How does time go so quickly here? Is it because I spend every waking hour eating or being constantly lost in thought about what I want to eat before my time is up and I'm off again to the land of the worst food ever? (Hint: possibly.)It's been five weeks since I came to Canada and I am out of here today.While my friends and family were all so, so lovely for hosting me during this trip, I can't wait to get back home, get underwater on a dive, and sleep in my own king-size bed...mosquitoes not ...
Life
How Taking a Walk at Night Was a Revelation
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 ...
Roatan Month 25 Roundup
Month 25 is coming to you live from CANADA!I guess the post title is a little misleading, because I'm still hanging out in the great white north for a couple more weeks. (And it's literally the great white north right now... it's already snowing in some parts of Canada, and it looks like I may see some snow for the first time in over 3 years. Not that excited about it.) It has been wonderful eating all my favorite food - did you know there are bacon poutine chips now? - and seeing ...
The Definitive Guide to an Incredible Weekend in Ucluelet, BC
I have mentioned a few times here on the blog that I am an island girl at heart - yes, I love my little rock in the Caribbean that I live on, but I was actually born on an island! Vancouver Island, to be exact. I'm currently in Canada for a 5-week break from Roatan, and when one of my best friends offered to have me come out to Vancouver Island and stay for a long weekend in Ucluelet, one of my fave little towns in Canada, I jumped at the chance.Ucluelet (you-kloo-let), or more ...
Surfing in Ucluelet, BC with Wick’d Surf Camps
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...