When former Marion resident Tim Sperry graduated from college in the early 1990s, he did what any grad without a plan would dream of doing – he set sail for a trip around the world with his four closest friends.

In October 1992, Tim and Matt Sperry, Chris Smith, Mark Parsons, and Bill Fallon boarded their sailboat and headed to the South Pacific. They sailed to the Caribbean, New Zealand, Australia, and Africa.

When the friends returned home, they decided to write a book about their travels. “Lazarus World Voyage: A Hurricane Wreck Circumnavigates the World,” chronicles their two-and-a-half years abroad.

The book was named in honor of the 41-foot Formosa sailboat the childhood friends traveled on -  the “Lazarus.” The friends salvaged the sailboat from Marion harbor and fixed it up after Hurricane Bob had passed through in 1991.

Of the trip, Tim Sperry said the most memorable experience for him was the six months the crew spent in New Zealand.

While spending time in New Zealand, the guys picked up random jobs. Tim Sperry worked as a migrant farm worker picking apples and his brother Matt made sails.

“We all got jobs to replenish our funds and it was fantastic,” Sperry said. “We got to know the people and the setting. We got a feel for what the place was like. The South Pacific is probably the most spectacular place. I think we met fantastic people.”

Once they returned home, Tim and Matt Sperry joined the family business, Sperry Tents, which was started by their father Steve in 1980.

With busy careers and families limiting their spare time, the friends spent years finalizing the book.

Each of the guys wrote several chapters of the book, which they self-published this year.

“We waited about five years to start writing. We don’t have a lot of free time,” Sperry said. “It was just a matter of sticking with it and finding a way to finish it.”

With the book now complete, Sperry said he is excited to share this chapter of his life with the community.

As for what the future holds, Sperry said he hopes to take his wife and their three children on a cruise to South America.

When asked if he would write about the trip, Sperry said, “I would think about it.”

Tim Sperry will be on hand at the Bookstall in Marion on Thursday, December 6. Sperry will sign copies of “Lazarus World Voyage: A Hurricane Wreck Circumnavigates the World,” and share stories from the trip. The book signing will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.