Early days

I knew early days what I wanted.

I knew early days I wanted to become a PADI Course Director.

To be fair, I took my time, I didn't rush it. I wanted it so much, that I wanted to make sure I was ready for it.

I remember the day I sent in my dossier... It was like sending my baby away.

Then I got THE email, months later. The first person I called before anyone else was Rich ( my mentor, my friend, my big support in this adventure).

Then you plan everything, because you are a working instructor leaving in the middle of July. Leaving your Team. But you are so happy. So very happy.

I have a special place in my heart for this days spent in Dominican Republic doing the course. Good people, good teachers.

I loved it.

It made me understand why I wanted it so badly.

I'm one of this CDs that keep teaching every course. I teach how to teach, so I must not forget the feeling to be underwater with a "first timer", I must not forget that one day I may have to help out somebody and swim fast and strong, I must not forget to tide a knot...

I have to admit that my passion and dedication have taken me to amazing places, to amazing people, but it hasn't been always easy.

Been a woman in the diving industry can be very difficult.

In one hand, you want to keep been a woman, and in the other hand, you want to dive, carry tanks, fill tanks, load and unload boats....

But every day the women divers community is growing. I use to love working abroad because we were many girls on the boat, many CDs female, taking our "kids" to the IEs.

In Europe it's a little different, but it's growing.

I loved walking on the hales of the Salon the la Plongée in Paris, and see all this stunning ladies been the bosses, managers... Of dive centres.

We can do it.

We can be there.

We can be a woman.

We can be a CD.

All in one!

Many girls stop after the Dive Master.

If you feel you want to teach, go for your instructor. Do it.

Girls give a touch.

"But what if one day..."

Stop right there!

If the one day come.... You will manage!

Isa

#padi #coursedirector #idc #scubaibiza #goprobarefoot

High heels, teddy Bears and regulators

Life it's all about moments.
You are 20, and you are packing for the first time to go across the globe.
In your bag pack: your scuba gear, your board shorts and because you are a Woman, always your make up and a pair of high heels (because you never know). Then you spend your first 8 months in Thailand, and you remember that once, you had shoes, and they are there. Hidding underneath your bed, they are green, a new ecosystem is covering them, and just putting them in the trash you think: more space for scuba gear.

But you still a Woman.
So when you come out after a dive with the face full of snot, you check your hair, just in case. ( girls, we are all glamour).
At the dive centre i keep a hair brush, in case I have 5 minutes to try to look like a person, and then when I have 5 minutes, I put as much food in my mouth as I can (always in a very feminine way).

Then 15 years later of your first bag pack, you get pregnant.
In you PADI bag pack, that you keep since your IDC and you love because it's soooo practical, and you can put everything inside, suddenly there is no more space.
A monkey, a milk bottle, nappies, baby towel, etc.... Are taking the space of your sun glasses, bikinis, conditioner and all the scuba girly things that obviously you NEED to survive!

The thing is, that 15 years travelling once taught you that you didn't need things, even been a Woman.
Because I'm a woman that scuba, so a scuba girl, and lately a scuba mum.
So I sit my kid on the floor of the dive centre, that is by far, where I spend most of the time, and he plays. He plays with a mask, some fins and a regulator.
He knows that this things are part of our life.

I thought about this, because lately I had a few student kids.
They are amazing divers.
And sometimes have interesting questions like:
Why the alternate air source it's called like that and not the:
"To share"
Or the: "For friends"????????

And I think that my kid will start soon enough asking me this kind of questions, and I have to be ready for the answers.
Been a CD, don't give you the answers for everything ;-)

For now, just in case, in my bag pack I keep a bikini, a monkey, my mask and dive computer: because you never know, just in case or.... Because I'm a girl in love with the sea.

Happy Sunday

About traveling, Buddhism and sheets...

I'm that kind of lucky persons, that choose from the beginning to become a dive instructor.

I remember the examiner, a German guy called Wolfgang.

At the end of the exam, he gave me a serious look and ask: And now, what?

And with the same serious look ( as serious as I can be...) I answered: this is my passport.

And there I went, 20 years old, 2 bags and my first destination.

Since that moment, I travelled for 16 years. I did a journey in miles and I did a journey inside my soul.

I moved every 6 months to one year, because the world is so big, and I'm so thirsty.

Every place showed me something new, taught me something amazing.

Believe it or not, for example, I have been living many years in Buddhist countries, and you learn that first, that doesn't make you a Buddhist ( Even if you think so) and two, you can be a Buddhist with the latest IPhone, eating Mc Donald and no wearing a bed sheet.

