The Last Day of 2014

Hello again from the Caribbean!

After a somewhat unintentional month-long blog hiatus, here I am. At first I was just feeling uninspired, with not much to say. Then I was feeling censored, as there were a lot of things happening here on Roatan safety and security-wise that people were asking me about, but I couldn’t write about it on my blog. I’m sure many of you don’t know this but there are plenty of islanders who have found out about my blog and read it. While I’m always happy to have new readers, I sometimes receive threatening messages if I post unsavory things about their island (despite facts being facts…) so I prefer not to address these issues on a public forum like my blog. I don’t like the feeling of not being able to write about what I want to, but at this time on a small island where people know who I am, I am putting my personal safety first. Anyway, when I leave Roatan permanently I’ve got loads of great stories saved up for you all 🙂

High season on Roatan has finally started after one of the slowest seasons on record. I have to say, I am thankful that it has taken me 29 years to have to experience the feeling of having only $8 to my name and not getting paid for another week – I’m glad I have been so lucky in life – but I hope that never happens again! Hopefully that will be good inspiration for me to tuck some money away this high season. I am generally the absolute worst with money (which I still find shocking in a life that I try to control obsessively) but maybe 2015 will be the year that I get it. For now, things are rolling and very busy. I’m back in the water diving which I am happy about. I spotted a hammerhead shark yesterday which is my third in three years – I’ve had people tell me they’ve been diving 15+ years here without ever seeing a hammerhead, so I think I’m doing pretty good in the shark department.

I’ve been really enjoying reading everyone’s 2014 recaps on Facebook and out in the blogosphere. When I watched my ‘Facebook Year in Review’ it seems that I didn’t do much in 2014 other than eat, drink and dive. I actually think that’s perfect. 2012 was a huge year when I finally made the move to Roatan, 2013 saw me ringing in the New Year on a megayacht traveling the Caribbean, and 2014 was the year I settled down. I’m okay with that. 2014 was the year I was mostly happy. That works for me.

I always feel like I don’t have much to say about the holidays here. They’re just another work day for me. We definitely don’t get holidays off here! For a girl who used to set her Christmas tree up on November 1st every year and not take it down until February, this was a big leap. Some of my friends here have put on fantastic holiday parties, dinners, etc. and I am grateful they still invite me to this stuff even though I am always too broke or busy to host my own.

2015 is coming tomorrow, and for me it’s a big, blank slate. I have no idea what I’m going to do next year. It might be another year on Roatan full of my favorite things (eating, drinking and diving!) or it may find me somewhere else doing something different. I don’t know and I don’t want to know yet. I do know January and February are going to be huge with a lot going on. I will be traveling somewhere around here for a visa run (probably Belize, Costa Rica or Grand Cayman), doing a housesitting stint for the cutest puppy ever, my 30th birthday party (ideas so far are a magician, fireworks and a massive pig roast…normal 30th birthday, right?) and two more things that I can’t announce yet but are pretty damn awesome. After that, who knows? Every time I try to make plans here they seem to get thrown out the window, so 2015 will be the year of no plans. Let’s see what happens.