
Triumph is the first seven years, and I have the next book
finished, which is MediterraneanMayhem and Magic, and that's
(37:01):
about our time in theMediterranean and Dan is
finishing that up.
He's my editor.
He's a very good editor.
He puts in all the pictures, heformats it, he publishes it.
That should be done.
We hadn't had such a roughcrossing, it would have been
done by now, but he was a littlepreoccupied hand steering
across the Pacific, so I can'treally blame him.
And then I have two children'sbooks published One.
I have two children's bookspublished.
(37:23):
One is about what vaulting, thesport of vaulting, is, and it's
a little girl who has a dreamabout.
She sees somebody standing onthe back of our horse and she
keeps having it.
She's like, mama, why do I havethis dream?
I see somebody standing on theback of a horse.
She goes well, honey, when youwere little I took you to a farm
and they were doing gymnasticson horses and you saw somebody
stand on a horse.
And then she's like, oh my God,I have to do this.
(37:43):
And so it's her journeylearning about the sport of
vaulting and becoming a vaulter.
So it's kind of a realisticfiction.
And then I have a chapter book.
It's just a fictional story ofhas you know, magicians and
things in it.
It's a really fun story with alot of good morals.
It's about bullying and about,you know, people overcoming
bullying, because my son wasbullied really badly in school
(38:06):
so I kind of wrote that.
Based on that, my book that'scoming out soon is a mermaid
book I named.
I love mermaids.
I named my daughter CatherineAriel, ariel after the little
mermaid and I love mermaidstores.
So one day I was in a mermaidstore and I saw the most
beautiful painting of a mermaidchild I've ever seen in my life.
I mean it just took my breathaway and it was $4,000.
(38:27):
And obviously, living on a boat, I'm not going to buy a
painting.
But I said to Dan wow, I wonderif they have that in a print.
And some lady behind me goesyeah, we do.
The lady brought me over andthere's this tub full of prints
rolled up.
So for $10, I bought a print ofthis and on the airplane ride
home I have my new book out andI wrote the story of Sienna, an
(38:49):
early reader chapter book.
I mean again, I just looked atthe picture and I knew her name
was Sienna and I wrote that bookon the six-hour ride home.
So it sat for a couple of years.
And then I'm on Facebook and Isee this woman that we met
sailing.
We met her in Africa, tunisia,and they're Americans and we
were talking to them and I seeher name, barbara, and she was a
(39:12):
children's book illustrator andI'm like how cool is that?
And I saw a illustration shedoes for her children's book.
I'm like I sent her a messageBarbara, would you be interested
in illustrating my children'sbook about a mermaid?
And she said, well, send me themanuscript, I'll read it.
So I did and she goes I lovethis story, I will absolutely
illustrate it.
It wasn't my friend Barbara, itwas somebody else from England
(39:35):
who I have no reason to know heror her to be on my Facebook
page, and she's a seven-timeinternational award-winning
children's book illustrator fromEngland.
So she agreed to illustrate itand she is about to finish up
and that should be published inanother month or so.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
Wow, just hearing you talk about your books and what
you've done, you're an amazinglytalented person.
This is fun for me to hear whatyou've done and just how you
can just create the way you can.
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Well, thank you.
I don't know if it's a talentor just being really ADD and not
being able to focus in any oneplace.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
It could be a combination of a few of them,
right, yeah, but that's amazing,and I think it's really cool
that you've got that going foryou.
I mean, you've got Dan, who'syour editor, and he can, you
know, look at that sort of thingand put stuff together for you.
He's got that mechanicalengineer way about him,
obviously.
So that's, that's good.
So you both, you bothcompliment each other really
well, which which is great.
(40:35):
I love the fact that you'reyou're doing these books.
When you look back, you knowyou horse farms, you know
education, teaching, english,storytelling has there been any?
Is there any core values oranything that kind of just?
Speaker 2 (40:48):
remain constant through all of that?
I guess, just having faith thatwhatever direction you're going
in is the right one at themoment and that life is going to
change directions and you caneither fight it or you can
embrace it.
And I'm personally working onthe embracing part and I'm proud
of myself that I'm still here.
I'm really fortunate that I cando something that I love while
(41:08):
we're doing this the writing andthe picture taking.
You know, I guess life is whatyou make of it, and if you have
a dream, you need to go for it,because life's too short not to
go for it.
And so I think, just havingfaith in the direction you want
to go and doing it, Having faithand doing it.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
I love it.
All right, tell everybody wherethey can get your books.
Where can we?
I think you said you have awebsite, but where?
Where's the best place to getget ahold of your books?
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Actually, if you go to alisongeishancom, all my
books are listed there andthey're also on Amazon.
So if you did an author searchon Alison, actually, yeah, all
my books are there.
If you do a search on Amazonfor Allison Gieschen author,
then all my books should come up.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
And my final question to you.
This is a question I like toask everybody, because this is
an adventure podcast.
You've lived a lot ofadventures, especially the last
few years.
What does adventure mean to you?
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Let's see what does adventure mean to me?
It's really hard to nail thatone down, trying to nail a
mermaid's fins to the floor.
You know it's just flopping allover and you got the hammer and
you're trying to hit the nailon the head, but it's going to
be really hard.
I think adventure is somethingdifferent for everybody, because
for somebody who doesn't leavetheir house much, you know,
(42:20):
taking a walk in a park might bean adventure.
I think it's your level of howyou live life that defines
adventure, because everybodysays, well, you're really
adventurous, you just sailedacross an ocean, but yet that
woman that you talked aboutsailing by herself, now that's
really adventure.
I'm just relying on Dan to getme across.
(42:41):
So I think adventure is pushingthe limits of what you think
you can do and seeing if you cando it.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
It's a great way to look at it.
Alison, this has been fantastic.
Thank you so much for coming onJourney with Jake.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Well, thanks for having me, Jake.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
A huge thank you to Alison Gieschen for joining me
today and sharing her incrediblejourney, both on the water and
on land.
Be sure to visit her websiteincredible journey both on the
water and on land.
Be sure to visit her websitealisongeishancom, or head over
to Amazon to find any of herbooks.
You'll be glad you did.
