The month 3 roundup is a little delayed because of two awesome reasons that happened right at the 3-month mark:
1. I did a guest interview with 30Traveler about what renting a house in Roatan was like, and it went live on the site that day. It was really fun – thank you 30Traveler!
2. I made some major cubicle renovations and now have a pretty new design for you all to look at!
Here’s what else happened in the last month:
- I took you all on a night out in West End, so you could see what going out in a tiny village on an island is like
- I pondered a change in scenery on a day when I was wondering if this was really the right place for me to be
- I gave you an update on life after passing the dive instructor exams and showed you a sneak peek of the TV show I’m going to be in
- I finally passed my dive instructor exams, the culmination of this entire cubicle throwdown…it was an amazing day
- I shared some anxiety and stress with things going on here before the instructor exams
- I showed you a photo of me and sharks!!
- I talked about how I didn’t really think about what I’d do post-instructor course
So month 3 was a huge month for me. I’m now a fully fledged PADI dive instructor. I have a job that’s going to be starting in the next couple weeks. I have taken a week off and gotten TONS done, including househunting because we have to move in three weeks. It’s been nice to finally actually relax. I have been going non-stop since March with two full-time jobs…and then I got here and while I love diving, it was a lot of work to get all my courses done and then do the instructor course in a short timeframe… so another two months of craziness. I finally feel like I’m on vacation this week! (Sort of, anyway.)
I’m much happier with what’s going on here now… happy with my soon-to-be workplace, happy with my house/roommates & friends, happy with what I’m doing here. Mostly I’m happy that I had the balls to decide, no, I’m NOT going to sit in this office all day hating my life. I’m going to get the fuck out of here and do something I enjoy and it might look crazy, but I don’t care and I know I won’t regret it. Some people like sitting in an office all day. I might even enjoy that later in life. But right now, for me, I like being a dive instructor on a little island in the Caribbean sea.
I bet you are so proud of being a dive instructor. Well done to you! Do you work a lot these days?
I am prouder than I've been for just about anything else in life, which is crazy. But there hasn't really been anything else I've done so far that I wanted this badly, and worked as hard as I did for it!
I'm not working (for money) yet, but I go out to the shop every day and work. Once busy season starts I'll be actually "working". I am doing a little freelancing on the side though which has been nice – it's interesting to see the way all the different shops work.
It's so great to see all the great things you've accomplished in the past month, but by far, my favorite part of this post was the last paragraph! I think everyone who goes on this unconventional "quit your old life" journey hits a few potholes in the road, but despite the bumps, at the end of the day, you never regret taking that leap!
(P.S. Tony and I have been certified for < 2 weeks and already we've done 11 dives… I think we're in love with scuba! Also: there goes our travel budget down the drain… 😉 )
Thanks! I know, I actually really enjoy listing all this at the end of each month.
You guys!! I knew you would love diving! You're almost up to where I was at when I got here – I arrived in Roatan with a might 14 dives under my belt 🙂 We are definitely going to have to meet up somewhere amazing in the world for a dive!