I felt so insignificant – it was an eye-opener for me

An epic sailing trip to the Antarctic reveals the immensity of the universe to Sandywinterbottom

At the end of last year, my 50th on this planet, I was lucky enough to take six weeks out of my life to travel. It was meant as a kind of reboot. Time to reassess, consider and mull over the next stage of my life.

The destination was Antarctica and I sailed from Uruguay on a beautiful 100-year-old Dutch tall ship. Six weeks without internet, phones, email, news, keys, money or shops.

The whole journey was epic in every respect. We visited some truly mind-expanding places but it was our first days at sea that were some of my favourites. There was nothing but our small ship between the sea and the sky and nothing on the horizon in any direction until we next hit land.

It felt so immense and spacious; just us on our small disc of sea heading south towards the Antarctic Ocean.

The days and dates soon merged into one long expanse of time measured only by our watch system. We worked for four hours on and then eight hours off handling sails, manning the helm and up front on lookout duty.

We no longer had lefts or rights, just port and starboard. We measured our own direction by that of the ship. At night, the crystal-clear air gave us a view of the stars like no other I had seen before. Venus shone so brightly that we could see her reflection in the sea.

Even before the moon rose, the sky was brightly lit with stars and the Milky Way, which was so clearly visible. The sea was bright with the reflected light although the horizon all around was jet black. You could understand why the ancient mariners thought they might fall off the edge of the Earth if they sailed too far. Even I felt disconcerted sailing towards that inky black edge.

As we headed further south, the temperature dropped sharply and the colour of the sea changed to a deep sapphire blue with the tops of the breaking waves the fresh light blue that you usually only see in toothpaste adverts.

The ocean floor was well over 5000 metres below us. A sobering thought.

It was in these moments that I felt the true immensity of nature, of our planet and our universe. It made me feel small and insignificant in the best possible way.

To be completely at the mercy of the elements in the middle of a vast and unpredictable ocean is to be set free.

In these difficult times, it’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day worries. We are constantly bombarded with bad news, most of which we have no control over or ability to change.

Sometimes we have to get a much deeper sense of perspective. We are a just blip in deep time. We are a tiny part of what is an immense universe.

Sometimes we just need to look up at the clear sky, breathe deeply and sense that we are part of something much, much bigger and hope that it’s enough. ● Sandy Winterbottom teaches mindful movement classes in Stirling. www.movementalchemy.co.uk