very simple

I finally got my scuba pictures back from the Duane Reade (after much haranguing). Most of them were pretty sucky, because I was so deep underwater, but a few of them came out relatively well.

[Update 2015] In an effort to reduce the number of holdover pages on the blog, I am slowly (very slowly) integrating historical photo albums into the appropriate historical posts on the blog itself. As a result, you can now view the entire Belize album at the bottom of this post.[/end update]

It was really a great trip, beginning with the flight from Belize City to Placencia, where I got to sit in the copilot’s seat. Look! there’s the pilot! The plane had 10 seats. We landed at the bustling Placencia airport, where I was whisked to the Inn. For some reason, I didn’t take many pictures on site, but rest assured, it was beautiful.

Some of my scuba diving travails have already been discussed, but my favorite parts were the key islands that we used as our launching off points – Ranguana Caye and Laughingbird Key, and dolphins!! They wound up following our boat for about 20 minutes.

As I said before, only a few of the scuba pictures were worth printing, but here’s Francisco, my instructor, and me!

And the best part? having no freakin’ clue what was going on anywhere else in the world…

With my little jaunt to Belize, I get to add two more countries to my "visited" list, thanks to a little stopover in Honduras on the way back. Pictures should be back from the Duane Reade tomorrow (fingers crossed!). You know, I always feel like I’ve been to a lot of places, but when I look at a map like this, it makes me realize just how narrow my travel history has been. I need to start branching out some more.

create your own visited country map or write about it on the open travel guide

I’m actually on my way home right now. Funny, given that I had no TV, I thought I would update more. I suppose it’s a testament to the fabulous time that I had that I barely thought to open up my laptop. I did pass my entire scuba certification training course, and did a total of four ocean dives, which were awesome. The deepest that I went was 60 feet underwater, and I saw some of the most unbelievable things. Hopefully my pictures will come out reasonably well, at which point they’ll be put up on the site. I’ll also describe them a little further at that time.

The other thing that really made my trip were the awesome and totally open people that I got to meet. I won’t go into too much detail, since it’s generally not my style to give out names of other people without their express permission, but suffice to say, I met people from all over the US, from all sorts of backgrounds, and they were all equally wonderful and made my trip incredibly special. There’s nothing quite like traveling some where completely alone and leaving feeling like you’ve really made new friends.

I’m sad to be returning to NYC so soon, but I am glad that I gave myself a day in the city to get reacclimated. I don’t think I could stand to have to go to work directly tomorrow morning.

So, I did pass my scuba exam, and given the fact that I did no studying and barely read the book, I think I scored pretty reasonably. Yesterday we spent the morning in the pool, which was neat, but it was nothing compared to actually going into the ocean today. We took a boat with a bunch of other people out to Ranguana Caye, this tiny little island about 30 miles off the coast of Belize, and then we had our first real scuba sessions. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. I was actually able to take pictures underwater with the disposable camera that I bought, so when I get them back from the CVS, I’ll make sure and post them (provided that any of them came out). It was really quite incredible.

Two more sessions tomorrow, and then I’m done. I have gotten a bit sunburned, despite my liberal reapplication of sunscreen. I guess I’m just destined to be bright red. My spa day on Friday should certainly make me feel better on that score however!

I apologize in advance if I slur a few words – I’ve had a few frozen margaritas before sitting down to compose.

When I finally got on the plane at the Belize City airport yesterday, it turned out pretty cool – the pilot made me sit up front in the co-pilot’s seat, and I got to take some really great pictures. Of course, I can’t link to any of them, because I forgot the darn USB cable to connect my camera to my computer. So I’ll just have to wait until I get home to download all my photos at once.

My room is beautiful, the people here are really nice, and, as you can probably tell from my grammar, the drinks are pretty free-flowing.

