Roz Savage

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" (Ralph Waldo Emerson). A hero is someone who follows the road not taken to achieve success and adventure in order to make an impact on the world. An example of a hero is Roz Savage, who created her own path of adventure on a voyage alone, resulting in creating a difference in the planet. In 2002, at the age of 32, Roz Savage had everything a girl ever wanted, a huge house in London, a sturdy eleven year-old career as a management consultant, a happy marriage and sports car. Although, behind all the glitz and glory lay an unhappy woman with something missing in her life: adventure. By 2003 she found herself in an unraveling marriage and trapped in a corporate job rut. Behind the doors of an investment bank she yearned for a life of adventure. She desired living a momentous life, full of achievements and victories, one you would love to read about in the highlights of the latest news reports, or hear about in a heroic story.  Therefore, she engaged herself in scripting two obituaries describing the achievements she could acquire in the future. The first obituary portrayed the life she wanted to reach, full of stunning successes and significant failures. The second obituary expressed the life she was heading for if she carried on with her daily lifestyle. Mesmerized by her first obituary based on her fictitious life, Roz Savage looked at the artificial life as a motivational list, steering her on the adventures she would reach as a proficient woman. In the process of following the heroic path of adventure, Savage sacrificed her life and left everything that represented her, including her house, her husband and her job. While on this path, Savage entered a rowing race in which her determination and bravery stood out. As she carried on with tremendous perseverance, Roz Savage gained the title of four world records for ocean rowing, including the first woman to row the "Big Three": the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian oceans.  She proudly suffered 5 million strong oarstrokes and rowed over 15,000 miles. As her first rowing journey along the Atlantic came to an end, Savage discovered an insightful attachment to the environment and its condition. People look at Roz Savage as our modern-day hero due to her bravery in her hardships, sacrifice, determination, and motivation in changing the status of our environment and keeping beauty alive.

After eleven years of Savage's life as a project manager she decided she wasn't happy with how her lifestyle came to be; she longed experiencing what it was like in the bustling world beyond the windows of her usual routine. She wanted change, a change in her lifestyle and the way people look at her. She realized how unhappy she was with her life and how it became so mundane: "Who I was on the inside didn't match the besuited management consultant I had, almost inadvertently, become on the outside. Desperate to figure out what I should do, I sat down one day and wrote two versions of my obituary". She wrote one dedicated to the daring life she wanted, after rowing the Atlantic Ocean race, and another which illustrated the life she would have if she carried on as she was. Ideas were whirling in her head as she considered both successes: "I thought of the obituaries that I enjoyed reading, the people that I admired. They were the adventurers and risk-takers, the people who seemed to have lived many lifetimes in one, the people who had tried lots of things, some of them triumphs, some of them spectacular failures, but at least they'd had the guts to try. They didn't give a damn what anybody thought of them; their own opinion of themselves was all that mattered...These people really knew how to live." Savage discusses the life she would love to have, one where nothing anyone stated mattered. She compares a fantastic life with one to live up to, an existence where others would recognize one as a legend because of their significance and the impact they made on their life. Savage thinks that people should live life with motivation in accomplishing something huge, to take a huge risk by doing the unexpected and to live up to their full potential. The other obituary expressed the achievements she would attain as a normal person; if she stayed the way she was and never made her own path of exploration.  "The second version was the obituary that I was heading for--the type you wouldn't want to read in the paper". Here, she was broad, describing the life she currently had, a normal lifestyle with its occasional moments of excitement, but never extending beyond the boundaries of complete liberation. Seeing an immense gap between the two lists of opportunities she decided to do something about her normal routine and chose to change it into a life based on her first obituary.  Savage is a self-starter who decided to begin an audacious journey on her own. Before she took off to row the Atlantic, people shared with her stories of defeat: "They said I was crazy. They said I wasn't big enough, not tall enough, not strong enough." But with much determination she acted like the legendary heroes she wanted to connect to; the risk takers, the people who didn't care what anyone thought of them as long as they lived a momentous life. Ignoring the negative thoughts, Savage dedicated her time to preparing for the big day, the race, and didn't waste a second. In this allotment she trained every day, prepared meals, and invested her life's savings in an ocean rowboat. Roz Savage is a self-starter who carefully planned her future by creating goals to achieve success along her adventurous path. 

