So here I was in Roatan, talking to instructors in dive shops who were encouraging me to do a divemaster internship and go on to the instructor course. YES! Of course I want to dive all the time and then do it for a job. Obviously I asked about the price… “Oh, a couple thousand dollars”. EASY! I could do that in a few months, no problem. I went home and looked up flights for June (it was the end of February) and got super excited.
Then I thought to myself, hey EM, since you’re mega-OCD and looooooove lists, maybe you should write out a budget just to make sure you’ve got all the bases covered. Go responsible adult behavior!
I wrote out a quick list: dive courses, renting a place in Roatan, dive computer. Smugly smiled about already owning my own wetsuit & boots. Then, to my horror, I realized I had forgotten about a TON of stuff. Like eating. And drinking. And a flight. And what I would do with all my stuff in Vancouver. And that I realistically should probably go down there with at least 4 months of living expenses covered so that I can either (a) have a cushion while I look for an instructing job or (b) go home with my tail between my legs after a fucking awesome 4 month holiday (both options allowing me to not have to rush through my courses).
My heart sank as I added more and more to the list. I actually calculated it twice because I couldn’t believe the number the first time I added everything together.
This list is something I was looking for online when I was searching through other people’s posts. I hope it helps someone out there looking to do the same thing I’m doing!
| Dive courses: Rescue, Divemaster, IDC | $3400 |
| Rent @ $300 per month for 4 months | $1200 |
| Food/drink/entertainment @ $600 per month for 4 months | $2400 |
| Round-trip flight to Roatan (need a ticket out to get into the country) | $700 |
| Dive Computer | $300 |
| Fins, mask, snorkel | $250 |
| Women’s BCD (extremely hard to get in Roatan) | $350 |
| First Aid/CPR Course (need for Rescue Diver course) | $130 |
| Trip Insurance | $100 |
| Home Insurance (still have to pay this at home for all my stuff!) @ $30 for 4 months | $120 |
| Cell phone at home (can’t cancel contract without paying it out, around $800) @ $60 per month for 4 months | $240 |
| MSP (that’s our health insurance premium we have to pay here in BC) @ $65 per month for 4 months | $260 |
| Storage locker for all my stuff in Vancouver for 4 months @ $100 per month | $400 |
| TOTAL | $9850 |
Then I cried a little bit. TEN THOUSAND FUCKING DOLLARS!?!?! Really!?! I found it a little hard to believe that all these people I met had gone down to Roatan and done these courses with ten grand in their pocket. How am I going to do this? That doesn’t even include having a couple thousand dollars in my savings account for when I (eventually) get back. Or any emergencies down there. Ugh. Very discouraging!
Check out tomorrow’s post for my plan to get the cost down and my current cash situation up!
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