“Home”-sick.

I’ve been away from Roatan for nearly a month now. I remember being so surprised at feeling homesick after I had been there for only six weeks. I missed the comforts of home – sushi, my hula hoop, going to the movies, etc. When I look back on it now, that’s understandable.


But after two weeks traveling on a yacht, and now two weeks and counting hanging out in Miami with no particular return date set in stone…

Even in my own head I can’t believe I’m homesick for a place that I know I love, but is a struggle nearly every day just to sustain myself. I never have enough money there, hot water is an oxymoron, the power is out for hours on a semi-regular basis, I have to buy drinking water, the food is terrible and I get eaten alive by the bugs. It’s hot as hell, I have no personal transportation, and the violent crime on the island is no joke…there are like 5 homicides a month on an island of 80,000 people, and countless break-ins (happened to me twice so far) and personal robberies (happened to me once so far). It’s a tiny place that thrives on drama, which I am not immune to. Not to mention all the other things I miss out on living in a third world country on an indefinite time frame. 

west end in the pre-road getting paved days… and me post-heavy night of drinking and losing my shoes at the bar… classy.

I’m enjoying all the luxuries I had at home in Canada (and more) here in the US. But I am starting to get antsy about going “home”. People keep thinking I mean Vancouver when I say home, but Vancouver hasn’t been my home for over five months now. I have friends there, and my shit is still in a storage unit, but that doesn’t make a place a home. Roatan is where all the things I need are, it’s where my dive gear is (well…should be), it’s where I have a bed and a home and a job (well…. used to have a job). It’s where I walk down the 1-mile street at any time of day or night and have to stop every 5 feet to say hi to someone. It’s where I know which stand has the best baleadas, that Woody’s doesn’t open until 6pm on Saturdays because the owners are Seventh Day Adventists, which channels are always dubbed in Spanish and where everyone will be on Friday nights. It’s where I get to dive, the one thing in life that calms me down, makes me happy, and lets my brain relax. It’s where my heart has been since I landed there a year ago for the first time. I miss it. And people who I never dreamed in a million years would even notice I was gone have been calling me and messaging me to tell me they miss me and ask when I’m coming back. I love that!


I’m still waiting for the yacht to get here with my dive gear, and I’m registered for at least two weeks of yacht crew courses. I’m here right near then end of the Caribbean season, when most of the boats are going into the yard before the Mediterranean season (which starts at the end of April/May). Unless something amazing comes up right away… which I’ve been told is not likely… then I’m going home. I’ll probably still keep looking for opportunities on yachts after I head back to Roatan, but I need to get back in the water, I need to go home. I’m not done with Roatan yet.