The Harvard Travellers Club will feature Bryan Fuller, holder of the American record for the fastest transatlantic crossing by oar, achieved in 2012. Fuller is owner and founder of Power Rowing Studio in Brookline, a company he started after giving in to his passion for rowing and making it his full-time job. Interestingly, Fuller came to rowing relatively late, after a career in the military as a counterintelligence agent. Suffering from PTSD as he exited the service, Fuller managed to gain admission to the MBA program at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business and began a new career in auditing and accounting. But then he found rowing. After experiencing a rowing machine in 2011 he became obsessed with the sport, joining Community Rowing and raising $10,000 for veterans with his first record-breaking transatlantic crossing in 2012.
Fuller is planning another transatlantic expedition for June 2024, when he and three others will try to raise $50,000 for veterans and attempt to cover the 3,500 miles in 50 days or less. In Bryan’s presentation at the Harvard Club, he will describe the challenges faced by his first crossing and discuss “lessons learned” that will help make this second, more northerly (and thus more dangerous) crossing safe and successful.
This April 9 presentation will mark the 913th consecutive meeting of the Harvard Travellers Club since its founding in 1902. The Club traces its roots to Harvard’s eminent geographer, Professor William Morris Davis who, in association with Copley Amory, Archibald Cary Coolidge, Roland B. Dixon, and Hames J. Kidder, invited Harvard colleagues to meet in an effort to promote and discuss “intelligent travel and exploration”. The Club continues to accept new applicants.
While the Golden Age of geographical exploration during which the Club was founded has long since passed, the spirit behind the founding of the Club remains intact. Today, members continue to commit themselves to intelligent travel and continue to be curious about other landscapes, cultures and scientific discoveries. Definitely unchanged is members’ enjoyment in learning of one another’s travels.
In 1913 the club began to meet at the Harvard Club on Commonwealth Avenue – a tradition which continues to this day. The Club currently meets eight times a year for cocktails, dinner, and a lecture. Among the speakers this season have been Behzad Larry, who spoke to the Club about snow leopard conservation in Ladakh, India; Polly Letofsky, who circled the world on foot; and Dylan Wickrama who rode his motorcycle around the world including a stint atop a raft for part of the way. We also heard from two of our members about excavations in Ethiopia and dog-sledding on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic.
“Our members join together to share stories of distant places, rugged climbs, boating expeditions, foreign cultures and traditions”, says Council member and North Shore resident Peter Creighton. “Member presence and participation propels this club forward and I love learning about other members’ adventures”.
To that end the Club welcomes potential new members and interested parties to attend the dinner in April to meet the membership committee. Membership in the Harvard Travellers Club is open to persons who have a background or interest in world travel.
Visit http://www.harvardtravellersclub.org for more information, and contact [email protected] if you are interested in attending the dinner and Bryan Fuller’s lecture.