World-Wide Trek: Cruise With A Cause

It isn’t exactly a world cruise, but it’s close. For the next 14 months the globetrotting team of Darren and Sandy Van Soye will be trekking the planet on a global adventure to raise awareness about world geography and make the subject more accessible to children around the globe. The Southern California couple has just begun the first leg of their more than year-long journey by boarding Pacific Princess for a cruise across the Pacific bound for Sydney, Australia.

The couple, who are chronicling their journey at Trekking The Planet, were inspired to plan their journey after they saw first-hand what a positive impact a previous family trip around the globe had on their two daughters’ lives. Their full travel itinerary incorporates five different Princess Cruises voyages, totaling 96 days sea. Both the first and last legs of their journey, plus three legs in between, will be aboard a Princess cruise ship.

“Our dream is to educate children about geography and world cultures so we’ve planned the ultimate trek around the world to do just that,” said Sandy Van Soye. “We wanted to use cruise ships as part of our travel method because they offer an efficient way to reach all the different stops on our voyage while minimizing our global footprint. Once we decided to cruise for part of our trip, it only made sense to book our sea travel with Princess Cruises based on our previous travel experience with them and the fact that their ships go everywhere in the world. Our five cruise itineraries will enable us to reach all the destinations on our list while also giving us the opportunity to relax onboard between our land treks.”

In total, the Van Soyes’ journey will cover 50 countries on six continents over the course of the 424-day world tour. Throughout their travels, the couple will share 60 different geography education modules they have created as well as pictures and videos of their travels for anyone in the world to use. So far more than 700 classrooms around the world will be following their travels, representing 50,000 students.

“We frequently hear stories from travelers who cruise to accomplish a goal – from celebrating milestones with family members to crossing something off their bucket list,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president. “Sandy and Darren are a great example of how cruise travel can be both relaxing and rewarding. We’re inspired by their story and we’re honored they’ve chosen Princess to help them achieve their trekking goals.”

In addition to creating educational materials and providing live updates from their travels, the Van Soyes will also be presenting lectures for Princess Cruises passengers interested in geography. Like any world travelers, they’re looking forward to visiting some “bucket list” worthy destinations including The Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Bali in Indonesia, Casablanca in Morocco, and The Amazon River in Brazil.

The Van Soyes’ cruising plans include:

Jan. 28 to Feb. 27, 2012: San Diego to Sydney aboard Pacific Princess
March 17 to April 6, 2012: Sydney to Singapore aboard Ocean Princess
Dec. 2-20, 2012: Rome to Fort Lauderdale aboard Pacific Princess
Dec. 20, 2012 to Jan. 4, 2013: Fort Lauderdale to Manaus aboard Pacific Princess
March 10-26, 2013: Santiago to Los Angeles aboard Star Princess

Here’s a video capturing some of the excitement of their first day on board Pacific Princess:

The Van Soyes will complete their global journey in March 2013.