Divemaster and Coxswain

Those are such fancy terms for the next chapter of my life.

Ever since Tigger was diagnosed with liver disease; and now kidney disease, once she passes, I had planned to travel the world for at least a year. Coming up with a plan, where I want to go, worrying about visa’s and other travel crap sort of put a damper on what should be a fun time.

Then the other night, W commented in passing about becoming a Divemaster. We had talked before about his time at Utila and all the great experiences they had while getting their open water certification.

The island and dive school look amazing, have great recommendations from others I know who have gone there.  The best part, I can do all five PADI instructor certifications as well.  Plus, they have an internship and a scientific research program where I get to go things such as grow coral, help look after the reef, and other things with the various creatures like whale sharks and dolphins.

On top of all that I can take the IYT Coxswain Boat Captain course and be a certified dive boat captain.  Not sure I need it but why not.

All that while living on a tropical island with living expenses at about 25% of the cost I have now.

Even if I decide to stop at my Divemaster and IYT dive boat crew, that is more than enough credentials to dive everywhere in the world, should I decide to travel the world for a year or two.

The other option is I can work pretty much anywhere a dive operation happens since I would be fully qualified to at least run tour dives or work professionally in some other capacity.  The school also has worldwide contacts to help top students find jobs in some of the best vacation, dive spots and research centres.

Like most things recently, I will probably be their oldest student and finish top of the class.   Truthfully, it’s not because I’m smarter, it’s because I work harder.  See the above paragraph as another reason to work hard and do well.

I haven’t been this excited about my life since I realized I could retire at age 40.  At no point did I expect to have such an exciting second career.

The good news is, I can spend the rest of 2019 and into 2020 getting into top physical shape so my O2 consumption is adequate for diving.

As a kid, I always wanted to become a diver and look for treasure, as a kid I went into politics instead. Now is a chance for me to live my dream.