relocating to utila in april

[rubinax]

henry,


i think this certainly is an important driving force behind many of the naysayers, and, really, it makes perfect sense. like you mentioned, it seems to be an innate human tendency to hoard and guard. i've been trying to keep that in mind as i've been reading people's responses.

many thanks for the beneficial reminder

rubina

rubina,

I have been patiently and quietly researching this same idea over several years, albeit for different reasons than yourself. I found the above quote from you interesting because, like you, I'm having the same experience. One thing/thought that has always kept me moving forward in this regard - those members telling you it is nearly impossible to do are, in many of the instances, doing it themselves. So... derive from that what you will. It could mean they are looking out for YOUR best interests (you'll starve, go broke, crack under the work load, etc.) or it could be looking out for THIER best interest (with every enthusiastic go-getter type instructor that arrives, thier slice of the pie gets smaller).

Human nature is such that we protect what we love. If I loved my job, would I spread the word world-wide how awesome it is and tell you that you should come join me and take my income away from me?

The simple fact remains that intelligent humans can largely accomplish anything they want bad enough. How bad do you want this? Perhaps moreso than the guy sitting in his office watching it snow telling you that you should forget your dreams. The question shouldn't be "Can I actually do this?" but instead "How have those that walked this path before me become successful doing it?"

HTH

 

[rubinax]

lionfish-eater,

i appreciate the serious and well-thought out reply, as i certainly didn't expect anything nearly that honest in response you touched on the vast majority of issues that are pressing me to hustle along my departure. while i can completely understand your comment about being the change i would like to see...and, trust me, there is a part of me that feels guilty for wanting to abandon the situation...i have given this a great deal of thought. much like yourself, i have been researching all those topics for many years and i have tried to encourage others to seek out answers for themselves but far more often than not it's a pointless waste of effort. generally speaking, people are much too comfortable with the current system and seem, despite the glaring evidence demanding change, to be quite content to continue in it. i'm part of my local tzm group so that at least while i am involved in this society i can feel as if i'm at least trying to foster a shift toward a better world. yet, i don't feel inclined to dedicate my life to waiting on others to realize how bad things are. i hope that doesn't come off sounding awful.

anyhow, i have not looked into the scubaboard lawsuit, regarding freedom of speech but it would seem most logical to me that if I, the original poster, have no issue with what someone else has written on MY thread then it isn't anyone else's concern. so, feel free to say whatever you please!

thanks again for your commentary

Rubinax,

I have met many such people along the way of my travels, I met them by traveling to places where you can meet and talk to people who are trying to make a living in the local economy. I don't hang around the swim up bar at the AI resort. You can too, but you have to go there to make it real. I am interested in sailing/boating around for a while, so I went to some marinas and talked to an assortment of boaters. I met all types. One was operating a live aboard/dive school called divers at play. This might be an option for your training. I also met a couple who was in month two of a two year trip around the world in a nicely rigged catermarain who have limited space available for hitchhikers on various legs of their journey. Etc, you just have to go to know.
The point of my post was not to discourage you. The point is that it is easier to make some money here first and have a travel fund before you go. Depending on your needs, that can be a lot or a little. The less developed an area is, the fewer opportunities there are. However you may have a skill that is needed? The couples I refer to didn't have sufficient funds to survive the long haul of begining a career. Here at home, most new businesses fail because they don;t have enough capital to survive long enough to build a steady clientel even though they have great offerings.
I have looked into buying a place, but after a week on one island, I was offered two house sitting oppportunities after people got to know me.
I know all to well about the evils of the world. I am very knowledgeable regarding world, national and environmental issues. I am a strong proponant for 911 truth, I am well aware of the govt by and for the corporations. I live in a state where corporate farming is in full control. (the police arrested someone last week for exchanging raw milk) Farmers are having their crops forfited because the pollen from nearby genetically modified corn has crossed with theirs and is now the property of monsanto who owns the patent. Etc Etc The ocean are being raped by commercial fishing worldwide. Fish are being genetically marked so their offspring can be claimed as corporate property for generations to come. Electric cars are really coal burners, as that is where most electricity comes from. The financial crisis was the greatest scam on the working people of the world. Engineered to take their accumulated wealth, break the auto and construction trades and labor in general, and to incur huge public debt. Thus robbing our past, present and future.
The point of this diatribe was that none of this will stop unless we the people unite and stand up and be counted. In the spirit of The late senator Wellstone not as a Teapartyer. I understand your disappointment with the current condition of mankind. But rather than turn your back and bury your toes in the sand, you can be a part of the solution by being the change you want to see in the world. You can do that anywhere. I eat local/organic, support independent businesses, etc, etc.
I stopped trying to change the sheepole of the world and decided to become a better sheepole dog. It's easier to turn the herd in the right direction if you know how to nip their heels.
This will be my one and only post that is political in any way, as this is not the appropriate site. That being said, members should read the posts about scubaboards law suit as it is directed at freedom of speach issues. If this case appears before a judge who believes that the "people" already have too many freedoms, speach being just one of them that can be restricted by the state, then we are all in trouble. These forums and the internet are the mechanism for information transfer, and should remain unrestricted. People must be free to state their version of the "truth" without fear of being sued.
I ended my post with set sail, etc. I was encouraging you go explore for yourself in what we used to call real-time, not virtually as you stated you had looked all over on the internet.

