I went out for a drink last week with some people who we had become friends with over on Long Bay Beach on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands. We
Long Bay Beach, Provo, Turks and Caicos Islands
spend a large portion of our days over there escaping the relentless heat of our non-air conditioned house in the heat of July in the Caribbean. There you can always find some relief from the heat via the wind or a dip in the ocean. It’s only a 1 minute drive away. The beach has become famous for kiteboarding and most tourists visit at least once, fall in love with the soft sand, shallow calm waters, and decide to return again and again. After some casual chats about life on the island and about the Truli Wetsuits business I am starting up, this tourist began to probe me with questions about how I got to be where I was today. I realized that I have answered those questions quite a few times over the years and as time passes the stories seem to get more and more interesting. Life is not a smooth ride, but my determination to combine work with my passions has taken me all over the world and has challenged me in ways I never thought possible. I’m addicted to those challenges! And so it began…
Did you ever want something as a child that you weren’t able to have that followed you into adulthood? That was how scuba diving was with me.
I remember being a kid and wanting to learn to scuba dive so badly, but was never allowed to due to the cost it would entail especially if all 3 of us kids were to learn. Growing up in Canada we had the good fortune of spending summers at my grandmother’s cottage on a lovely clear lake where I learned the expression: “water-logged”. We swam in the lake, went fishing, canoeing, water-skiing, and even sailing. I loved to gaze into the water and imagine what was below. My curiosity was endless when it came to what lay beneath the surface of the water.
As I grew older, I often looked into things like scuba clubs, but while at university, I had other priorities that put the scuba diving on the backburner again and again. Instead I focused on non-profits and began my volunteer experience as the Trip Coordinator with Habitat for Humanity. I learned about leadership, fundraising, and having fun while doing something meaningful and it finally started to lead me on some unforgettable international adventures to builds in Jamaica and Costa Rica. Upon graduation from Wilfrid Laurier University at the age of 22 and with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Language & Literature as well as a minor in Development & International Studies, I packed up my bags for a dream-come-true-first-real-job adventure in the vast metropolis of Tokyo, Japan. I was a brand spanking new English Teacher at a conversational school in a city of 13 million or so people who spoke a language I knew nothing about. I had never even eaten sushi before or been on an airplane beyond Costa Rica. I’ll never forget how I felt when my dad dropped me off at the airport in Toronto for my flight to Tokyo. I had no idea what I was doing having never been to an airport by myself before let alone travelling across the world alone for a new job.
As strange as it might seem, Tokyo, Japan is where my scuba life began!
In my next blog post, I will write about the first time I tried scuba diving while on my first backpackers trip to the Philippines!