I want to take a moment just tosay how truly grateful I am for
(43:17):
the chance to share Journeywith Jake with all of you.
Your support means the world tome and I'd love it if you could
share the show with a friend,family member or anyone who
loves a good story.
I would really appreciate it.
Next week we're switching gearsbut keeping the adventure alive
as I talk with Kahete ShettyI'm just going to say Shetty.
She is a 20-year-old hobbyhorsing enthusiast who's
(43:37):
redefining what it means tofollow your passion.
Trust me, you've never seen orheard anything quite like this.
You won't want to miss it Untilnext time.
Just remember, it's not alwaysabout the destination as it is
about the journey.
Take care, everybody.
She's circumnavigating the globe on a
sailboat with her husband,writes books that span every
genre and previously ran a horsefarm.
Allison Gation doesn't justlive stories, she creates them.
Get ready for adventure on land, sea and the page with Allison
Gation.
Welcome to Journey with Jake.
This is a podcast aboutadventure and how, through our
(00:21):
adventures, we can overcome thechallenges of life that come our
way.
While I expect you will learnsome things about different
adventures, this show willentertain you.
Each episode will feature adifferent guest or guests, as
they share experiences andstories from the different
adventures they have been on.
Not only will you beentertained, but you will also
hear the failures and trialseach guest faces and what they
(00:42):
have done or are doing toovercome the hardships that come
their way.
My goal is to take each of uson a journey through the
experiences of my guests, withthe hope that you'll be
entertained and inspired toovercome your day-to-day
challenges.
After all, it's not all aboutthe destination, as it is about
(01:12):
the journey.
Welcome to Journey with Jake.
I'm so glad you're here.
Before we dive in, make sureyou're following me on Instagram
at journeywithjakepodcast andcheck out my YouTube channel for
video versions of theseincredible stories and, of
course, hit that subscribebutton wherever you listen to
podcasts so you never miss anepisode.
Journey With Jake is proud tobe part of the PodMatch Podcast
(01:34):
Network.
Check out PodMatchcom forwardslash network for some great
shows from other podcasters likemyself.
Today's guest is Alison Gieschen, an author with a wide range of
books, an adventure currentlycircumnavigating the globe by
sailboat with her husband, dan,and someone who lived on a farm
and grew up on the backs ofhorses.
We'll talk about life on theopen sea, her deep love for
(01:57):
horses and the creative drivethat fuels all her adventures.
If you enjoy this conversation,you'll also love episode 163
with Brandon and Amber Morse,another inspiring story of a
couple who sold everything tosell the world with their family
.
Okay, let's get to myconversation with Allison
Gieschen.
All right, this is exciting forme.
Today I've got Allison Gieschenwith me today.
(02:19):
Allison, welcome to Journeywith Jake.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Thank you, jake, it's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I love that you're coming from your boat.
You're on a boat currently.
Tell us, yeah, before we getgoing into, we're obviously
going to talk about that, butwhere are you currently?
Tell us, kind of, give us thatpart first.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Okay, well, currently we are on a small island called
Hiva Oa in the FrenchPolynesians, and this was the
very first island chain wearrived at when we crossed the.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Pacific Ocean from Panama.
Okay, so you went Panama acrossthe ocean to this location in
French Polynesia.
How long did that take you?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Well, we were supposed to take around maybe 25
days, 27 days, but we had tomake an emergency landing in the
Galapagos.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Okay, maybe we'll talk about that here in a minute
.
This is part of the adventure,part of the fun.
Okay, wow, okay.
So you had to make a littleemergency stop.
Obviously, we're going to talkabout your sailing life, but I'd
like to know a little bit aboutwho you are, kind of what's
going on with you, allison?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
So, if you don't mind , take us back a little bit.
Give us a little background onon who allison is, where you're
from, all that good stuff, okay,so I?
I the first half of my life, ornot half half of my childhood
until the ninth grade.
I grew up on a hundred acrefarm in upstate new york.
We had every animal known toman and gardens and all organic
stuff and raised everything thatwe ate.
It was a really uniqueupbringing.
(03:43):
Horse horses were involved and Iwas competitive in my 10-11.
I was seriously competitive inthe horse industry.
Then my dad got transplantedthrough IBM to Charlotte, north
Carolina so I became asoutherner but I was able to
bring a couple horses with meoff that big farm and I
continued to compete and Iactually qualified for the
(04:06):
screening trials for the JuniorOlympics.
But that wasn't meant to be.
So I got into sailing and itstarted on a lake in North
Carolina, a giant man-made lake.
When my mom and dad retired theymoved to New Bern, north
Carolina, and my mom decided shewas going to be the fastest
woman sailor in New Bern, northCarolina in their competitive
(04:27):
Camlico Sound racing.
The problem was there were noother women, so she just decided
she's going to be the fastestsailor period and this is
important because I went to joinher for a race, this big
Michelob Cup race, and my cousinbrought this friend of his with
him from Philadelphia who wasmy husband, and we met at that
sailboat race and that weekendwe spent the whole weekend
(04:48):
together.
Right before he was leavingbecause I was going back to
Charlotte, he was going back toPhilly.
He said you know, my dream isto sail around the world someday
.
I said mine too.
Let's get married.
And he proposed four days laterand I said yes.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Wow, what a story.
I love it.
Horses were big for you thenyou were competitive.
Now, when you say competitivelike jumping horses vaulting, is
that what they call it,Vaulting?
I'm not sure what they call it.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Okay, so I did eventing, which is dressage,
cross country jumping andstadium jumping, and then they
combine the three scores andthat is an Olympic event.
But when Dan and I got married,we built a horse farm and I my
sister got me into this crazysport called equestrian vaulting
, which is gymnastics on horses.
So I totally changed direction.
(05:35):
I started training thesevaulting horses and I started a
program and we got to be thebiggest team on the East coast.
I ended up going to two worldequestrian games, which are like
the Olympics they're held everyfour years.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Just seven riding disciplines in a different
country In 2018, my daughtertook eighth in the world in Pas
de Deux in one of the events inequestrian vaulting, wow, okay,
we probably could have had awhole, nother separate show just
about the whole horse thing.
