The last time I was on a surfboard was quite a few years ago. Some friends and I were camping in Tofino, on Vancouver Island (BC, Canada) and there were two guys who knew how to surf, plus me and another dude who had no idea what we were doing. We rented gear from a local surf shop and the guys who had surfed before told us they'd give us a lesson. Well, after 20 minutes of flailing around in the whitewash, the guys who knew what they were doing abandoned us in pursuit of bigger and better ...
Life
5 Places I Could Visit Again and Again
For me, there have been some places where I've traveled that just got under my skin in the best possible way. Places where I could see myself living, or visiting over and over (or both, in the case of my current situation!) Here are 5 places I've been that I absolutely loved, and could travel there again and again:1. Roatan, HondurasDuhhhh :) Not only is Roatan now my personal "Cheers" (where everybody knows your name), I visited this little Caribbean island a few times before moving here, ...
I Should Have Been a Mermaid
Hello everyone! I'm currently traveling on my way to Canada and taking a little break so you will find a few scheduled posts this week as I get busy stuffing my face with ALL the sushi and visiting with friends and family.My lifetime love of the ocean made complete sense when I was 25 years old and saw the hospital I was born in. I was born on Vancouver Island and we moved away before I turned 2, so I didn't remember it. The day my aunt took me by the hospital I was born in, it all made ...
Roatan Month 24 Roundup – Two Years!
Two years. TWO YEARS. I never thought I would be writing this post.I remember thinking when I left Canada, “Well, if I make it even six months this will all have been worth it.” Now it’s two years later and I’m still here on Roatan - diving, drinking too much rum and enjoying the best sunsets in the world.I am going to take a break from my traditional roundup posts for this once, since it’s a milestone. Instead of my usual roundup, I’d like to share some of the things I’ve learned from ...
8 Beaches Worth Visiting in Phuket
(So guys, I'm still on the downlow for a little bit. My lovely friend Karyn from Not Done Travelling has stepped in with a guest post for you all about beaches worth visiting in Phuket! Show her some looooove in the comments. Thanks Karyn!!)When the chance came up to write a guest post for Rika, I wanted to write about something that follows on from her current theme of islands, beaches, and diving. I had recently put up a post on my own blog about my favourite beaches on the west coast of ...
How to Become a PADI Scuba Diving Instructor
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 ...
Roatan Month 23 Roundup
23 months living on this island... holy highballs, that's a while!Kind of an interesting up-and-down period lately with work and stuff here. I'm still freelancing which is a great experience getting to know how other shops work. I haven't made too much of an effort to get work, and will probably try a little harder in the upcoming weeks because it was fast and furious at first and has now slowed to a trickle, but there is work out there - I just have to go get it instead of waiting for them ...
Roatan Review: Ocean Connections Dive Shop
[EDIT: 2015 - New management and owners have changed this shop significantly. Please always do recent research if you see my reviews are older - things change quickly on an island. My review only stands at the time of writing and the shop is no longer being run the same.]When I first arrived on Roatan, Ocean Connections was a 'bros-only' dive shop - the owner refused to hire any female instructors or divemasters. The decidedly testosterone-laden vibe was bogged down further by a small, beat up ...
10 Steps to the Perfect Dive Vacation
Working in the scuba diving industry for the last two years has opened up my eyes to a whole new world of dive travelers. I don't often get to travel on dive vacations, but I work every day with people who are on them. After seeing my guests have great trips (and some not-so-great), I feel like I can offer some useful advice to those planning a dive vacation.me at work, taking out some of my fave divers photo courtesy of sarah1. Choose your location based on what YOU want as a ...
5 Things I Love About Roatan
"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 ...