Luke Spanswick

Luke Spanswick is 25 and comes from Southsea. For him, starting his leg in Acapulco is a dream come true - he's been wanting to go there since he saw a poster for the place on his schoolroom wall at the age of six! Now he'll finally get to see if it's as glamorous as the poster made out.

He's really taken to the sailing side of the project and feels the best part of his training was when he got to take the helm on the yacht they were sailing as it was getting really rough - something he clearly got quite a buzz out of. However, he says he's also quite taken with the idea of time spent on deck with a book and the peace and calm around him on a quiet day.

He feels he's gained plenty of experience through the fund-raising side of the project, which is just as well as he wants to go on to work in the voluntary and development sectors. He's been involved with all the bag packing and the fetes and also hopes to be involved with the talks some of the young adults are giving to Rotary Clubs in the area. As he said, "The fund-raising's really hard work, particularly with working at the same time, but the reward of getting to do your leg at the end of it makes it more that worthwhile. I feel I'm incredibly lucky to be able to do this and very grateful this opportunity came my way".

We also asked him how he felt working with the project had changed his outlook on the future? He said, "A year goes by very quickly! Also, I've come to an understanding that life is made up at least in part of experiences like these. Two friends I lived with for a time, by the names of Manny and Vuyo (no particular order guys when you read this) summed it up pretty well. When talking about the travels and experiences they wanted to have, Vuyo said (and Manny agreed), "When I'm old and grey, I want to be able to look back on my life and say 'you know what? I did that!'" That's what this feels like and I'm really proud that I'll be able to say I was a part of it".