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 to call me. For now, I’ve been taking a bit of a ‘staycation’ and doing all the things I haven’t had the time to do over the last…well… 23 months! I’ve finally had high-speed internet installed at home (which means you can find me in bed watching Netflix 24/7 for the next 3 weeks, probably), changed my cable provider to one that actually has English channels (I’ve had NatGeo and the Food Network on non-stop), got my first haircut in 14 months, took the time to shop properly for good groceries and made delicious healthy meals, and just enjoyed my free time! After nearly two years of working 8-10 hour days, 6 days a week, I am ready for beach hangouts, day drinking and sleeping in. The money thing is stressing me out just a little bit, but at this point in time I’ve accepted if I can’t/don’t make enough money freelancing, I will head to Canada in the fall for a couple months to save money and then come back for busy season, or move on to somewhere new. We will see!
You can always see all my monthly roundups by clicking on the ’roundup’ tag below… but here they all are in order: Month 22, Month 21, Month 20, Month 19, Month 18, Month 17, Month 16, Month 15, Month 14, Month 13, Month 12, Month 11, Month 10, Month 9, Month 8, Month 7, Month 6, Month 5, Month 4, Month 3, Month 2 and finally little old Month 1. Sometimes when you type ‘month’ that many times it looks really weird.
Roundup time!
1. Gratuitous diving photo:
Now that I’m back in the water, I actually have some of these again! Here’s me taking a video of one of the other instructors on a staff dive…
BONUS: here’s the video I took on that dive… if you watch carefully, you can see the exact moment he snapped the above picture of me!
2. Posts from the last month:
- Lost & Found: Back in the Water – opening up about why I left the job I had been at for nearly two years here, and stepped out on my own into the unstable freelance world.
- Roatan Review: The Landing – a super sweet lounge/restaurant/smoothie bar that fell off my radar before but is definitely my new place for sunset drinks.
- 5 Things I Love About Roatan – with all my new-found free time, I am trying to get more balance in my life….hence, a post about all the great things about Roatan. (This ended up being one of my more popular posts; I think you guys must be tired of hearing how shitty the electric company is and how the grocery store is always out of everything. Sorry.)
- 10 Steps to the Perfect Dive Vacation – as a dive instructor, I spend my days trying to give people kickass dive vacations. Just a liiiiiiiiiiitle more homework before your trip can ensure you have the best dive vacation ever!
- Roatan Review: Ocean Connections – a dive shop in West End that went from pretty blah a couple years ago to an inviting, busy place that will take care of everything for you, AND take you on great dives.
Other places you may have missed me around the internet this month: I announced on social media that I am now a staff writer for the West Bay Tours blog, so I’ll be sharing my posts from there since they will be all about Roatan! The first one is already up: Roatan Dive Sites Your Guidebook Won’t Tell You About. I also did an interview with The Guy for his Travel Blogger Interview series, which you can read here.
3. Coolest thing I’ve found on the internet this month:
I first heard of the Royal de Luxe street theater company back in 2007 when my ex-boyfriend showed me this video (below) he had found online and thought I would like. “Like” ended up being a bit of an understatement. I’m not sure what it is about these massive outdoor puppets, but I am totally enamored with them and have probably seen every video online of them a million times. This is bucket-list stuff for me, guys. I’m obsessed. I WANT TO SEE THESE SO BAD. I think I would start to cry if I saw it in real life. I know they creep some people out, but I love them.
I recently was over at Adventurous Kate where she said that these guys were bringing the show to Limerick, Ireland in September. So if the universe wanted to be really cool, I think it would find a way for me to go to Ireland in September to see this!
Guys, make sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter … there’s lots of extras posted there that don’t make it onto the blog. I also have Google+ if anyone even uses that? And I’m on Bloglovin’, so you can follow me there too! Plus it makes me find some magical thing to get to Ireland to see those beautiful puppets. So there’s that.
Hi Linda! Quality Time Divers, the new high-end dive shop in West End actually serves Xbalanque guests. I am friends with the manager and the other instructor he has there…he has my number, so will call me if he needs me 🙂 Thanks!
Have you tried letting the resorts know that you freelance? Maybe they would send some biz your way if they could not accommodate a guest. The one I was thinking about was Xbalanque, high end place between West Bay and West End. She would probably send some biz your way, no dive shop there.
I have an idea… come visit me 🙂 Bring the pups! xo
Oh, I LOVE this month's gratuitous diving shot! So beautiful and it makes me yearn to be back under the water again. (How has it been nearly a years since my last dive? And how can I not know when I'll be back in the water again? Clearly my life is moving in an unacceptable direction…)