Twenty months on Roatan! And yes, this roundup IS coming to you from Roatan. I received an incredible amount of feedback, comments, suggestions and advice after my post about trying to decide if I should stay here or not. Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment or email me! I took some time off, went diving, went snorkeling, hung out on the beach and tried to chill out a bit which helped to clear my head a lot.People have been asking and asking what my plan is and ...
Rika in Roatan will now be Rika in Russia!
Well guys, I had such a huge response to my last post about trying to decide if I should stay on Roatan or not that it helped push me out of a rut and onto my next adventure:I'm moving in two weeks to the tiny Russian town of Kashin to work on a farm in exchange for room & board! I'll be mucking out stalls, planting seeds, threshing, helping take care of the animals and also teaching the farm owner's kids elementary school math at night. No electricity, no internet, no ...
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
First off, you all are super cool for helping me cross the 100,000 view threshold this week! When I started this blog two years ago, I never thought it would be seen 100,000 times. Internet high fives for everyone!As I hinted to in the last roundup post, I am currently trying to make a decision about whether or not I am going to stay on Roatan. This is something that's been on my mind for the last few months, and I think something that every expat struggles with at some point. When do you ...
Roatan Month 19 Roundup
19 months abroad!This is a really weird roundup for me, because I have a ticket back to Canada in three weeks and I still haven't decided if I'm going to cancel it or not. I always have a return ticket every time I enter Honduras, and I usually just push it back or cancel it. For some reason I kept this one open from last summer... I haven't made a decision yet, but I need to in the next week or so. So enjoy this Roatan roundup, as it may be the last!I want to send you over to read the ...
Roatan Rent: What $400/month Gets You
(Edit 2019: guys, please look at the date of this post. It's over 5 years old. I no longer live on Roatan and cannot find a rental for you. Do not email me asking about rentals. See my suggestions below if you're looking for a place, or look at my Roatan FAQ page. There are many people on the island working as property managers and they deserve your business!)I had such a huge response to my last Roatan Rent post that I decided to dig through my iPhone photos and do another post on ...
Roatan Review: Deliciosa Creamery
Welcome to the latest in my Roatan Review series!This time I'm facing my post-traumatic stress disorder from my stint at a gelato shop to help save for my move to Roatan (that's how much I like the owner of this shop...and ice cream).Deliciosa Creameryentrance and front porchIt should go without saying that every tropical destination needs an ice cream shop. West End in Roatan was sorely lacking in this department. Last year we all cheered when Sophie's Ice ...
5 Myths About Life as a Dive Instructor in Paradise
5 Myths about the Life of a Scuba Instructor in Paradisetough day at the office, on a surface intervalWe’ve all seen them on our dive holidays, resort websites and brochures, and movies – tanned and grinning dive instructors living in incredible vacation destinations and getting to dive for a living. What could be better?As a (sort of) tanned and (usually) grinning dive instructor who really does live in an incredible Caribbean vacation destination and gets to dive for a ...
Roatan Review: Bay Islands Original Cafe
[Update June 2014 - Bay Islands Original Cafe has since closed. As always, spaces and places come and go regularly on Roatan so please do a little research for current news when planning!]Welcome to the latest in my Roatan Review series!Bay Islands Original Cafe is located on the main road between Gibson Bight and West End (those on Roatan: between Shorkie's horse pen and the white church on the Mangrove Bight road turnoff, right next to the pink apartments that have the seahorse ...
Roatan Rent: What $300/month Gets You
Want to know all about rent in Roatan? Here's the latest in my Roatan Rent series! (You can check out the $350/month one and the $400/month one for more posts on this topic.) Hello from my new office!! this is my dining room table. it's on my deck!One of the most common questions I get emailed is, "how much does it cost to live on Roatan?" While I've answered this a couple times already, I know people have different budgets and price ranges than I do. However, ...
Roatan Month 18 Roundup
18 months!!! A year and a half!Oh, and also, yeah, I'm alive. Thanks for all the concerned emails :) I moved from the jungle back to town and I was busy with moving and then going out and seeing all my friends that I hadn't seen very often in the last 8 months! They'll be a tour of my new place coming up soon and lots of other new stuff as well, so please check back often (I promise it won't be another month - sorry to Carol who I know checks my site daily for new posts!)This one ...