( CNN ) -- Abby Sunderland says the next goal awaiting her seems more dangerous and unfamiliar than sailing around the world : getting her driver 's license . Sunderland , 16 , answered questions about her rescue and on-land plans Tuesday in Los Angeles , at her first news conference since returning to the United States . Sunderland 's quest to circumnavigate the globe was cut short when a large wave rolled and crippled her boat in the Southern Ocean near Australia . The rogue wave , which she said rolled her boat while she was down below , broke the ship 's mast . A fishing vessel from Reunion Island rescued her . Despite falling short of her goal , she sailed a total of 12,000 nautical miles and became the youngest person to sail around Cape Horn at the tip of South America . While she wants to get back to sailing , she said she will wait a few years before trying to circumnavigate the world again . For now , she plans to finish high school and get back to normal life . Sunderland said she is happy to be home , disappointed that she did n't make it all the way around the world , but proud of what she did accomplish . It 's really great to think that I may have inspired some people to go for their dreams '' she said . `` I mean , I 'm living proof that things do n't always work out the way you plan , but you can only plan so far on an adventure . '' Asked her response to those who said she was too young to have embarked on her journey , she said , `` I 've crossed two oceans , I 've sailed around Cape Horn and Cape Argus -- the question of my age should have been over weeks if not months ago . '' iReport : Sunderland speaks out . Sunderland 's brother , Zac , family spokesman Lyle Mercer , and Jeff Casher , a technical advisor for her voyage , also spoke at the news conference . The young sailor 's mother and father , Marianne and Laurence Sunderland , missed the news conference because Marianne was in labor , Mercer said . They plan to name the child Paul after the captain of the ship that rescued Abby Sunderland , Mercer said . Marianne and Laurence Sunderland have been criticized nationally for letting their child embark on a seemingly dangerous mission alone . In a statement read by Mercer , they said the `` intense personal criticism crossed the line of human decency , '' and that people do n't realize how meticulously they planned the trip . `` Parenting is n't easy for any of us , '' they said in the statement . Abby Sunderland said she and her brother , who set the record as the youngest person to sail around the world alone at 17 last year , have grown closer because of their common experience of being isolated on the ocean . Zac Sunderland said at the news conference that he is n't bitter about his younger sister receiving more media attention for her adventure . While plans for a reality show fell through , Abby Sunderland wants to write about her trip for herself and will consider turning it into a book , she said .
Abby Sunderland answered questions at her first U.S. news conference Tuesday . She sailed 12,000 nautical miles and became youngest person to sail around Cape Horn . She said she 's proved her age should n't be a concern . Her parents are naming their next child Paul after the captain of the rescue ship .