Because I knew you had grown upwith horses but I didn't
understand to the extent of itYou're competitive, had to move
(06:07):
away, took a couple of horseswith you but gotten, then got
involved in sailing and then.
But once you got married to DanDaniel, I think his name, your
husband then you got horsesagain.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
You kind of you and Daniel have your own horse farm,
if I'm not mistaken, right.
Well, I never got rid of him.
I took my horse to college withme, kept it on a farm and still
continue to ride and teach.
And then I gave him a horse fora wedding present and he's like
what do I do with this?
Because he didn't really rideand I'm like I don't know.
But he loved ice hockey so I'mlike why don't you try polo?
(06:38):
It's like ice hockey on horses,and we actually found a startup
program in our area.
He became so possessed withthis sport.
He got nicknamed Frank in poloand he became one of the best
local players, you know,traveling to all the different
fields and playing in games, andhe was actually really, really
good at it.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
That's amazing.
Wow.
Okay, so you've horses.
What is it with horses, likewhat?
What's the fascination for youand horses?
Why do you love horses so much?
I've never had a horse, I don'tknow.
Tell me about it.
What do horses mean so much toyou?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
My earliest memories of anything in life are being on
the back of a horse.
My mom actually had me on ahorse before I could walk, when
a baby would be born on our farm.
I would sit there with thatbaby all night long and cradle
its little head in my lap.
I would spend hours, I wouldget on my horse and just ride
out.
We're in the middle of nowhere,upstate New York, in the
Catskill Mountains, and my momnever said where are you going?
(07:32):
How long are you going to begone?
I would just get on my horseand I would just go.
And they're just so ingrainedinto me Like I just have this
bond with them.
That's crazy and I guess if youread my novel the Seven even
though it's not about me or anyparticular person's bond you
will understand how horses bondwith humans and how that exists
(07:54):
and happens.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
And that's a good point, because I know a lot of
people have their pets, theirdogs, cats, whatever, but horses
.
I know a lot of people I've hada few people on who've had
relationships with horses.
There seems to be somethingspecial about a horse as well
and for me, you know, I look ata horse and they're majestic and
they're big and you knowthey're different than just a
dog and you can have some prettybig dogs, but horses are bigger
(08:20):
.
Tell me, I mean, what's thebonding part?
How does that kind of work?
I mean, are they just like, canthey be like puppies?
I mean, what's it like with ahorse?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
They're very different than dogs.
I mean, I had the most amazingrelationship with my dogs as
well.
They were, you know, just partof me.
My dog actually got on and rodethe horse with me.
I'd go on trail rides and takemy pug Jack Russell mix in front
of me on the horse.
Like you said, they're biganimals so you don't have the
(08:50):
same intimate relationship thatyou do with a dog climbing on
your lap, but they stillinteract with you in a really
special way.
For instance, every time I tookmy 2,000 pound draft horse out
for vaulting, first thing hewould do is he'd come up to me
and he'd take his nose, hisgiant nostril, and put it around
my ear and he just took thisbig inhale and it was just like
he knew my scent.
You know, he knew everythingabout me and he just.
We had a communication that wasso refined.
(09:11):
He's on the end of a lunge linegoing around in a circle and I
could move my head in adirection.
I could take my head fromcentral and move it over my
shoulder and he would respond toit.
Or I could turn my bodyslightly one way and he would
respond to it, or I could turnmy body slightly one way and he
would respond to it.
If I made a single sound, if Iwent, he would stop dead, no
matter what was going on.
He would stop dead and not moveuntil I told him to move again.
(09:33):
I mean, that's pretty amazing,considering their size and you
know their nature.
That's the best I can explainit, I guess.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
No, I love it.
No, thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I just kind of want to know a little bit about that
with you.
You also kind of mentioned youmentioned a book called the
Seven.
You're an author, you're awriter.
Where did that come about foryou?
Was it something that you knowin school?
Did you kind of pick it up inschool?
You know, kind of give me thewhole elementary school, because
the kids are a lot more fun.
High school English they hateEnglish, you know.
You got to get them before thatage and install all of the
writing.
So that's what I did.
I wrote my first novel back in1980-something, just a fictional
novel.
And then I wrote a nonfictionabout one of my draft horses,
(10:20):
one of my vaulting horses, andthen from there the books just
started coming.
And now that I'm on a sailboatand I have all this time to
write and these amazingadventures, I've written the
first five years of our sailingjourney.
That's published on Amazon.
I have the sequel written andwe're publishing that soon.
I have a children's mermaidbook that's coming out in a
month.
I just I write all the time andthen I blog and I, you know, do
(10:42):
travel journals.
I write all the time, then Iblog and I do travel journals.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
I think what's amazing is the different types.
You mentioned children's books,you mentioned fiction, novel,
nonfiction.
You run the whole gamut ofthings.
Do you find there's one thatyou particularly like, or do you
enjoy it all?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
I just write what I'm inspired to write.
I'm very ADD.
I'm all over the place likeRicochet Rabbit, so when an idea
strikes me, it becomes a book.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Has there been any?
I don't know.
You said you were an Englishteacher.
Was there?
What's what inspired that?
Was you have any?
Did you have any teachersyourself or anybody that
inspired you to kind of go thatroute?
I?
Speaker 2 (11:20):
think the reason why I wanted to become a teacher one
is I loved writing.
I had three children.
They were 18 months apart, sothey were like separated by one
grade each, and they were goingto elementary school and I
wanted my summers off.
I wanted to be able to spendthem with my kids and same
holidays, and it just made senseto be a teacher.
I could work in their schoolwith them.
(11:41):
So when they were in elementaryschool I was actually the
computer teacher because theydidn't have a position for me
anywhere else, but it wasperfect because I was there with
my kids every day.
It was wonderful to have thesummers off and that's what I
did.
Most of my vaulting program wasduring the summers, so I had
camps and we traveled tocompetitions and all that kind
of stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Okay, you had a lot going on because you had.
You know you're running thehorse farm, you're a teacher,
you have three kids, 18 monthsapart each of them, which you
know one grade apart for each ofthem.
I'm guessing they're all.
Are they all grown up out ofthe house now?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
They are and they're all best friends, which I love,
and they all have one to twokids all around the same age, so
the cousins.