Then suddenly you stop travelling so much, and your head keep spinning and your feet still itching. And your favourite internet site is the PADI employement board.

And then you look around and you realise that you love where you are. It's just this learning thing that you miss.

The absorption of new. The stimulant different. The bizarre of been somewhere totally different.

Learning. You miss learning and you get scared to "unlearn" "dis learn" or however you want to say it.

You want the challenge of innovation or.... Trying to order a meal in Thai and get something totally disgusting. But you eat it, because you tried!

I miss learning.

So I sink my mind and soul in finding my new personal challenge, ignore what want me to be part of "the normal" "the typical" " the it must be this way" or "do it like this".

Orders are not made for free souls.

I decided to dive, because diving makes me free.

I decided to teach diving, because teaching makes me learn.

I decided to be a gypsy, because my roots are my family, and I can travel with them.

Namaste ;-)

Scuba mum

And I became a scuba mum.

So you wake up one morning, you make your coffee, and don't even know that your life is about to change forever.

You are so used to just go with the flow, pack your bags in 1h, take a plane, dive somewhere different, and start all over again.

And then one morning... You take the decision that will make pack your bags during one full day.

And in the middle of your regs and bcd, there is a milk bottle, and you wonder what happen.

I dived during my first 6 months of pregnancy. Many of them because I didn't know, and then, because I was feeling better going diving that staying dry. Then one day I got ready, I was nearly in the water, and my body said, not now.

So I stayed dry for 4 months! 4 months without making bubbles, 4 months without my everything, basically, 4 months pretty pissed of.

Then I look back now, that I'm back where I belong, and it was a mix of emotions (maybe hormones as well), that I couldn't control. I didn't want to loose my life, I didn't want to loose myself.

And I didn't.

I have a buddy that loves water, loves hanging out at the dive centre, loves to play with mask and fins.

I have a buddy that knows, that if he wants to have a happy mum and have all her love, he needs to share her sometimes with the underwater world.

I realised that you can do anything.

The passion is too strong, too powerful, too.... Stuck in who you are.

And coffee works really good as well to keep you going. Long sleepless nights, long diving days, games on the beach, and then all the rest that made you don't write anything on a blog for nearly two years.

But I'm back, hopefully for good.

Back underwater, back with my IDCs and back in the blog. 

Just here to share my adventures.

Barefoot is back.

Peace and love 

About bags into bags and laser waxing!

Looking back to my " how did I use to travel".

A few days ago, I was sitting on the beach with Celia. Celia just finished her Dive Master course. She is in love with the ocean, a surfer and now a traveller.
She left home to go to Australia about a year ago now, and she is just in the middle of this time in life where there is no way back: your itchy feet are forever.

So we were chatting, Celia is 20, OMG, 14 years younger than me... but the same age, I started my life around "the oceans".

Travelling is such an adventure.
You think you can just pack a small bag, have your passport and a credit card... and off you go: but NO!

You need to pack in a clever way and never get attached to anything (say the one that adopted a Dog and a Cat in one of her trips).

So little tips about my little experience:

1- Pack bags into bags: tropical countries = Torrential rain. When you aren't ready, after 1 week, all your clothes are good for the rubbish.
Get yourself some waterproof bags from any sport shop and pack bags inside bags.

2- REPLACE. Never buy anything new, if you don't really need it. You get a t-shirt, the old one goes to the rubbish. Same with shorts, bikinis, flip flops etc...

3- Message for girls: Stop using TAMPAX! They are expensive, anti ecological, and very hard to find in many countries: FLEUR CUP is the answer!trust me in this one!

4- Message for girls Number 2: laser waxing. I know I know, it can be very expensive, but in countries like Thailand, Indonesia or even Singapore: It's CHEAP!! it's the happiness for dive instructors!

5- Go as digital as you can!

6- Scan Scan Scan and pack pack pack everything in a hard drive

7- Never loose your passport, and if you do, make sure you had everything scanned and safe in an ICloud, to can open it from any device... not only from one... in case you loose it too!

8-  Remember that post cards are cool. Send post cards and avoid opening your laptop instead of watching a sunset. And guess what... the beloved ones really get excited to get a letter that is not from the phone company.

9- Call from Skype

10- Teddy bear is allowed... because is NOT useless! even more if you travel alone and you need a big hug!

And that's the few little things I learned, since I'm travelling!
I try to so my best, but still, one bag for scuba gear, one bag for clothes and shit, my "little" cabin bag pack and my big "teddy bear" turtle... for sure I could do better than that, but at the end of the day... I'm a girl as well...

