What Will You Change: Sailing Trip Exposes Students to Faraway Places

Tracy Watkins (Weekend Executive '88) takes his exotic travels to the classroom.

By Elizabeth Michalka — This article was originally published in the alumni magazine Team Fuqua.

"A gecko just crawled onto my computer," said  Tracy Watkins . "They're all over the place. They're friendly guys, they control the bugs and snakes … there are also monkeys, parrots, and toucans in the trees around."

Watkins (Weekend Executive '88) was describing his surroundings — a secluded rainforest paradise. From his location on the east coast of Panama, Watkins sat in his "bodega," which is Spanish for a small cabin. It's currently home for Watkins and his wife, Sharon, until they finish building their permanent home. The bodega is outfitted with water and electricity that the Watkins produce as there are no modern utilities or services in the jungle.

 "We're in the food chain here," Watkins said. "It's over 13  miles to the nearest road that goes anywhere, and it's a three-day walk through the jungle to get to the road."

Instead, they travel by boat, sailing to nearby islands for supplies. Their 42-foot sailboat, named Landfall, is more than a means of transportation, though. In 2006, the Watkins left their home in Atlanta, GA, to sail around the world.They wanted to share their journey, so they launched a not-for-profit organization, Landfall Learning. Through their website , they provide educational information, entertaining updates, and photographs of their adventures. The website is targeted  to middle-school students.

Two schools use the website for class lessons, and 10-15 students use it independently. Watkins hopes to gain a larger audience and plans to target underperforming and underfunded schools —  the kind he attended when he  was growing up.

"Most of those kids don't have many advantages," Watkins said, "so I want to impress upon them that if we can sail around the world, so can they — they can do anything because I started out like they did."

As a young man, Watkins told himself he would never spend his golden years lonely and feeble. Instead, he dreamed of retiring at 50 and sailing around the world. It sounded far-fetched given his family's humble lifestyle, but a series of events made his dream a reality.

In 1979, he was stationed in Panama with the United States Army. For five years, he learned all he  could from the natives. He learned how to sail, but most importantly, he learned how to survive in the jungle — skills that are now proving handy.

"My dream began to materialize, and I decided to set myself up to really fulfill it," Watkins said.

Watkins left the military in 1987 and enrolled in Fuqua. After graduating, he spent 17 years in management positions with various packaging companies. He retired in 2006 as General Manager of LINPAC, Inc. (now U.S. Corrugated Inc. ). It was the early retirement he'd worked toward that afforded him the lifestyle he always dreamed of — geckos and all.