Seeing the world through his eyes
World traveller prepares for book talk in Digby
Jonathan White spent the last 40 years of his life travelling the world.
He’s visited over 60 countries but his favorite out of them all is Canada.
“I don’t want to leave here, and I never thought I’d hear myself say that.”
White – or as he’s sometimes called, Cap’n Jon – grew up in London, England, but since moving to America in his teenage years, he’s never lived anywhere longer than 18 months at a time.
“Our adventure isn’t over yet. We still have a lot of Canada to see,” he says.
He’s seen a lot in his lifetime before landing in Little River, Digby County, nearly six months ago with his wife Joell.
White began his adventure when he moved to America as a teenager but from there he found himself hitchhiking to India in his early 20’s. Then he bought a sailboat and his adventures haven’t stopped since.
He’s sailed thousands of miles and witnessed some things most Cap’n Jon holds a picture of a group of women he met sailing in Panama. White plans to stay in Nova Scotia for the rest of his life but his pictures and memories will last a life time. people wouldn’t.
White was sailing off of Costa Rica when he came face to face with pirates.
“We thought we were dead,” he says, remembering the moment.
The pirates wanted money and his boat, but luckily, he got away.
That wasn’t his only near-death experience. He was shot at by bandits in Afghanistan and barely got away, but if given the chance, he wouldn’t change his experience for the world.
“I would not change a thing about it. There’s always a silver lining with times like that because one thing I’ve learned is how kind strangers could be,” he says. “There are good and bad people all over the world but the good people, who would help out a stranger, outnumber the bad.”
White never expected to live a life on the sea. But when people ask him how he’s done it, he usually replies with a similar phrase.
“This isn’t a rehearsal, this is your life. If you want something, go do it. Money will follow,” he says.
Six years ago White decided he wanted to start sharing his adventures with others.
He sat down and started writing.
He finished his first book ‘Everyone said I Should Write a Book: The Travels and Adventures of a Sailor and Explorer.’
He didn’t expect to sell many copies, but after publishing the book on Amazon and Kindle they kept selling out.
About 15 months later he published his second book, followed by an audio book and a third book to his series.
“I couldn’t believe that people around the world were paying money for something I wrote,” he says.
He gets emails and comments online from people all over the world telling him how his books inspire them.
One email in particular he will always remember. An American pilot stationed in Afghanistan read White’s book and emailed him saying the book took his mind somewhere else, away from the thoughts of the war zone in Afghanistan.
That was five years ago and White still sends the solider emails to this day.
“If you can make a difference in one person’s life, I think that is just miraculous,” he says.
Since White realized the power his books have, he’s started giving book talks. He’s spoken about his books throughout America and now he’s sharing his story in Digby.
On Aug. 22 he’ll be speaking about his adventure books at the Isiah W. Wilson Memorial Library in Digby at 6:15 p.m.
“I get to take people out of their world and let them see through my eyes,” he says. “I really want people to walk away feeling like they’ve had an adventure, or two or three.”