We'd only lived there for a few months before we found ourselves in the middle of a full fledged civil war. For four months we were literally prisoners in our own home while people around us were being shot.Finally, during one of the cease-fires we narrowly escaped from our apartment, making our way to the airport through numerous check-points. We had to take off at a moments notice, leaving all of our possessions behind. We were more fortunate than some Americans there, at least we had our lives.

Having lived through an experience like that definitely brings a family closer together. My younger sister, Nina, my younger brother, Nick (whose with us to Antigua), my parents and I all keep in touch nearly every day. Even though my father's job has him living in London, we see him regularly. London is a great place to visit, but not a place to go to school as an American kid in an English school. Having lived there for a while, I know cows tongue and bread pudding get old quickly. And you know what they say about wooden rulers in the British schools...well, it's true.

After high school I put off college for a while, finally enrolling at Boston University in 1987. Then, having spent the better part of 5 years in Boston, I moved to Hong Kong where I worked as an intern for an import/export company. The Far East is an amazing and incredible part of the world and I thought about staying there, but I turned down a permanent offer from the company to come back to the U.S.

Since then, I've worked for a number of different companies, including an  electronics shop, a coffee company, and a computer firm called Catalink Direct. Since I resigned my position in August, my primary job has been working full time on Out of Bounds. Because of my background in electronics I took on the task of installing all of the navigation, electronics, and water-making equipment in order to prepare her for our journey.

Embarrassing Pictures of Alex Growing Up