In the spring of 2011, British adventurer Sarah Outen, 28, set out on an ambitious expedition to circle the globe under her own power. Traveling by bicycle, rowboat and sea kayak, she is now two and a half years into her journey and setting new records as she goes. The first woman to row solo across the Indian Ocean, she is actually the youngest woman to row across any ocean. Last month she added another major accomplishment to the list having spent five months at sea crossing the Pacific Ocean landing in Adak at the tip of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.
The success of this leg is made ever sweeter as this was her second attempt to cross the Pacific. In the summer of 2012 Sarah found herself 500 miles off the coast of Japan in the middle of a massive storm. Battered by waves and left to the mercy of the winds, she made the decision to call for rescue. More than 30 hours after dispatching her Mayday, she was picked up by the Japanese Coast Guard. Undaunted by what many would consider a deal breaking setback, Outen returned to her boat a year later, completing her Pacific crossing without major incident.
The journey as a whole is a monumental undertaking that Outen has tackled with what can only be described as heroic perseverance. Prior to her Pacific crossing, Outen rode her bicycle from London across all of Europe and Asia for a total of 10,000 miles. She has now returned to England to prepare for the next leg, another row to Vancouver, Canada. Once there she will remount her bicycle, Hercules, for a 3,000 mile ride across North America. The human spirit as a wondrous thing, and intrepid adventurers like Sarah Outen are an inspiration for all of us.
