Welcome,

By now I hope you realized my name, Ashley-Belle Burns. First and foremost, thank you for visiting this page and stepping into my world. This blog is to showcase a broad overview of who I am as a person, what my interests are, and some of my progress and accomplishments getting to where I’d like to. Which is where?

When I first applied to the University of British Columbia, I wanted to be an architect. But more than that, I wanted to be a naval architect. However, it was geography that truly took hold of my academics. I am writing this in the beginning of my last year of my undergraduate degree and I am working to position that piece of paper so that it fits into my odyssey.

Within the faculty of Arts there is geography, and within geography there is my major, Environment & Sustainability. For me this compilation of courses has been mesmerizing and truly intriguing. The information and tools that I’ve learned, and will continue to pursue, come at a vital time in both my life, and our planet’s history. I stand here, at 21 years old, and I can make significant choices to enhance my life, my friends lives, and the environment around me.  On the other hand, I have made myself a promise. I will sail across the Pacific Ocean in the next 3 years.

I have been sailing since I was eight years old on Georgian Bay in Ontario. I have moved from student, to coach, to competitor. I have managed a sailing school for five years, I have worked in a chanderly for three seasons working on keelboats, and I have lead the UBC Thunderbirds Sailing Sport Club for the past two years. It is this passion for the water that I want my life to follow, and will do this by living aboard. To me it does not matter where I sail, it could be the Pacific, but I just need to go. I just need to sail across the oceans, island hop in the lower latitudes, and experience living in such a different world. I am not seeking marina life, but that of an actual sailor. Moving from port to port, sustaining myself on the wind and the sun, and somehow bringing my four-year long degree into my sails.