New horizons

For Salina, that was everyday life for many years. But life on the boat wasn’t always easy; she and her five younger siblings had responsibilities, like homeschooling and night watch. What does a 12-year-old do all day on a boat with zero privacy? “With five siblings, there’s always something happening. We read and did homework. We also played a lot. Even if it was just hide-and-seek and everyone knew where the others were, we still had so much fun. Our parents always tried to keep things interesting. For example, every morning we ran around the boat one hundred times so we would at least get a kilometer in each day.”

They also made time for hobbies—especially important because, as Salina points out, “there’s no internet on the boat.” Salina’s mother, Sabine, grew up in a very musical family and could teach the children some basics. Her brother Andri played the violin, and Salina had musical ambitions of her own. “I always wanted to learn double bass, but it was way too big for the boat, so my mom convinced me to try the cello instead.”

“I also wrote a lot in my journal and listened to tons of music. I wanted to be a pop star!” And when she needed complete quiet, she had a very unusual retreat. “My favorite place wasn’t on the boat—it was underneath it.” Salina grabs a pen and paper and sketches as she explains. “This is the keel, the part on the bottom of the boat that keeps it from tipping over. I would dive down and sit on the keel for as long as I could hold my breath. It’s so quiet down there and so beautiful—sometimes you could even hear the dolphins.”

By age 13, Salina already knew she wanted to follow her own path—and that this path would take her off the boat. After a long back-and-forth, the news finally came: she was admitted to a boarding school in Switzerland. “Getting the scholarship to Engelberg was the best thing that could have happened to me,” she says. Still, the first two weeks were incredibly difficult. “I rocked myself to sleep because I was used to the motion of the boat, and it felt weird not being able to see the horizon. Engelberg is situated between the mountains, and I felt very confined.”

During this time, Salina also realized how different her upbringing had been from that of her classmates. “I don’t have kindergarten memories,” she explains, and it was only at boarding school that she learned how to build closer, longer-lasting friendships. She is, however, able to view this difference as a strength. “I have noticed that I don’t judge people as quickly as some of my classmates because I’ve already been exposed to so many cultures. I think I can understand a bit better why someone does something. My parents taught us to approach people with openness and to experience other cultures in order to truly understand them.”

This mindset—being open to people as well as remaining open to life itself—is something Salina wants to carry forward. She graduated from school last year and is already making plans. She applied to study dentistry in Switzerland, and if she is accepted, she hopes to one day help people around the world who have little or no access to dental care. “Our parents always gave my siblings and me the freedom to choose what we want to do,” she says. “I think that for each of us, the mission of TOPtoTOP—raising awareness about climate change and encouraging people to protect nature—will continue to be an important aspect of our lives. We all want to contribute in our own way. As long as there’s hope, no one can stop us.”