Best Wishes Lionfish-eater


Get out of the jar!

 

[mitsuguy]

Rubina -

please get Jeffy to copy you or show you the two private messages I just replied to him with...

and if you all have any other questions, I am always more than happy to help someone else down the road we are still driving on!

(its two pm's because I went over the character limit!!!)



-Cody

 

[oceanbound]

Rubinax, I for one wish you all the luck in the world. I've been reading this thread as it is sooooo similiar to what I want to do with the exception that i've been diving for a few years now. I hope you are able to make this dream a reality. I would love to hear how things go once you start on this venture.

I too have wanted to do as you and have been reading several various places which are on the top of the list. Utila was on my top, still is. So we spend a week there to see if we would like it. We loved it. Even though it was only a week, we liked it anough to go back and spend 3 months before jumping in feet first. But we are also going to try out another two places on our list first. I will say that we met so many nice people. All with stories of how and why they were on Utila, basicaly the same reasons as you. There have been others who went and didn't make it for various reasons but many did and they don't regret it. Those are the ones you need to talk to as they will be up front and tell you the good with the bad.
Anyway, good luck and keep us informed please!

 

[laurenceh]

"Anyway, myself, I'm more interested in Curacao, Isla Margarita, somewhere like that where it doesn't rain all the freakin' time and you don't get eaten by bugs. But that's me. In any case, I can't recommend this site enough: EscapeArtist.com ... Lots of information there about visa requirements, tax considerations, real estate, various expat communities, etc. in the Caribbean and beyond, with great links to other sites as well. I'm on that site and its offshoots 3 or 4 times a week, and I've learned tons about expatriation in general and the places I'm interested in in particular. Check it out and good luck!"

don't believe half of what you read on international living or escapeartist.com, every word they utter is just an attempt to sell armchair explorers something. and as far as "rain all the freakin' time and get eaten by bugs", i've lived on utila for four years and the ten rainy weeks we get each year is a welcome break from the sunshine, the locals pray for it so we have enough water to drink. curacao and margarita are no different they're praying for rain as well each year. as for bugs, if you're bothered by them don't live anywhere in the world that has warm water, i spent 6 weeks volunteering in mexico last year and got eaten alive.

 

[bkotheimer]

"Anyway, myself, I'm more interested in Curacao, Isla Margarita, somewhere like that where it doesn't rain all the freakin' time and you don't get eaten by bugs. But that's me. In any case, I can't recommend this site enough: EscapeArtist.com ... Lots of information there about visa requirements, tax considerations, real estate, various expat communities, etc. in the Caribbean and beyond, with great links to other sites as well. I'm on that site and its offshoots 3 or 4 times a week, and I've learned tons about expatriation in general and the places I'm interested in in particular. Check it out and good luck!"

don't believe half of what you read on international living or escapeartist.com, every word they utter is just an attempt to sell armchair explorers something. and as far as "rain all the freakin' time and get eaten by bugs", i've lived on utila for four years and the ten rainy weeks we get each year is a welcome break from the sunshine, the locals pray for it so we have enough water to drink. curacao and margarita are no different they're praying for rain as well each year. as for bugs, if you're bothered by them don't live anywhere in the world that has warm water, i spent 6 weeks volunteering in mexico last year and got eaten alive.

laurenceh, I'm sure you're right that some of those web resources are thinly veiled marketing .... and they read that way. But when you pick through the hype, there really seems to be some substance underneath. However, in the end there is no better resource than people who have actually lived there, such as yourself. I and anyone else considering this would certainly be interested in where you got most of your info before you made the leap.