It's really neat to see all thebabies together.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Boys, girls.
What are your kids?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Two boys and one girl .
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Very good, nice.
Two boys and one girl.
You got some grandkids andyou're, in the meantime, you're
on a boat.
You're out sailing the worldwith your husband.
How did this come about?
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Well, like you know, I spent that night.
That last night we weretogether after that sailboat
race.
He's like I want to sail aroundthe world.
And I actually, on my farm inupstate New York one day, I was
just walking out to the ridingring and I pictured a boat and I
pictured being on the ocean andI thought how cool would it be
to sail around the world someday.
And I don't know where thatinspiration came from, because
there wasn't water anywhere nearus.
It just came to me like avision, like I want to learn how
(13:07):
to sail.
I someday, I just want to sailaround the world.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Boom, and here you are making it happen.
When did you start?
2015, 16?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
2018.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
2018.
Okay, so you've been out there,well, the last seven years then
, or so, yeah, seven years, wow.
Okay.
So you've been out there doingit the last seven years, then,
or so, yeah, seven years, Wow.
Okay, so you've been out theredoing it.
And I know you met your husbandat a sailboat race, so I'm
guessing he's got some sailingexperience as well.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
He was a merchant marine graduate from Kings Point
and he was on their sailingteam and he won three national
championships in dinghy racing.
Not big boats, dinghy racing.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yeah, he's got a lot of experience, which is super
helpful, going out and gettingthe boat, okay, wow, this is
amazing.
So where, okay, where, did youstart, kind of where?
What was the first experience?
What was the first majorcrossing you did?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Well, that's kind of a rough story.
I didn't want to cross my firstocean all by ourselves, so you
can join something called arally, and a rally is a group of
people sailors that gettogether.
It's a professionalorganization that you join.
There's several of them.
We join the ARC rally.
They help you prepare.
You have to check off all thesesafety equipment lists and
(14:15):
things like that, and then youall leave together to cross the
ocean.
So our first crossing was allset up, we're all ready to go,
but we heard a strange noise inour propeller and Dan wasn't
sure that he wanted to crosswith something wrong with the
boat.
So we went back to shorebecause we were paralleling the
coast, going south, down fromVirginia down towards North
Carolina.
He said let's just go get itchecked out.
(14:36):
Well, that turned into a 10-daydelay, oh dear.
So everybody else was gettingacross and finally the weather
router was.
We have a weather router whotells you when it's good to go
and what the conditions aregoing to be.
And he finally said okay,there's a good window
opportunity.
If you leave in the next couplehours, you can get across the
Gulf Stream, which isnotoriously rough, and you
(14:56):
should be fine.
Well, he was dead wrong and wegot across the Gulf Stream just
fine, and then we got caughtbetween two storms, like you
know the movie the Perfect Storm.
You were in the Perfect Storm,we were in 20-foot waves and
they were being compressed bytwo storms pushing them together
and 20-foot waves were crashingonto the bow of our boat and it
just was horrific.
(15:17):
I mean, I just I was horrified,I really thought this is it,
we're going to die the firstocean crossing.
It actually ripped the dinghyoff the front of our boat.
It ripped the handrails out ofthe boat through our dinghy, out
through the lifelines, whichbroke the lifelines.
We lost a solar panel, thewindsurfer, a whole bunch of
stuff.
We had $14,000 worth of damageand we had to turn and go back
(15:39):
to shore.
So we ended 20 miles from wherewe started in North Carolina
and we did 500 miles and endedup 20 miles from where we
started and I was severelydamaged from that.
I just I didn't think I couldever cross the ocean again.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I was gonna say here you are sitting in French
Polynesia as we do this podcast.
That experience though, I meanI would have wanted to quit.
It sounds like you kind ofwanted to quit.
You had that in your mind.
How did you overcome that?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Well, I didn't want to quit, but my fear was so
great that it was reallyweighing on me.
And we did get across.
I made myself get across.
And we got to the VirginIslands and we were getting
ready to make the trek toBermuda and then all the way
across to Europe.
And I'd wake up every morningand say today's the day.
(16:29):
I'm going to tell Dan I can'tdo it, I'm just too fearful,
it's just too stressful.
He's got to get somebody elseto crew with him.
I'll fly over, I can't do it, Ican't do it.
Well, we pulled into a harbor inSt Martin, three boats away.
Now there's a hundred boats.
In this harbor, three boatsaway, was our mentor and the
person who we got all oureducation from and prepared to
(16:49):
be liveaboards and cross oceans.
And we met him at a boat show.
He was a presenter and I hadall five of his books and I
actually paid to go on atraining passage with him, a
thousand mile training passagein heavy weather, just to
prepare to be on a boat, becauseDan had great sailing
experience.
I had no experience on oceans.
I said, dan, I need to do thiswith this man, I need to do this
.
So we went sailing with JohnKretschmer and he said you two
(17:12):
are going to be fine, you'regreat, you're ready to go so
fast forward to the crossing andthe horrible storm and me being
just emotionally a wreck.
And we pull into a harbor andthree boats away is John
Kretschmer.
We go over there for happy hourand John goes hey, how's it
going, allison?
And I'm like it's really bad,john.
(17:33):
We just had this reallyhorrible time.
I'm so scared now and I don'tthink I can ever sail again
across an ocean.
And he starts laughing and I'mlike what Excuse me?
He goes do you have any ideahow lucky you are?
I'm like no, and he goes do youknow how many people have an
experience like that?
They instantly sell the boatand they're like okay, I'm done.
(17:53):
And they they're done.
You survived it, your boat didfine, your husband did fine and
you're still out here becauseyou know what.
The chances of that happeningagain are like zero because you
made it, you did it.
And he was the only person inthe world that could have looked
me in the eye and said that tome and I would have believed it
(18:14):
wow, I I see a few things here.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
I see just how fortunate you were that he was
there.
Like you said, he was the onlyone that could have said that to
you and, and you would believeit, the only person in the world
and he was three boats away,100, and he's three boats away
because there's no, yeah,otherwise you would still have
that fear and that you know andand trust me, I'm guessing
there's time he's still, thefear creeps in.
I don't think you would be ohyeah normal if that didn't.
