Home again, home again

Well, I've been home for about 3.5 weeks now and I have to say it's pretty nice. But my feet are getting itchy again already! Ideally, I'd be headed off to some tropical location (perhaps Palau if money was no issue) to further my scuba diving levels and basically dive all day, everyday. Since I'm not in that dream world, I will have to happily settle for a new adventure in moving back to Toronto. Since I've been home, I have had two interviews for internships at ad agencies which is very exciting. If I am a successful candidate, I'll be couchsurfing my way down to Toronto by mid May while looking for a room to sublet for the summer. 

Other than work-wise, I have been visiting with lots of friends that I have missed over the past two months which is lovely! Before I left, I made sure to put some money aside for when I came back, because when I got home from Australia I was in the red and didn't even have money to put gas in my car to go job hunting. It was seriously depressing and I was convinced that I would be unemployed and living at home for my whole life! Luckily, I came across the job posting for Alice's, and it all worked itself out as I knew it would. I definitely recommend this to anyone going on an extended trip, leave some money at home that you cannot access while travelling for when you get back, you will be happy you did :)

I've also been doing loads of creative outlets such as painting, needlepoint, as well as experimenting with jewellery making with the shells I brought home from Central America. All of these things are turning out quite well, and I plan on selling my jewellery when I have a collection built up, along with doing hair wraps! I've also been back into eating much much better than I was while traveling and am feeling great! I sure missed my morning smoothies :) 

As much as my feet, heart and soul are longing to be back on the road, I know that now is the time for me to buckle down and start my career. Hopefully with time and experience, I will be able to not only travel for work, but maybe relocate somewhere altogether! Who knows what the future holds? For now, all signs are pointing to Toronto, the bright lights and big world of advertising. Wish me luck! I'm ready to jump in.

Until the next adventure,

Soph

My favourite welcoming committee <3

Guess which one is mine? #mermaidlife

the island life for me...

hola mi amigos y amigas! Como estas? Yo soy mucho mucho bien 😄 I've been on utila for almost two weeks now and have done so much, that I could go home now feeling like I've had a wicked holiday. Thankfully, I don't have to go home for a while (you poor souls facing those temps aaah!) 

Last week, Jayme was here so we did lots of fun stuff like renting four wheelers and going all around the island, climbed pumpkin hill, you can see the whole island from there because it's so flat! We went into the freshwater caves, went to the fancy resort neptunes for the day to swim, suntan and have a few cheeky drinks :) 

This week I did my PADI open water scuba diving course at utila dive center (also where sarah is doing her divemaster course) it was fantastic! I don't know how I haven't been diving all my life. Diving is literally something I never thought I'd be able to do ever. At first I was pretty scared, but with more practice I really began to enjoy it! It is a whole new world underwater and such a cool feeling to be able to explore while breathing normally! Im pretty stoked for myself for stepping (hugely) outside my comfort zone and being rewarded with this beautiful new way to be closer to the ocean which I love so much! I'm looking into doing a few adventure dive courses which will hopefully count towards my advanced open water course. Or heck, I might even just do the advanced, we shall see I'm on a budget haha 

Utila is pretty cool. It's a super small island, everyone is here to dive, get certified or do professional courses like divemaster, instructor etc so it's all scuba all the time! Things here are very cheap, but more expensive than on the mainland because everything is brought in on the ferry a few times per week. Everyone basically knows everyone although people tend to stick with people from their own dive shop ( there are about five main ones ) 

We've been doing some yoga, drinking great coffee, meeting lots of new people and reading a lot. It's been pretty stormy the last few days, so lots of Netflix has been happening haha next week I'm hoping to get into a regular running and yoga routine with a few dives here and there! I just love it so much! 

Around the second week of March I'll be headed to the mainland of Honduras to go see the copan ruins and then to Nicaragua where I'm going to surf my way down the pacific coast! Meeting my momma in Liberia, Costa Rica in April for a week and then we will see where I go, depending on how much money I have left lol 

That's me for now! Life is good, I'm slowly getting my tan back and enjoying relaxing and hanging out with sarah who I haven't seen in almost a year! So nice to be back together :) hope everything is well with you guys at home, you're all rock stars for enduring those awful temperatures, I'd be crying for sure haha

Much love to everyone, sending island vibes your way! 

Peace and pineapples! 🍍

Sophie