About Sonya

Meet Sonya Baumstein

Birthday: April 22, 1985

Age: 28

Hometown: Orlando, Florida

Current Location: Between Seattle and Orlando

Favorite Colors: Purple and Blue

Favorite Movie Character? Bill Murray in the Life Aquatic

Dream Expedition Food? Bacon chocolate pretzels

How it all Started

I made a decision to row an ocean in April 2011 having never gone more than a mile off shore before. I don't know why, but I knew I could do it from the moment I decided I would. A bad car accident ended my collegiate athletic career prematurely in 2004. Rowing and competition had been my life for almost 7 years, but the subsequent years were filled with surgeries, physical therapy and finding a new path. It felt like I'd lost a piece of me. The ocean brought me back to life.

The voyage forced me to become a better version of myself – a more positive person than I had ever been before. Since then I've continued to do expeditions, giving back to the thing that has given me so much, by collecting environmental data for different research projects. Success for me, now, is not necessarily measured by completion of an expedition but in the number of people who are encouraged to make new discoveries of their own because of it.

Expeditions to Date

• 2011: Cross-Atlantic Row
• 2012: Tour biked from Mexico to Seattle
• 2012: Kayaked the Inside Passage from Seattle
• 2013: Stand Up Paddled the Bering Strait