Five years.FIVE YEARS!Five years ago, I sold most of what I had, said goodbye to the two full-time jobs I was working, put the rest of my stuff in storage and flew out to Roatan with a dream, a plan, and $12,000 to make it happen.Five years ago today, I started my dive pro courses and was on my way to becoming a dive instructor.And who would have guessed after all my years in Roatan, and now a year in Japan - that I'd be right back where I started while I wrote this post?If you don't ...
Lost Luggage – What to Know When Your Stuff Doesn’t Show Up
When you head off on holiday, there’s plenty to look forward to. Sun, sea, sand – and a bevy of memories you’ll carry with your forever. However, it’s isn’t all roses and sunshine. Sometimes things sadly go wrong. One such example comes in the form of luggage going missing. Here are some tips for knowing what to do when this does occur:Report it Don’t be shy about reporting your loss. As the CAA point out, most airports will have a specialist baggage area where you can report lost or ...
Month 58 and 59 Roundup – May + June 2017
These roundups are quickly approaching the 5 year mark (month 60!). I love keeping them up as a quick and easy journal of everything that's gone on each month that I've been on this expat adventure. I wonder if I should keep numbering them after the five year mark passes though? What am I going to do, keep numbering them into the hundreds? I feel like that's like those people who tell me their kid is 26 months old. (He's not. He's 2.) Maybe it's time to just use the month name + year ...
Creative Freelancing: Interview with Monika Kanokova
One of my goals during my time here in Japan is to start slowly transitioning to a creative freelancing lifestyle. When I leave here, I want to be able to work as a fully location independent freelancer! Over the last six years living abroad, I've discovered that I'm not happy having to go to work at the same place every day and doing the same thing. I don't enjoy the feeling of being "tied down" to a city or an apartment that I might not love in a year or two. I'm all about doing what makes you ...
Don’t Let Your Ears Ruin a Dive
Does this sound familiar to you, divers?You've dropped thousands of dollars on a dive vacation to a beautiful tropical island. You got your gear serviced, you did a refresher in the pool at the resort yesterday to make sure all your gear was working properly and you read your scuba tune-up manual. On your first dive, your ears clear perfectly and you have a fabulous dive with turtles, rays and all the reef fish.On the second dive, you begin happily descending down the line and then it ...
Month 57 Roundup – April 2017
I'm trying to stay in real-time with these roundups, so I better get this out before May is over!Let's see what was on the agenda in April 2017... What I've Been Doing Since the Last Roundup Since March 2017, I honestly haven't done very much!I came back from my Philippines trip (if I ever get done editing the photos, I'll tell ya about it) at the beginning of April and then luckily had a few more days off at home to recharge before school started again. I really enjoyed seeing my students ...
JET Programme: Don’t Panic About Your Placement
It's May, and that means one thing for the new JET Programme participants - your placement is (probably) coming!Here is my advice: don't panic when you get it.That's it. Have a nice day!Kidding aside, I know from experience that this is one of the most stressful parts of this program (after finding out whether or not you got in, of course!) And I also know that a literal shit-ton (technical term) of you WILL NOT GET YOUR PLACEMENT REQUESTS. I seriously have no idea why they even ask us. ...
A Tokushima Tour
When I tell people I live in Tokushima prefecture (prefecture is like the Japanese version of a province or state), most Japanese people laugh and give me the "poor you" face. My prefecture is not particularly famous for anything other than having a giant dance festival once a year (it's outrageously fun) and apparently the worst drivers in Japan (can confirm). Tokushima is a small, unassuming little prefecture on the northeast corner of Shikoku, which is the smallest of the four main islands ...
5 Things You Need to Know Before You Teach in Thailand
So, being either bored or dissatisfied with your local job, you made the decision of traveling far away to seek your fortune. As far as the eastern hemisphere at that! It’s great to aspire, but hold your horses for a second.You won’t require extensive preparation for moving to a local country, but Thailand is a whole different story. Before packing your bags or even searching for a Thai teaching job, you need to be introduced to a couple of facts.Ahead of anything (and this precedes the 5 ...
A Weekend in Okayama City
In February, we did a Vancouver JET meetup in Okayama City. Besides all the excitement of attending Hadaka Matsuri (the Naked Man Festival), I enjoyed visiting Okayama City a lot. I live in a town of 60,000 so getting to go to a "big city" of 800,000 is a huge deal for me!Getting to Okayama City From Tokushima (my prefecture), I had to take a train about from Naruto, change in Takamatsu, and then on to Okayama City. The trip is about 2ish hours each way. My blessed JTE (English teacher at ...