(18:38):
That didn't happen, but I thinkit's so fortunate that he was
there.
There's a lot of lessons.
I'm taking some.
This is why I love doing thisshow, because I I learned so
many things when I talk topeople and I'm sitting there
taking away lessons too, aboutjust keep going and hey, you
survived and it builds somethingand it helped you learn
something, and it's just amazingthat they did it.
So then boom you.
(18:58):
You left there and went acrossto to Europe.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yes, we did.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I want to ask if there's anything about sailing
that you just absolutely love.
Is there part of it that justbrings so much joy to you?
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Definitely landing in a new harbor, in a new country
or a new Island and being ableto look out and say, today, this
is where I live, because thisis our home.
So every time you pull intosome exotic, beautiful,
wonderful new place, you, justyou live there and it's just the
most incredible feeling.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
How long do you stay in particular places?
Speaker 2 (19:32):
The reason that we stay someplace for, let's say,
three to five months is it'salways waiting for part that we
need to repair our boat.
We've been in five countriesnow for three to five months
waiting for parts.
Otherwise it's usually just inand out, maybe a week or two,
and then on to the next place.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
When you have those moments where you get into a
place for a week or so, orwhatever the case may be, what
kind of things are you doingthere?
Are you taking advantage ofseeing the sites and being part
of the culture?
What are you doing, you and Dan, when you're in these places?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
It really depends where we are.
For instance, we got stuck inCape Verde, which is the little
island off of the coast ofAfrica.
It's down, I guess, aboutmidway down Africa.
That was a really hard threemonths because there just really
wasn't much to see or do thereand some very nefarious things
went on.
Let's just say that was areally really tough three months
(20:22):
.
Say that was a really reallytough three months, but for
instance, when we were in Spain,a Coruna, spain, that was a
wonderful place and we did a lotof touring and bike riding
because we have collapsiblebikes on our boat so we can take
them to shore and just goexploring.
So it really depends where weare stuck as to what we do.
Oh, we were stuck in Irelandfor two years because of COVID
(20:44):
COVID hit.
We were stuck there for twoyears.
Oh, wow, now in Ireland for twoyears because of COVID COVID
hit.
We were stuck there for twoyears.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Oh wow Now that's a great place to be stuck, Okay
good.
I know it well.
I was going to say you probablylearned a lot about Ireland.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yes, we rented a car and drove all the way around the
entire island, so that wasreally neat.
And we also got to house sit ina place the size of Downton
Abbey for three months becausethe owners were traveling in
Australia.
That was absolutely incredibleto be on a 200-acre mansion on
Bantry Bay, which is SouthernIreland, and just live in this
(21:20):
beautiful place.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
It's amazing, while you're doing all this traveling
and you're stuck in certainplaces waiting on parts and
things like that, what about thekids and the grandkids?
How often do you see them?
Kind of what happens.
Have they been to visit youanywhere?
Like what's going on with thatllamas in the Caribbean.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Our children are not fans of us doing this.
They would love if we werethere, but thanks to FaceTime, I
can see them every day, if Iwant, and talk to them and know
what's going on in their lives.
And we talk every day.
(21:56):
I talk to one of them every day, at least one of them every day
, and we have Starlink on ourphone.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Perfect, so you got connection all the time.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
And my mom is 95.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
As you know, she's a sailor and she calls me all the
time.
It's amazing today, with thetechnology, just how we're still
connected, you know, and it'sso nice that we still have that
connection.
All right, any other moments ofI don't know, I don't want to
say if it's fear or just anyother tough moments.
I mean, obviously storms soundlike those are pretty bad, I'm
guessing.
When things break down andyou're in the middle of the
ocean, maybe that's a littlescary.
(22:31):
Any other moments or any otherexperiences you can share with
us?
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Yes, crossing the Pacific was our fourth ocean
crossing and it was horrendous.
All of my worst fears, otherthan sinking, absolutely came
true.
So the first thing thathappened is my freezer went and
that's where I had all myprepared meals.
When it's rough, you don't wantto start having to put a meal
together, so what you do is youprepare everything in small
(22:54):
packages, put it in your freezerand then you can pull it out
and heat it up and cook it.
So before we even pulled out ofPanama, the freezer went.
I'm like great, we're going tocross an ocean for 30 days and
the freezer went.
I'm like great, we're going tocross an ocean for 30 days and
I'm going to have to, likephysically prepare every meal
and, plus the fresh stuff, onlylasts a week and then we're
going to be eating out of cans.
Like it's going to be miserable.
But normally you can fish, whichwas some consolation, but it
(23:17):
was too rough to fish.
We couldn't, didn't put afishing line out one single time
because it was so rough.
But we didn't even make it tobegin our journey very far when
our jib, which is our big sailout front that we rely on,
especially for going downwindand this is a downwind passage.
It ripped to shreds because theforestay which holds the jib we
(23:38):
had just paid seven thousanddollars to repair and the guy
didn't put loctite and all 40screws holding that together
fell out.
So our sail like slid down andripped to shreds, which is why
we made the emergency landing inthe Galapagos.
Also, our engine was giving ustrouble.
It was leaking oil and Dan wasafraid that we were going to
lose our engine.
So we went to the Galapagos andwe spent two weeks there.
(24:00):
We paid like $600 to get thesail fixed.
It was $1,200 just to dropanchor.
We paid to have the enginefixed.
We thought we're all good to go.
So we set off again.
Now we're closer.
We're maybe 24 days away fromFrench Polynesia.
We had our sail up.
Well, the bottom of the horseday fell out and our sail got
(24:21):
caught and ripped again and itwas ripped so badly A second
time that we had to take it,take it down altogether.
So now we don't have like oneof our most important sails.
So we've got our main and thisreally tiny stay sail, but we're
like it's okay, we can stillsail, we're still alive.
We're still alive, we're stillin float, afloat, we can make
this well.
The other biggest nightmare forme is if we lose our autopilot,
(24:43):
because then you have to handsteer, and these big sailboats
are not easy to hand steer inbig waves and with only two
people you can't hand steer 24hours a day.
It would just be absolutelymiserable.
So halfway across our autopilotwent and we still had 650 miles
to go.
I was really traumatized.
I'm like you know, dan, whatare we going to do?
