A boat travels through the Gulf Islands near Salt Spring island, Canada. (Photographer: James MacDonald/Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- I knew so little about the ocean when I accepted a job as a writing teacher with Semester at Sea and set out west across the Pacific. Mostly I craved an epic journey, and our four-month itinerary through a smattering of ports in Asia and Africa read to me like a guarantee. In between cities like Beijing and Yangon, the sea would serve as a palate cleanser.