Roatan Roundup: Month 39

What to say about 39 months on a tiny island in the Caribbean? A few things…

What’s new?

This roundup almost didn’t happen…because I almost left.

I made some admittedly bad financial decisions during the last high season that left me with exactly zero dollars to pay my rent last month. Straight up panic city. I only had a couple weeks to either get a large chunk of cash, or buy a plane ticket home and give up on the Roatan dream (hey, it’s been three great years!). I don’t want this to sound all ‘oh, poor me’ because it was most definitely my own fault, but it was pretty damn stressful and exacerbated by the absolute shitshow of trying to courier my updated credit card (mine had expired) from Canada to a friend in the States who was coming down here, so that I could at least buy food at the grocery store. Canada Post and USPS were on the receiving end of everything from yelling to tears. Here’s some advice to help anyone else avoid this in the future: fuck the postal service. Use FedEx. Also, maybe don’t live on an island without mail service.

Because I am the queen of the wildest highs and lows in this life, of course at the last second some things fell together and the rent got paid (with exactly $4 to spare!) and so I am still here. It was a bit of a shock as that’s the closest I’ve ever been to being forced into leaving and I had all kinds of feelings about it. In the end I am glad it worked out and that I stayed – for a few reasons. More to come on that in a later post.

I’ve been diving like crazy lately and it’s been AMAZING. It’s still work, of course (as my divers tend to forget – they are on vacation, I am not!) but I’m much happier having the ocean for an office than a skyscraper. I love that I still squeal with excitement when I see my favorite fish (it’s a queen triggerfish, for inquiring minds…) and I see turtles and morays that I recognize year after year. Under the surface is still the only place I really feel like I get any peace and quiet. So I’ve been spending as much time as possible there these days.

Let’s get on with the roundup!

1. Gratuitous diving photo:

// photo by Scuba Kieran

Me and the cutest little nurse shark on the Roatan Banks (seamounts).

2. Posts from this month:

Well, I managed to squeak out a grand total of one – Why I Don’t Want to Tell You About Diving the Seamounts. But I think this is a hugely important post and I really debated whether or not I should even write it. I’ve had a few dive shops on Roatan share it and I hope it continues to move through the diving circles. Even if people don’t agree with me, if it gets them talking about it, then I’ve done my job!

3. Best thing I’ve found on the internet this month:

Am I the only one who finds stuff like this incredibly soothing? Yes? No? Well… just try it.

I swear, I’ve watched this bread rise about 560 times. This has lowered my stress level more than once in the past month.