Like I can't do this.
(25:11):
And so this poor man had to handsteer for like three hours at a
time and then I'd take over formaybe a half hour.
It was so physically difficultI could only last like a half an
hour at a time, and then everynight we would have to heave to.
We'd have to turn the jib, keepthe main sail on one side, turn
into the wind and then backwithin the jib up front, and it
keeps you pointed into the windand you don't have to steer, you
just float.
Fortunately the current wasgoing with us, so we were still
doing like two miles an hour inthe right direction.
(25:33):
So we could sleep at night,wake up in the morning and then
start all over again.
And that was good until oursteering started going, which is
my other big, huge nightmare.
Like what happens when you losesteering on your boat, like
what do you do?
You have to get helicopteredoff the boat.
Well, dan said, oh my God,there's this noise in our
steering cable.
This is really bad.
It means it could go at anysecond.
So we had to heave to and hehad to spend a whole day taking
(25:56):
apart the steering column, allthe parts of the boat to follow
the wires all the way through tothe back of the boat where the
rudder is.
And thank God he's a mechanicalengineer and he found the
problem and something hadloosened and he tightened it and
got the steering back together.
The freezer going, the rip sails, the engine, the autopilot and
the steering were like fivemajor catastrophes.
(26:18):
But we made it and we wereexhausted and it was just never
a smooth, calm day Like wedidn't have one single day where
we sat up on the deck andenjoyed the weather and the
views and the dolphins playing.
The dolphins didn't even comevisit us.
Never have we crossed an oceanand not had dolphins playing in
our bow wake.
And then we get to FrenchPolynesia.
(26:39):
We're here three days andthat's when the tsunami came and
we had to go back out to seaand wait for the tsunami to pass
.
So there's nothing like icecream on the cake when you throw
a tsunami into that equation.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Oh, my goodness, wow, okay, so much happened there.
But here you are, you'retalking to me, you're smiling.
What kind of things did youlearn from this?
I mean what?
I mean?
Why do you keep?
Why do you still have the smileon your face?
I mean, that's like a rough,rough way to have things happen.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
My mother.
My mother told me yesterday shegoes, alison, this is all your
fault.
And I'm like, why is that,mother?
And she goes?
Because you just told me thosewere all your biggest fears and
when you put that kind ofthought out into the universe,
you're making it happen.
And then she told me she'sgoing to enroll me in this
(27:29):
course, about positive thinking.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Your mother is very wise.
I love that, you know it's.
You know the whole manifestingthing and I, I subscribed to a
lot of that and I, I believe ina lot.
That's that's so funny that youknow that she brought that up
and you know that, yeah, there'syour worst fears all came, you
know, came to pass, but here youare.
You made it to French Polynesia.
I don't even think you've evenhad any time to even get out and
(27:50):
explore yet, so I'm hopingyou'll be able to enjoy what you
see around there.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
We rented a Jeep two days ago.
We have a friend that'sactually here also, because you
meet sailors and you end uparriving in a lot of the same
ports, and so our really goodfriend, eric and Dan and I
rented a Jeep and there's onlyone road to go from one side of
the island to the other one roadand we did that one road and
got to the other side and sawthe island and it's absolutely
(28:15):
spectacular.
I just put out the video todayof part one of seeing this
island, hiva'oa, and the historyhere is incredible and the
stories of the villages and theremain.
You can walk through theremains and see the tiki
sculptures and everything andthe people here.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
You know what they did with their enemies when they
conquered the neighboringtribes they ate them oh goodness
okay yeah, so we learned allabout that wow, and I would okay
with all of thiscircumnavigating the globe that
you've done.
I'm sure you still got placesto go, but you've probably I
don't know how many countrieshave you probably been to.
(28:53):
A lot of countries.
How many countries have youboth been to?
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Almost 50.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Wow.
Okay, so you've been almost 50,which every country is unique
in its own way.
They all have their owncultures.
That's got to be pretty fun.
I know you mentioned Spain andenjoying your time there.
Africa not quite as much Anyother particular place that
you've just been like.
Wow, I'm glad we stopped here.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
The Azores were one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Where is the Azores?
Speaker 2 (29:16):
They're a group of island 900 miles off of Spain
and they are Spanish owned.
They're all volcanic.
There's I think nine of them,might be six.
I think there's six or nine ofthem and they're all different
because they were all differentlike a couple million years
apart in their creation.
So they have differenttopography and different looks
and different feels.
Somehow they're subsidized orsomething by their government,
(29:39):
because we would go eat like afive-course meal and it'd be $20
a person and that was with thealcohol.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Hey, not bad.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
And each island has its own cheese.
They all make their own cheese,so I could call I'm a huge
cheese lover, so I could go tothe grocery store and get the
seven different cheeses from theseven different islands.
And one of them makes wine.
They make a volcanic wine.
There's no soil down by theshore but they plant the vines
in the rocks and there's so manynutrients there that they grow
(30:10):
and you can't import this wineanywhere.
You can only get it there onthat island.
So there's just so many reallycool things waterfalls and hot
springs so you could go sit inthe hot springs.
Every island was like thisreally neat little adventure and
it's filled with sea life.
It used to be the whalingcapital of the world.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Now that you've crossed the Pacific, you're in
French Polynesia.
Where are your travels takingyou next?
Speaker 2 (30:34):
So we'll go to this island chain is called the
Marquesas.
There's also the Tamatu, with alot of really neat atolls we
are scuba divers and we have adive compressor on board With a
lot of really neat atolls.
We are scuba divers and we havea dive compressor on board.
So we are really lookingforward to the Tamatus, which
have really beautifullybeautiful clear water and manta
rays and all kinds of sharks andreally really neat things to
(30:57):
see.
We did go diving when we werein the Galapagos and we got to
dive with hammerhead sharks.
That was really cool.
But after the Tamatus there'salso Gambia, which we may go to
those islands, and then we'll goto tahiti and bora bora,
beautiful bora bora is my.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
I always tell people when they ask me, hey, where's
your?
The one place you want to goand it's bora bora is like on my
list, you know just you cancome join us hey, yeah, I would
love that.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Bora bora just seems amazing, so I would love that we
do have a guest bedroom withyour own bathroom and everything
.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Oh, very nice.