I had my first scuba class today. It’s a good thing I went over when I did this morning (at 8:30), because the day 1 class started at 9. More evidence that I’m a psychic? Anyway, today was all classroom/video stuff, but tomorrow we get to go in the swimming pool and learn how to use the equipment. Getting my fat ass fitted for a wetsuit is something I’m really looking forward to…but it’ll be worth it if I can get through this whole thing. Also not looking forward to the test tomorrow afternoon. I should be studying, but instead, yeah, I’m writing this entry after three frozen margs. It’s multiple choice. And hey, if I can pass the bar exam, I can pass the darn scuba exam…

Well, I’ve made it to Belize, and now I’ve been sitting in the airport for about 2 hours waiting for my final flight to Placencia. I thought I had it timed right, with a 3:20 flight out of here, but apparently, while Belize is technically the same time zone as Houston, apparently they don’t observe daylight savings time. so when my watch said 3:20 an hour ago, and they still hadn’t called my flight, I looked like a bit of an idiot. I’m down to 20 more minutes, but this is really turning into the longest travel day ever.

I left my apartment at 4:00 a.m., NYC time, which was 13 hours ago…oy.

My vacation has officially begun. I don’t leave for Belize until Sunday morning, but its a whole week without work, without newspapers, without telephones, without e-mail, without my blackberry…

By the end of the week I’ll be dying to get back here!

My plan right now is to blog through my vacation, but I won’t be able to actually upload any of the entries until I get back to my internet connection next weekend. We’ll see how this works.

Only two more full days until I leave for Belize. This is always the time that drives me nuts, because I stress myself out incessantly about getting all of my work done (or done enough to be able to pass on to someone else).

I think I’m going to attempt scuba diving lessons when I’m down there. It’s something I’ve always wanted to learn how to do, and it’s not like I’ve got a lot of other stuff planned. Other than the scuba, pretty much my entire plan consists of sitting in a hammock and reading. That’s all I really need to be happy – one week a year of cutting myself off from the rest of the world. Don’t get me wrong – I love living in the big city, and I don’t think I could ever live permanently anywhere else, but getting away for a little while definitely makes me appreciate it even more.

One of my favorite things to read is a monthly feature in Conde Nast Traveler called the ombudsman. People write in with their hellacious travel stories, and the ombudsman (I love that word!) tries to get them some sort of resolution. They only publish the letters that the ombudsman thinks are causes worth championing.

In the same vein, I’ve become somewhat addicted to the A&E show Airline. Maybe I’m the only one, but I’m simply obsessive about getting to the airport early (I missed a plane once – my friend missed the exit for the old Denver airport and we had to go miles out of our way). I’ll often get their two hours early for a domestic flight, just because I like the security of being confirmed and checked in. I watch these people who show up to the airport (not even the gate, the airport) ten minutes before their flight is scheduled to leave, who then proceed to throw absolute hysterical fits about not being able to get on the plane. I just keep wanting to shout at the TV, "Lady, the airline is probably hoping that you actually live up to your threats to never fly their airline again – you’ve cost them nothing but aggravation and heartburn for hours!"

All this has, of course, gotten me thinking again about what time I have to leave for the airport when I go to Belize. my plane leaves at 5:55 in the morning. The odds of my actually going to sleep the night before are looking slimmer and slimmer…

I’ve finally revamped all my photo albums (for now). They’re all pretty simple, without frames, but they load ten times faster and really just highlight the pictures rather than my own web design ineptitude. And I added a new one from my trip to Toronto last fall. My own personal Nirvana is the Bata Shoe Museum, where they have miles and miles of antique shoes. My personal favorites are the wedding display (If I ever get married, I am so wearing ducks on my feet!) and the celebrity shoes. The private tour of the storerooms was pretty awesome too. From original wedgwood heels that were made exclusively for the royal family, to these, I was ready to move in permanently.

And, of course, it wouldn’t have been a trip to Canada without at least one picture with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police!

[Update 2015] In an effort to reduce the number of holdover pages on the blog, I am slowly (very slowly) integrating photo albums into the appropriate historical posts on the blog itself, which should ultimately eliminate the legacy photo album section of the site. Images from the Bata Shoe Museum can now be seen below.