Gripping a rowing oar in each hand, I felt the callus against the wood handle. This was a glimpse into what the remaining 70 days would feel like: exhausting. Surely, I can’t need sleep on the first day of the trip, I was wondering. I was exhausted already and got hallucinations from sea sickness patches. The countless hours of dedication, tears and frustration all blew away in the wind as we left San Sebastian at 10am that Saturday morning. On 12 December 2020, me and my boat Argo set off to cross the Atlantic. Searching for sponsorship, asking for support, doing training took over my life. I had to prepare, learn and persevere for two years just to get to the start line in La Gomera on the Canary Islands. I understood the hard work that needed to be endured but this part made the entire experience even more inviting, rather than deterring me. Taking on such a challenge is by no means an easy feat though. 18-year-old me knew what I wanted, and I could feel what path to take even though I couldn’t see it yet. But I would arrive in a much different way. I knew that one day I would be back here. The idea of escaping, experiencing freedom and pure adventure hooked me immediately when I looked out at the waves from Nelsons Dockyard in Antigua. This was exactly the feeling that I have been dreaming of without knowing it since that January day in 2018 when I found out that rowing across the Atlantic is something that is possible and something that I myself could actually do. Nothing matters because there is clearly so much more out there. It is a feeling that is hard to recreate the feeling of knowing that this is the time and place where you’re meant to be. Sitting all alone on your life raft on the deck of your 21-foot-long rowing boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean at night, while looking up at the stars makes you feel so small and alone. 3,700 miles from Spain to Antigua in 70 days, 3 hours and 48 minutes: 21-year-old Jasmine Harrison made history when she became the youngest woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

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