The first big project I wrote about in the last blog post-https://alohadenise.com/2019/01/31/camino-2020/ states I am walking/hiking/trekking the historic Camino de Santiago with my friend Allison, whom I played soccer with when I was in 7th grade. Since high school graduation, we explored different life paths and reunited a few years ago. Thanks to social media, I follow her adventures and jumped into one of her posts about this trip. She invited me and I gratefully accepted. Our journey will begin in April of 2020, and we’ll cover 500 miles in 40 days, so I am prepping for a little over a year. From the moment I said, “YES!”, my prep began. Now I’m living into that future, that experience, that life event.
My second big project will come to fruition this year: In March of 2019, I will travel to Tampa, Florida where I will study, learn, practice, and achieve the certification of Master Scuba Diver through PADI. Since my books are in the mail, my studies begin soon, so my prep as begun.
My dad, a PADI and NAUI instructor, taught me how to scuba dive when I was eight years old and the word SCUBA was an acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. This sport has progressed exponentially. My Mark (my HH) and I have been dive buddies since 1978, and our daughters are certified Rescue Divers.
https://www.padi.com/courses/master-scuba-diver
Here’s what PADI describes as Master Scuba Diver: Join the best of the best in recreational scuba diving and live the dive life as a PADI Master Scuba Diver. The Master Scuba Diver rating places you in an elite group of respected divers who have earned this rating through both significant experience and scuba training. Fewer than two percent of divers ever achieve this rating. When you flash your Master Scuba Diver card, people know that you’ve spent time underwater in a variety of environments and had your share of dive adventures. The path starts with earning a PADI Open Water Diver certification, followed by PADI Advanced Open Water Diver and PADI Rescue Diver (or qualifying certifications). You also need to earn five PADI Specialty Diver Certificationsand have logged a minimum of 50 dives.
I will pursue these five (5) specialties: dry suit, wreck diving, drift diving, fish ID, and propulsion vehicle. This experience will include some NDBs and some “never thought of before”s.
I look forward to my newest adventurous projects with gratitude and delectation. I enjoy challenging my body and learning new skills.
My resolutions continue to drive me forward. My new mantra is don’t just dream it, do it. As I always say as I enter the water at a dive site, “Happy Bubbles!”
Aloha🌺,
Denise