As for rain and bugs, of course I could avoid them entirely and just stay in Southern CA (we have almost none of either). I'm just saying that in choosing a warm-water locale, all other things being equal, a lesser amount of each would be an important consideration -- for me. With other folks, it's the language or the currency or the price of real estate, but with me it's the overall climate equation.

 

[Stout]

I had a quick look at escapeartist, it seems like their primarily interested in selling me real estate and wanting me to register with them so I can access listings. Listings I can access through a simple search. Seems like most of the island is up for sale.

I didn't find anything about the visa requirements and most people I talked to on the island had immigrated on the "bring lots of money" plan. I talked to people who'd been there for years and were still either paying off the immigration guy or doing visa runs to either Belize or Costa Rica and spending a substantial amount of cash doing so as those aren't the "cheap" countries.

What do you know, having your own set of gear isn't a requisite for employment as either a DM or OWSI. It's something you're going to want anyway if you're halfway serious about working in the industry as staff gets last pick of the gear. I'd budget for everything except a BCD and regulator as you want a mask that fits, a wetsuit that fits and hasn't been previously pissed in hundreds of times, cold water fins with booties, and a computer.

Anyway you slice it their isn't no way, now how, you're going to save up for a scuba education working a "service" job.

So working as a DM, yes sure, there's paid positions available by my estimates you'd need to guide a minimum of 3500 tanks a year, just to live as tipping doesn't appear to happen in in the dive school environment, at least it's rare. IMO the money is in the resort sector and one question I'd want to answer to is "Do resorts hire DMs or do they want their DMs certified to the instructor level ?"

As an instructor you'd want a minimum of 200 certifications a year, just to live.

Expenses add up, you're going to want to have beers at Tranquila bar with your students and clients, you're going to want to go out for dinner with everybody at RJ's and unless you're prepared to hole up in a shack in the mangroves with a big 'ole sack of rice and beans I stand by what I said before.....bring money.

 

[kierentec]

rubinax,

You are making a great decision in heading to utila. i spent 3 weeks there last spring, and will actually be there all of this april. are you still planning on going in april??

I made pretty much the same decision you did. woke up one morning and said "f-it, i'm never going to work again". moved back in with my parents, sold my condo, cars, and everything else besides t-shirts and shorts, and spent the summer getting my DM and instructor certs and moved to an island i had never been to before (same one as mitsu, actually). I'll never look back. you have to remember that so many people do this every day, it's 100% possible. a lot of those people do end up burning out after 3 months or so when they realize that the vacation is over, and they do still have to live a real life. while far simpler, you still have many of the normal every day problems as anywhere else. Like anywhere, it's difficult to make this kind of move without going there first...however if you're like me, the adventure into the unknown is what it's all about! at times i feel like I've actually gotten too settled where I am now, and have fallen into the same old rat race. I've got a car, flat screen tv, Iphone, etc. however, my work day is either spent driving a boat in the caribbean, or diving in the caribbean. on my days off, my most difficult decision is whether i want to go fun diving, to the beach, or surfing, and I am able to save enough money to take off and travel for at least a 6-8 weeks a year to keep the adventure going. so at the end of the day, i guess i'm happy to be settled in here

I strongly recommend Utila Dive Center for all of your training, they do an amazing job. If you are there in April, you'll be able to find me at the dive center every day, usually with a stack of books open or 5 or six tanks strapped to me.

good luck with everything, and maybe we'll meet up in a couple months!

 

[rubinax]

i wanted to thank everyone that has read, commented, encouraged, discouraged, and sent messages regarding this post! i definitely did not expect so many responses and i truly appreciate all the input! a special shout out to cody (mitsuguy), henry (sloeber), and jon (kierentec) for taking the time to answer our specific questions

an update: we have moved our exit date to the beginning of june, in order to allow us time to save up more money and to figure out what to do with our pets (this will, by far, be the most difficult aspect of the relocation). in the meantime, upon the knowledgeable suggestion from cody, we have begun our open water certification here in denver. we are signed up with a-1 scuba, which has an exceptionally good reputation, particularly for a land-locked dive company. we've only gotten as far as the pool lessons but we're already enjoying it immensely. the tentative plan is to go until rescue diver before we leave, dependent on the difference in cost between here and utila. but life is unpredictable so we will simply play it by ear!