Name: Keith Allen Dickey

Age: 23 (at the start of the voyage in 2007)                                      

Place of Birth/Childhood: Kansas City, Missouri USA

Hometown: Wherever I am currently located...

Family:  Parents- Eva & Dean 

                  Brothers- Curtis and Jake (both older)

Education: Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY

Nickname: Shady

3 words to describe me: Loyal, Determined and Motivated

Life Goal: Visit 150 of the 200+ countries in the World.

Born in a small Mid-western town, I grew up 2,000 miles from the nearest ocean and never set foot on a sailboat until I was 20 years old. My childhood consisted of sports and outdoor activities. I never had much desire to travel until I took the opportunity to visit Europe on a Wrestling-Exchange program. I was a pretty successful high school athlete and wrestling was by far my best sport. The exchange consisted of a small group (about 20) wrestlers across the USA traveling to a few countries in Europe and wrestling their National Teams.  I was 16 years old at the time of the trip and quickly learned that I enjoyed traveling and learning about others. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I spent some extra time in Europe just traveling. I returned to the USA and traveled as many of the individual states I could. It quickly became apparent that the more I traveled and learned  of other cultures the more I wanted to do.  Upon graduation from high school, I took an academic scholarship at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. This move allowed me to see more of America and also receive a world-class education. Wrestling and working at Cornell I was able to save enough money to study abroad for a semester, I chose to study at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. If I still had any doubt that traveling was the life for me, it was put to rest during the 7 months I traveled New Zealand, Australia and Samoa. I debated on forgoing the rest of my university in America and starting my travels right then, but- after much personal reflection- I decided to return and finish my studies. I returned and completed my 3rd year of university and wrestling, but the desire to travel had not subsided so for the months of May, June, July and August of 2006 I traveled South America. I saw so much culture, learned so much about the language (I can even speak it now) and saw some of the most beautiful sights. It was during my time in South America that John and I solidified are plans to sail around the world (see dream) Upon completion of my trip through Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru, I returned again to Ithaca and university life for my last year of Cornell. I have many great memories of friends and debauchery from the final year, but I also spent many nights planning out the trip with John. Money and resources were a major concern so I also spent many hours working to earn a few extra dollars; I worked at a construction company between studies and wrestling. After graduation I moved to New Jersey to work landscaping with John at his family business. As for why I chose sailing as my means of traveling I really don't have an answer beyond this: I love to travel and John loves to sail....