There is a place on Earth where your nearest neighbors
are the inhabitants of the International Space Station
There is a point on the water that makes up
the most remote spot from any coast
Some refer to it as the Pacific pole of inaccessibility
or simply The South
Point Nemo
Without actually leaving the planet
you cannot be more alone
you cannot be further away
One navigator
One ship
With no more propulsion than the force of the wind
Without landscape, except for the movement of the waves
Without conversation, except with silence itself
Just enough food
just enough sleep
just enough clothing
As for thoughts
the bare minimum
Just useful ones
Sailors know that the real fight is not against squalls
but against the storms each of us have inside ourselves
And doubts, as few as possible
Each problem demands the right solution
Taking action as soon as possible
and as well as possible
And with the minimum cost
Rationing water
rationing energy
rationing effort
Taking existence to its minimum expression
In the most austere place imaginable
And at the mercy of the oldest technology in the world
wind that pushes the sails
sails that rock the hull
a hull that cuts through the waves
And with these basic elements, reach places no one has before
And when you arrive, what then?
Absolutely nothing
That's the reward
And in that nothing, the entire world
Point Nemo
Never so far
Never so close