That's.
That's wonderful Talk aboutthat.
The your home is out at sea.
You know it's on the ocean,it's in a boat.
How has that affected yourrelationship with your husband?
What's that kind of been likebeing this close all the time?
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Well, he is my best friend and he is my soulmate and
he is the most patient man inthe entire world, because I lose
it all the time.
I am the bravest chicken on theplanet.
I really am.
I'm out here, but I amconstantly not trusting, and
he's so competent that I reallyshouldn't be afraid of anything,
(32:03):
because anything that we'vealmost been seeking like twice
we could have sunk, but he fixedthe problem both times.
You know, there's just likenothing that he hasn't been able
to fix or repair and I havetotal and complete faith in him.
But, like I said, I'm a hugechicken and it's just the fact
that he puts up with me how canI not just worship the ground
that he walks on?
Because any other man would havethrown me overboard by now,
(32:24):
like, oh yeah, she slipped offsomewhere out at sea.
I looked for her.
I swear to God, I looked forher Like that's what anybody
else would do.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Not Daniel, he's keeping you around.
He must.
He obviously loves you too.
You're his soulmate as well, Ithink.
So that's fantastic, you know.
It amazes me because when I'vetalked to a few people who sail
and including, I think you know,probably my top episode was a
young lady who's out sailing byherself.
She's like 25.
In fact, I think I think she'sin French Polynesia now, from
what I remember seeing some ofher posts.
But it's amazing the things youhave to know as far as just all
(32:55):
the little mechanical things andhow to fix things.
And you have to know how to fixthings on the fly.
When you're out in the middleof the ocean and something's
going out, you can't just say,you know, if you're out there
far enough away, you got tolearn how to fix it right then
and there.
And just hearing you talk abouthim, about your husband, yeah,
I can tell he's got some skillsand he's.
You know, I I would be, I wouldfeel comfortable knowing he's
(33:17):
there too.
I wouldn't feel comfortablewith myself, but I'd feel
comfortable knowing he's aroundto take care of things.
So that's awesome.
And his nickname is BoatMacGyver.
Boat MacGyver, it's a greatnickname for him, it's perfect.
So I kind of want to go back toyour writing that you're doing a
little bit, because here youare, you're out sailing across
oceans and you're taking care ofthat and you've got your blog
(33:40):
that you write.
You said you mentioned youwrite a blog, things like that.
I know you do stuff on YouTubeand put out videos and things
like that.
I'm guessing you're out in theocean so you have time to do it.
But what's your writing likeout there on the ocean for you?
Is it just whenever you get achance, do things just come to
you?
What kind of a writer are you?
Do you have to have everythingprepped and planned, write an
outline first, or do you justkind of go?
What writing style, especiallybeing out on the ocean?
Speaker 2 (34:03):
I've never written an outline or prepared anything
and when I sit down to write,whatever I'm writing is inspired
, so it plays like a movie in myhead and I just write it down.
Like it's so weird, like thebook the Seven has seven
characters from different placesin the world, different
countries, continents, and whilethey are inspired by people or
(34:24):
places I know or knew or havebeen, and I did a lot of
research, like every occupation,every part of their culture,
their histories, their jobs,their occupations are all
fact-based.
So I did tons and tons ofresearch.
But the actual storyline I justsat down and, like I said, it
was a movie it played and Iwrote it down and the funny part
is I got to the ending.
(34:45):
I had no idea how the story wasgoing to end but it culminates
with all seven people comingtogether and I just got.
I was at my computer for likethree hours and I just couldn't
stop writing and I'm like cryingbecause the ending was so
awesome and it's such a twistthat I never saw coming.
I'm like, holy crap, this is soamazing.
And I'm like, holy crap, thisis so amazing and it's just
really strange.
So I don't, I can't explain mywriting style?
(35:06):
I really can't.
I love to write.
It's just my thoughts and mywords coming out onto the
keyboard, and I write almostevery single day, whether it's
my blog post or just a postabout where we are, what we're
doing, or it's my next book, Iwrite every single day.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
I had an author, an author on the show a while back
and he like knew his endingbefore he even started with his
first sentence.
You know, he kind of he had itall planned out new before he
even started.
It sounds like for you you'vejust started going at it and
that's amazing.
You got to the end and it gotyou all excited because you were
kind of living it as ithappened.
For you it's unbelievable I was.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
I was absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
That's, that's amazing.
All right, so tell me a few ofthe books.
I know you mentioned the seven,kind of what's the background
of the seven, what's it about?
And then maybe tell me a coupleof your nonfiction, maybe a
couple you know, your, yourchildren's books I know you've
got a few books and then whatyou got coming up.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
Okay.
So, yeah, the seven like I said.
Yeah, the seven, like I said,was on my author website,
aliceandgeishincom.
I have a story behind the storyfor every single character in
the seven.
So there are thousands ofbreeds of horses on this planet,
so each story person's story istied to a breed that comes from
(36:19):
their location.
So I talk about the breeds ofthe horses and how they evolved.
I talk about some of the actualhorses and how they evolved.
I talk about some of the actualculture and history from those
places.
One of the characters isactually a real person.
His name is Eduardo.
Well, yes, his name is Eduardoin real life and the story the
last names are different, but heactually came into my life.
So if you ever read the story,you're gonna read it and you're
like holy crap, this is theperson actually came to
(36:40):
Allison's farm in New Jersey.
Like I said, I don't know howit all came together, he just
did Okay.
So that's the seven You'reasking about.
My books Riding the Waves ofReality, tales of Turmoil and
Triumph is the first seven years, and I have the next book
finished, which is MediterraneanMayhem and Magic, and that's
(37:01):
about our time in theMediterranean and Dan is
finishing that up.
He's my editor.
He's a very good editor.
He puts in all the pictures, heformats it, he publishes it.
That should be done.
We hadn't had such a roughcrossing, it would have been
done by now, but he was a littlepreoccupied hand steering
across the Pacific, so I can'treally blame him.
And then I have two children'sbooks published One.
I have two children's bookspublished.
(37:23):
One is about what vaulting, thesport of vaulting, is, and it's
a little girl who has a dreamabout.