So Celia, this is for you!

I hope you had a fantastic trip back to your waves!
I see you soon!

                              Celia, Caro and I, girls travellers talk

The adventure... begins... every time (and you get to kiss the guys from the PADI videos ;-)

I guess this adventure started here, many years ago...

Ibiza, MY isla bonita.

I saw on the internet that a dive centre was looking for an Instructor... and I applied.

I arrive to the port of Ibiza and I met NICK, the man that changed my life and mostly the first man that told me, YOU CAN do it, and YOU WILL.

Sorry about the Pic Nick, but this is the one I have in my phone:

Nick is the smily Australian! He took me to the ISLAND and took me back every time!

He was there for me when I started Staffing IDCs and always got all his support. 
So for that and all the rest  NICK, THANK YOU!

From there to Thailand... between Phiphi and Koh Lanta.
Thank you RICH for taking me under your wing. Make me grow as a professional, and make me learn so much throughout all the IDCs that I was there with you.
As well to tell me every time, you will be good! you made me so good!

Then of course Kontiki Dive Centre, Specially PETER.
Thank you to take me as the first Course Director at KONTIKI Koh Lanta. To give me the confidence to run the IDCs the way I love. To always be there (you and ALL the company) to help me with everything. Mostly: Thank you for trusting me.... because I can tell you, I was feeling like a new Instructor fresh from his IE ;-)

Of course There is as well, all the time preparing my CDTC Dossier, staffing and working, drinking coffee and stressing, writing and studying...

For all the ones that suffered me while this was happening: if you are on Bali tomorrow, I PAY COFFEES! (Rich, you are around!)

After a crazy year of preparation that actually have been 14 years of diving and teaching and dreaming for this moment, I woke up at 6 o'clock, check my email and that was it:

Congratulations!

The PADI Course Director Training Course Selection Committee has approved your application for the 2013 Course Director Training Course held on 02-10 July in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Attached to this email you will find a number of very important documents. Please start by reading the acceptance letter containing the necessary information to prepare for this unique experience. Make sure to fill out and send back all the attached forms by the 31st of May.

To make sure that you received this email and all its attachments, please reply to confirm receipt.

On behalf of the PADI Course Director Training Course Selection Committee, congratulations on your achievement and I am looking forward to meeting you soon.

Sincerely,

Alan

So that was that!

What I was not ready for,was for meeting such amazing people and incredible mentors. My journey was just starting... again!

And is not to be funny, but you get to kiss the guys from the PADI videos ;-)

The incredible thing about all this story, is really how much I enjoyed every minute of it, and even better, how much I enjoy myself right now teaching people how to teach people to blow bubbles underwater!

I had a journey, 14 years of journey, before reaching THE EMAIL moment!

I don't regret any of this time, any of the travel, teaching, diving, carrying my bags and books around the world etc...

I will do it all over again!

EVERY DAY!

Best quotes. .. good memories. ..

I probably have many of them as well,  you can ask my lovely Matilda that spent her IDC writing them down. ..

Life is full of things that come out and we surely need to write them down. .. because even in a stressful situation. .. They are hilarious. ..

When I was teaching one of my open water student in Menorca.  I was explaining the compass skill,  and her face went blank, she looked at me and asked:
" so if I follow my bubbles. .. I won't find the boat back? "

What can you answer to that?

Or not so long ago,  we arrived to the IE.  One of my dear  student had the CESA.  The tide was so low that the sea looked super far away.
It was 7h30 am,  not enough coffee,  nerves only nerves for them but for me too.
I grabbed his arm and said,  please,  tide is low check the depth,  and I carry on towards the coffee shop.  But he stopped.
So I came back and asked him,  what is wrong?  Did you forget something.
And he said: no, but is the tide not only affect the surface?

What can you do?  I just started laughing ( nervous laugh. .. They are my kids,  remember? )  and walked. .. then he came running and said: oh my god,  I need coffee!  Yes you do!

We all have this thing. .. This fantastic moment of saying something totally surrealistic.
This moments make my day,  my life. .. and for sure my challenge!

When you decide to become a teacher,  any teacher,  you look at standarise systems.  And you soon realise, that no one is standard.
So you play with your tools to make your best music!

I love it!

Strange questions that make me think,  smile,  put my face of: seriously? ?????

Because teachers,  we are not standard either.  Because we get lost,  we can forget and we learn everyday.
We learn from all of you.
We talk and talk. .. but listen and listen to.
And is in the listening moment:
That we really become your teacher!

So thank you guys to make us better everyday!