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tales of a serial expat

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Island Living

Stop Calling it a Jamaican Accent (Dear Islanders: I’m Sorry)

September 23, 2016 by Rika 2 Comments

My diver is yelling at me."Rika! Rika! He has such a strong Jamaican accent, I can't understand what he's saying! Rika, what did he say to me?"I instantly cringe and throw profuse apologies with my eyes at my boat captain, who lets out a weary sigh, rolls his eyes, giggles, and continues helping my diver with his gear. This is his daily life on an island full of people who just don't understand.it was not any of these divers :)I heard things like this every day on ...

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Filed Under: Expat Living, Island Living, Life, Real Talk, Roatan Tagged With: Culture Shock, Musings, Public Service Announcement

A Daytrip to Old Port Royal

September 5, 2015 by Rika 2 Comments

One thing I find both terrible and embarrassing is that on a tiny island like Roatan, it has taken me YEARS to get to some of the destinations around here. To be fair, for most of the year, I spend 6 days a week, 9+ hours a day at a dive shop or on a dive boat or underwater, so I don't have a lot of free time. But lately I have been graced with plenty of it, so when my friends put together a motorcycle day trip to Old Port Royal, or 'the end of the road' (literally), I jumped at the chance to ...

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Filed Under: Expat Living, Friends, Island Living, Life, Roatan, What To Do On Roatan Tagged With: Destination, Fun Times, Sunny Days

This Island is Trying to Kill Me (Or: That Time I Got Dengue)

October 29, 2014 by Rika 29 Comments

This is not the first time Roatan has tried to kill me.There was the entire first year that I was here and had allergic reactions to the sandflies and mosquitoes, had several staph infections in the bites on my legs and earned the somewhat unsavory local nickname of 'Sore Legs' from the islanders....There was the time I fell down a concrete ramp...There's been a few more I haven't mentioned due to legal issues and/or my mom's sanity.But this one has been the worst. You guys, I got ...

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Filed Under: Expat Living, Honduras, Island Living, Life, Living Abroad, Real Talk, Roatan Tagged With: Funny, Jungle Living, Lady Luck, Things to Know Before You Go, Tough Times

How Taking a Walk at Night Was a Revelation

September 15, 2014 by Rika 21 Comments

The other night I felt like taking a walk.I used to walk everywhere before I moved to Roatan. When I lived in Vancouver, one of the biggest cities in Canada, I regularly walked to/from work downtown to the neighborhood I lived in (Kitsilano). I walked home drunk by myself from downtown after going to the bar with friends. I walked to concerts, dinner dates and shopping. I never had a problem in 5 years of living there, and I never felt unsafe.When I first moved to Roatan it was a ...

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Filed Under: Canada, Expat Living, Home, Island Living, Life, Living Abroad, Real Talk Tagged With: Culture Shock, Musings, Things to Know Before You Go

How to Become a PADI Scuba Diving Instructor

July 18, 2014 by Rika 19 Comments

People ask me all the time how I became a dive instructor! I can say that it is not an easy (or cheap) process, but if you have a passion for diving and have the right personality to teach, it's an amazing way to do what you love - and if you want, live in some pretty interesting and exotic places.Since I can only speak for my own experience, this post is focused on how to become a PADI dive instructor. There are many training agencies around the world for basic certification all the way up to ...

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Filed Under: Dive Instructor, Getting Ready, Island Living, Life, Living Abroad, Moving, Real Talk, Roatan Tagged With: Diving, Finances, Fun Times, Musings, Things to Know Before You Go

5 Things I Love About Roatan

July 3, 2014 by Rika 20 Comments

"So, do you like living here?" I get this question from tourists on a near-daily basis, usually after I tell them I've been on the island for two years. Uhhhh... if I didn't like it, would I live here for two years? Now don't get me wrong, this place makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes. But so did every place in Canada that I lived at some point in time or another. (Can I be any clearer to people that paradise does not equal no problems?) But that doesn't mean there aren't amazing ...

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Filed Under: Bay Islands, Expat Living, Island Living, Life, Living Abroad, Roatan, West End Life Tagged With: Culture Shock, Diving

Roatan FAQ – Part 1

May 25, 2014 by Rika 14 Comments

Roatan FAQ

  The #1 thing I receive emails about is questions from people who are visiting or thinking about moving to Roatan. And they all ask me the exact same questions!! I thought I better start putting together from FAQs so that people can read through these first before emailing me since I just don't have the time to give full, detailed answers over and over. I hope people find this helpful! If you have other questions you would like answered in Part 2, please leave them in the comments ...

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Filed Under: Bay Islands, Expat Living, Honduras, Island Living, Life, Living Abroad, Real Talk, Roatan Tagged With: Culture Shock, FAQ, Things to Know Before You Go

10 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Moved to Roatan

May 16, 2014 by Rika 40 Comments

10 Things I Wish I Knew - Roatan

[This post has been adapted from a contest entry I wrote for ExpatsBlog. There are so many things I wish I had known before moving to Roatan... I hope this helps future expats!]My expat home is a little tropical island in the Caribbean off the eastern coast of Honduras. Just two hours from Texas by air, Roatan is easily accessible and is steadily gaining status as a scuba diving mecca and beach-lovers paradise. After a surge in popularity due to a House Hunters International show featuring ...

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Filed Under: Bay Islands, Expat Living, Island Living, Living Abroad, Roatan Tagged With: Expat Blog Awards, Funny, List, Moving to Roatan

What the Hell Happened?

May 6, 2014 by Rika 24 Comments

"What the hell happened? Where are you?"I have heard this a bit over the last few weeks. After I went off on a tired and teary rant about how I just wasn't having any fun here anymore, I sort of disappeared, as I tend to do any time I get overwhelmed. I just shut down and watch Netflix or read books all night and check in on Facebook sometimes, and that's about it. I had a lot of long conversations with family, friends and even strangers about what my next move was going to ...

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Filed Under: Blogging, Home, Island Living, Life, Living Abroad, Money, Work Tagged With: Fingers Crossed, Housesitting, Lady Luck, News, Time Off

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

March 28, 2014 by Rika 46 Comments

First off, you all are super cool for helping me cross the 100,000 view threshold this week! When I started this blog two years ago, I never thought it would be seen 100,000 times. Internet high fives for everyone!As I hinted to in the last roundup post, I am currently trying to make a decision about whether or not I am going to stay on Roatan. This is something that's been on my mind for the last few months, and I think something that every expat struggles with at some point. When do you ...

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Filed Under: Expat Living, Figuring It Out, Home, Island Living, Life, Roatan Tagged With: Lady Luck, Milestone, News, Readers, Tough Times

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i’m rika!

hiya! i'm a canadian paralegal-turned-scuba diving instructor-turned EFL teacher-turned digital nomad. i left my cubicle in 2012 and haven't looked back since. i'm a serial expat, but right now i'm back in canada on hiatus for a while. welcome to the place where i say things.

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