She sees somebody standing onthe back of our horse and she
keeps having it.
She's like, mama, why do I havethis dream?
I see somebody standing on theback of a horse.
She goes well, honey, when youwere little I took you to a farm
and they were doing gymnasticson horses and you saw somebody
stand on a horse.
And then she's like, oh my God,I have to do this.
(37:43):
And so it's her journeylearning about the sport of
vaulting and becoming a vaulter.
So it's kind of a realisticfiction.
And then I have a chapter book.
It's just a fictional story ofhas you know, magicians and
things in it.
It's a really fun story with alot of good morals.
It's about bullying and about,you know, people overcoming
bullying, because my son wasbullied really badly in school
(38:06):
so I kind of wrote that.
Based on that, my book that'scoming out soon is a mermaid
book I named.
I love mermaids.
I named my daughter CatherineAriel, ariel after the little
mermaid and I love mermaidstores.
So one day I was in a mermaidstore and I saw the most
beautiful painting of a mermaidchild I've ever seen in my life.
I mean it just took my breathaway and it was $4,000.
(38:27):
And obviously, living on a boat, I'm not going to buy a
painting.
But I said to Dan wow, I wonderif they have that in a print.
And some lady behind me goesyeah, we do.
The lady brought me over andthere's this tub full of prints
rolled up.
So for $10, I bought a print ofthis and on the airplane ride
home I have my new book out andI wrote the story of Sienna, an
(38:49):
early reader chapter book.
I mean again, I just looked atthe picture and I knew her name
was Sienna and I wrote that bookon the six-hour ride home.
So it sat for a couple of years.
And then I'm on Facebook and Isee this woman that we met
sailing.
We met her in Africa, tunisia,and they're Americans and we
were talking to them and I seeher name, barbara, and she was a
(39:12):
children's book illustrator andI'm like how cool is that?
And I saw a illustration shedoes for her children's book.
I'm like I sent her a messageBarbara, would you be interested
in illustrating my children'sbook about a mermaid?
And she said, well, send me themanuscript, I'll read it.
So I did and she goes I lovethis story, I will absolutely
illustrate it.
It wasn't my friend Barbara, itwas somebody else from England
(39:35):
who I have no reason to know heror her to be on my Facebook
page, and she's a seven-timeinternational award-winning
children's book illustrator fromEngland.
So she agreed to illustrate itand she is about to finish up
and that should be published inanother month or so.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
Wow, just hearing you talk about your books and what
you've done, you're an amazinglytalented person.
This is fun for me to hear whatyou've done and just how you
can just create the way you can.
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Well, thank you.
I don't know if it's a talentor just being really ADD and not
being able to focus in any oneplace.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
It could be a combination of a few of them,
right, yeah, but that's amazing,and I think it's really cool
that you've got that going foryou.
I mean, you've got Dan, who'syour editor, and he can, you
know, look at that sort of thingand put stuff together for you.
He's got that mechanicalengineer way about him,
obviously.
So that's, that's good.
So you both, you bothcompliment each other really
well, which which is great.
(40:35):
I love the fact that you'reyou're doing these books.
When you look back, you knowyou horse farms, you know
education, teaching, english,storytelling has there been any?
Is there any core values oranything that kind of just?
Speaker 2 (40:48):
remain constant through all of that?
I guess, just having faith thatwhatever direction you're going
in is the right one at themoment and that life is going to
change directions and you caneither fight it or you can
embrace it.
And I'm personally working onthe embracing part and I'm proud
of myself that I'm still here.
I'm really fortunate that I cando something that I love while
(41:08):
we're doing this the writing andthe picture taking.
You know, I guess life is whatyou make of it, and if you have
a dream, you need to go for it,because life's too short not to
go for it.
And so I think, just havingfaith in the direction you want
to go and doing it, Having faithand doing it.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
I love it.
All right, tell everybody wherethey can get your books.
Where can we?
I think you said you have awebsite, but where?
Where's the best place to getget ahold of your books?
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Actually, if you go to alisongeishancom, all my
books are listed there andthey're also on Amazon.
So if you did an author searchon Alison, actually, yeah, all
my books are there.
If you do a search on Amazonfor Allison Gieschen author,
then all my books should come up.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
And my final question to you.
This is a question I like toask everybody, because this is
an adventure podcast.
You've lived a lot ofadventures, especially the last
few years.
What does adventure mean to you?
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Let's see what does adventure mean to me?
It's really hard to nail thatone down, trying to nail a
mermaid's fins to the floor.
You know it's just flopping allover and you got the hammer and
you're trying to hit the nailon the head, but it's going to
be really hard.
I think adventure is somethingdifferent for everybody, because
for somebody who doesn't leavetheir house much, you know,
(42:20):
taking a walk in a park might bean adventure.
I think it's your level of howyou live life that defines
adventure, because everybodysays, well, you're really
adventurous, you just sailedacross an ocean, but yet that
woman that you talked aboutsailing by herself, now that's
really adventure.
I'm just relying on Dan to getme across.
(42:41):
So I think adventure is pushingthe limits of what you think
you can do and seeing if you cando it.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
It's a great way to look at it.
Alison, this has been fantastic.
Thank you so much for coming onJourney with Jake.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Well, thanks for having me, Jake.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
A huge thank you to Alison Gieschen for joining me
today and sharing her incrediblejourney, both on the water and
on land.
Be sure to visit her websiteincredible journey both on the
water and on land.
Be sure to visit her websitealisongeishancom, or head over
to Amazon to find any of herbooks.
You'll be glad you did.
I want to take a moment just tosay how truly grateful I am for
(43:17):
the chance to share Journeywith Jake with all of you.
Your support means the world tome and I'd love it if you could
share the show with a friend,family member or anyone who
loves a good story.
I would really appreciate it.
Next week we're switching gearsbut keeping the adventure alive
as I talk with Kahete ShettyI'm just going to say Shetty.
She is a 20-year-old hobbyhorsing enthusiast who's
(43:37):
redefining what it means tofollow your passion.
Trust me, you've never seen orheard anything quite like this.
You won't want to miss it Untilnext time.
Just remember, it's not alwaysabout the destination as it is
about the journey.
Take care, everybody.
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