The freezing abyss. ish.

I am the kind of person that when they set their mind to something nothing can stop them.  This weekend I experience a glitch in the makeup.

Rewind to mid-September at Underwater Phantaseas in Lakewood, Colorado.  Skyler completes the first part of our training with flying colors (like didn't miss anything in the classroom, zoomed through the pool work, etc.).  I, on the other hand, completed it.  It happened and afterwards I was ecstatic it was over.  Just the whole thing gave me anxiety.

Fast forward to this past Friday night, the day before our open water certification.  Sky and I drove down to Santa Fe to stay with a friend.  On our drive down, I realized I forgot our underwater camera and my booties for my fins.  So glad I get to wear socks in place of the booties in freezing ass water... NOT.  We then headed an hour and a half to Santa Rosa in the morning to the Blue Hole.   Below is first glance at the Blue Hole.  BTW it was about 45 degrees out and the Blue Hole water temp was a brisk 61 degrees.  YIKES.

All right.  Okay.  It looks fine.  Maybe a little cold but not that scary.  Next, we go through the prep of everything.  Get your stuff ready, blah blah blah, etc.  It is quite the production.

Geared up now!  Yay everyone is sort of happy before we do this!  Well I lasted a dive and a half.  Clearing my mask caused some panic for me.  It did not help I was shivering.  Skyler was even shivering due to the water being so unforgiving.  I got out after clearing my completely flooded mask on dive 2.  It took me, gosh, what seemed like 30 minutes to clear it.  Yeah, I'm not very good at that.  By the time I got to the surface I was shaking with tears, saying "I'm not sure this is for me."  Skyler got out after his second dive and decided to stop with me.  Neither of us were having fun.  The wonderful instructor, Penny, offered to work with me at the pool with my mask issues and then we could come back and get certified on a trip to Homestead in Utah (where the water is 93 degrees, uh hum, yes please).


So I cried to my parents, we had a snack and told each other "Let's go do something we are good at."  "Drink!"  It actually worked out well for us to not have to go back.  We got to spend more time with Skyler's friends in Santa Fe.  Ultimately, I'm not sure we would have gone back since Skyler's cold got progressively worse as the day went on.

In closing... I'll try again.  It's not in me not to.  But scuba may not be for me.  Claire keeps telling me it's like cilantro you either love it or hate it.  Right now, I do not like it!  It's not over yet though.

Also, recommendation on visiting the Blue Hole for your scuba certification?  Well, if the water is warmer and it's not fall, I guess?  I say F the Blue Hole!  We are never going back!

Planning overload

I think I have hit planning overload.  Everything from our 10-page google doc to our 5-tab xcel google doc to shopping, reading my three travel books, etc... it is a lot.  It's also a lot of pressure!  I mean, we haven't even learned any words of any of the three languages!  We have a packed 3 weeks of travel to 3 countries.  I have so much planning I still want to do.  The question is when is enough enough?

I guess I don't want to find ourselves wasting time on the computer.  I want to have enough notes to just freaking go you know?  We have booked two hotels, leaving 11 other places as a real-time decision and negotiation.  We have booked 5 flights in between counties, leaving about 1 flight and tons of ferries, trains, cars unbooked. 13 cities planned to visit.  We joke it will be amazing race style.  But who are we kidding, at least 9 days are planned to be in a beach location.

I guess I also don't want to find myself mad about what I packed or didn't pack. A 40-something liter backpack is sure fun to pack when you've never done that type of traveling before.  Especially as a woman, I thinking packing "right" is even more crucial.  I'm not some huge hiker, backpacker chick so I'd like to wear comfortable things that are also cute.  And what the heck is going to happen to my hair in that ridiculous, hot, rainy weather?

There is a lot of worry as you can tell.  Maybe I need a new strategy for planning the rest of the time. Planning goals... planning rewards... planning booze!

Cheers travellers.

I couldn't agree more

Get over to the blog throwingthebowlines.com… Amy knows all about this!

Oh the places we've been

As the first inaugural post of The Traveling Dinks blog, I (Kristin) shall recap where Skyler and I have traveled. Now while we haven’t traveled to all of these places together, I think it’s important to record where we have been until today. Some places were obviously better than others!

Also to set expectations for this blog, you will hear all about our travels. I can’t guarantee it will be helpful or entertaining (hopefully it will at least be mildly entertaining). We will plan to post about the places we go, domestic and international.

Stop by or stay a while.  We welcome all comments in addition to recommendations for our upcoming trips.  Welcome to the Traveling Dinks blog!

Now on to the post…

Where I have been (10 countries, 1 territory):

• North America
  • Belize
  • Mexico
    • Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Cozumel, Playa Del Carmen, and Tulum.
  • United States
    • Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico (US territory), South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
    • I have never been to 10 states: Alaska, Alabama, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
  • Europe
    • England, France, Italy, Germany, and Russia.
  • Australia
    • Australia and New Zealand.

Where Skyler has been (5 countries, 2 territories):

• North America
  • Bermuda (territory of the United Kingdom)
  • British Virgin Islands (territory of the United Kingdom)
  • Canada
    • Vancouver and Whistler.
  • Mexico
    • Baja Peninsula and San Carlos.
  • United States
    • Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
    • Skyler has never been to 15 states: Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Vermont.
  • Europe
    • England and Scotland.