While I live a life many seem to envy here in the Caribbean, waking up to white sand beaches with turquoise water, and getting a suntan on the boat between scuba dives, only a few close friends know that my heart really lies in Japan.wearing my hello kitty yukata at a ryokan (tradional inn)An obsession since I was tiny, Japan embodies everything I love: efficiency, innovation, perfection, order, traditions and precision. A wide geographic range from snowy mountains in the north all ...
Life
The Last Day of 2014
Hello again from the Caribbean!After a somewhat unintentional month-long blog hiatus, here I am. At first I was just feeling uninspired, with not much to say. Then I was feeling censored, as there were a lot of things happening here on Roatan safety and security-wise that people were asking me about, but I couldn't write about it on my blog. I'm sure many of you don't know this but there are plenty of islanders who have found out about my blog and read it. While I'm always happy to have new ...
An Ode to Rainy Season
*sings* IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!Nope, not Christmas. Christmas as I used to know it barely exists for me anymore - there is no tree, no family and presents on Christmas morning, no hot chocolate and skating and snowmen. Christmas is just another day that I take people out diving (and I am totally okay with that). So, while that song might evoke images of Christmas in your mind, the most wonderful time of year on Roatan for me is rainy season.I will take a moment here to ...
Roatan Month 27 Roundup
It never ceases to amaze me how the monthly number just keeps growing and growing! 27 months on this island and counting...I have been thinking for a few days what I was going to put in this little 'pre-roundup news' part that I usually do, but I can't come up with much. No news is good news I guess? I am feeling much better after my bout with dengue - thank you to all my readers and family & friends who were checking in on me! I'm ready to get diving again and cheeseburgers no longer make ...
{GIVEAWAY} The Dayplanner to End All Dayplanners
Last year I won my first giveaway ever - I was the lucky recipient of a personalized dayplanner from Personal Planner in a contest hosted by the lovely Andi. When I posted about how much I loved my new planner, the company contacted me and offered a giveaway for my readers too! My friend Lise won and she loooooved hers just as much as I did.Fast forward to this fall... it's 2015 dayplanner time! Take a look at my 2014 planner, then at my 2015 planner below and then make sure to check out the ...
This Island is Trying to Kill Me (Or: That Time I Got Dengue)
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 ...
Two Years as a Scuba Diving Instructor in Paradise
You guys. I've been a dive instructor for two years today. TWO YEARS. What the hell!? Where has all this time gone? I feel like I was just writing about how I wasn't sure I'd even get my other courses done in time to do my instructor course. And now I've been teaching people how to dive for two effin years already!the first day of my instructor course in october 2012... so happy that i am still in touch with all my fellow candidates!I have written a few posts about being a ...
New Tourist Visa Procedures on Roatan
had mentioned the new-ish Honduran visa procedures in a previous post, but I am getting asked a lot of questions from readers planning to visit, move to, invest in, or retire to Roatan.Let me first be VERY CLEAR that I am not an expert, a lawyer or any other kind of official. I am simply someone 'on the ground' who has been through the procedures and has seen how it has been working since it's been put in place (late August 2014). I am also not making any sort of statement of what I ...
Roatan Month 26 Roundup
After month 25 coming to you from Canada, this month's roundup is actually coming from Roatan once again.I am happily settling back in my little life on the island. While I picked a fairly terrible time to come back work-wise (this is the slowest time of year and won't pick up again until Christmas) I am hoping I can scrape by until high season starts.The 5 weeks I spent in Canada were, as always, never long enough to see everyone I wanted to. Sorry to anyone who I missed. Having spent ...
On Being A Chameleon
I've been back on Roatan for a week now (a very busy week! more about this later!) and absence really does make the heart grow fonder. While I am already missing good sushi and fast internet, I am relishing every walk I take down the street that takes me 20 extra minutes because I have so many people to say hi to. Being back underwater has been immensely helpful in getting my stress levels in regular parameters, and I've been lucky to be diving with a shop this week that is...wait for it... AIR ...