Savage thought about her routine and lifestyle and tried to determine what to associate with the life she wanted to face in the future. Savage thought about the lifestyle she wanted to team up with: "She realized that if she carried on as she was, she wasn't going to end up with the life she wanted. So she turned her back on an eleven-year career as a management consultant to reinvent herself as a woman of adventure."  In spite of reaching her dreams of achieving success, Savage took the pain of leaving her husband, job, home, possessions and beautiful life and followed the path leading to her dreams that held the ache from the agonizing pain, which tuned into a dreadful, yet pleasing paradise. In 2005, Savage found herself stuck on a 23-foot rowboat with nothing but a water-maker, dried food, a laptop and a satellite phone, and alone in the Atlantic race.  "I found myself, at 38, divorced, no kids, no home, and alone in a tiny rowing boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I hadn't eaten a hot meal in two months. I'd had no human contact for weeks because my satellite phone had stopped working. All four of my oars were broken, patched up with duct tape and splints. I had tendinitis in my shoulders and saltwater sores on my backside. I couldn't have been happier." She demonstrates sacrifice through her actions of leaving everything behind, in spite of making her more contented, even if she had to conquer dangerous obstructions along the way down. Roz took the initiative of leaving the things that defined her life and security, which provided her with the trait of courage. Even though, when one looks at her life from before, it seemed flawless, it described the dream life, and others wondered 'Why would somebody who seemed to have everything, just throw it all away? "But did I really have it all? I would sit on the commuter train on my way to the office, wondering if this was what life was all about. I wasn't happy. I wasn't fulfilled. I wasn't being true to my values" (Source 5). No one should have to live a dreadful life full of unused, dreadful moments if they can change the way of life for themselves. Savage is an example of someone who took the initiative to be at peace with herself, to escape her unhappy state and to join in on the life worth living. Her finish in the race granted her the power and ecstasy of a life filled with accomplishments and a life which she would enjoy forever. She has overcome challenges in her life but each one evolved into an experience she was proud of accomplishing because it made her who she is today, and changed her for the better.

Roz Savage experienced thoughts of defeat and failure, but through much dedication and determination to her passion of rowing, she found the courage to carry on with her protracted journey. Savage inspired herself with her own motivational thoughts and words as she wiped the tears from her face: "Would you like to give up," she (her mother) asked. I thought about it for a moment. I wanted nothing more than to be off this tiny, tippy boat. But, I knew that if I quit I would never forgive myself. "No, Mum," I said. "I'll stick with it".

She agonized through every breathtaking obstacle when her ores broke, gloves tore, and blisters rose, all while she experienced tendinitis in her shoulders. Although, Roz didn't let these destructive thoughts get to her, she still struggled to ignore the negativity that attempted to weigh her down, but inspired herself to carry on the voyage with a strong mind at hand. People don't call the 3,000 mile trail around the Atlantic Ocean a "challenge of a lifetime" for nothing: "Of the twenty-six crews that set out from La Gomera, six capsized or sank and didn't make it to the finish line in Antigua. There were times when she thought she had hit her absolute limit, but alone in the middle of the ocean there was no choice but to find the strength to carry on" (Source 5). Roz Savage had knowledge of the missing ones who either died or were capsized and had the option to opt out of the race. But, her devotion and fortitude seized her from thinking about those downbeat thoughts. Savage knew that it could have been her caught in a hindrance like her prior opponents, and she realized she was in an even more complex situation; she was an unaccompanied rower. Instead of thinking about the negativity, she ignored the thoughts as they advanced towards her, building more strength to carry on. During her extensive journey, Savage experienced a livelihood of pure beauty. She observed the waking sunrises, breathtaking sunsets, and came across wonderful marine animals such as turtles, fish, sharks, dolphins and whales. This adaption to the ocean life changed her perspective on the environment and reminded her of the environmental challenges that were facing wildlife as well as our society today. As a consequence, Savage grew to become an environmental campaigner and keynote speaker. Upon finishing her heroic adventure across the Atlantic, as well as the "Big Three", Savage spreads her story and inspires others to take part in the environment and act on the changes that are tearing our world apart. "An accomplished and inspiring keynote speaker with a charismatic stage presence, Roz has spoken to tens of thousands of people across six continents. Past engagements include the Royal Geographical Society in the UK, the National Geographic Society in the US, the TED Conference and the Vail Symposium, as well as numerous corporate speaking engagements. Roz Savage is a a United Nations Climate Hero.  In 2010 she was named Adventurer of the Yearly National Geographic" (Source 4). Roz Savage is a determined individual who is recognized for her dedication to row across the world, gaining success as a solo rower, as well as being an inspirational speaker who speaks on behalf of her adventure, inspiring others today.