Friday, August 15, 2014

Enough dreaming, continue planning







Ever felt like time is not moving fast enough? Hehe usually it's the other way around but at this time, it can't go fast enough. But I still need to work more and save up. If not I guess I would have been gone already.


Good thing that I planned another 2 week vacation to Malta for the end of September. Can't wait to get back in the water.  

I might be buying some starting gear like a diving computer, mask, flippers and a BCD. I'll just need the wetsuit after that and some other basic accessories. I will be getting comfy with my new equipment doing mostly recreational dives this time and maybe do a few courses like 'Nitrox' or 'Emergency First Responder'. Can't wait really. Diving is the best feeling ever. 

Although it would be easier to just wait and buy my gear when I make my real move in 2015... I really want to start owning my own gear. And travel with it, just to get the hang of the feeling already.  

I'm going back to the same dive center as last time and I'll also be asking a lot of questions considering my plans. And questions I have. I'm sure my superiors will be able to fill them in as they went more or less the same way that I am going to follow. This is not just a trip, it's part of the preparation towards a different life in a different world. I can't get enough info to start this off at it's best.

Anyways, after my day job, I am now also working 3 evenings/week at the restaurant to gain more money. 
And tomorrow I have another job interview, hopefully it will be what I am looking for and I will get my budget arranged more quickly. Fingers crossed. 

I won't be selling my car just yet, as I need it to go to the places I work at. So I'll sell my car a bit before I leave. Can't do it the other way around, sadly. It will be worth less in 6 months or more, but nothing to be done about that.

Added to the planning line, is getting my boat license since it's known to be a good bonus for the work I'll be choosing. Yachtsman is the degree needed to be able to handle a boat along the coastlines/islands and inland waterways.
I will need 6 or 10 hours of practical sailing, depending on where I do it and with whom, and the theoretical courses can be done in 8 Saturdays, or in a quick-course of 2 days. I think I better go for the 8 Saturdays, it seems more right to me.
Really I don't think handling a boat is that difficult, but I really want to make sure I get all the important know-hows fed to me in a secure slow way, so that I have the time to review it and (hopefully) learn to sail accordingly.
I mean, the boats I'll be sailing are not just rubber boats with a set of wooden peddles, no, tourist boats can get up to 7 meters and bigger. I think some quality preparation is most definitely required here!

I'll need to go to the Italian Consulate some of these days as well to inform me about necessary documents I might need to start my journey. Also will I stay subscribed in Belgium for social security reasons? For if something goes wrong and I need to come back all of a sudden.
Not that I intend to come back but you never know right. Of course I hope to come back .... on vacation yes, and just 'only visiting'.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Enhancing the dream

For 2 weeks now I have been gathering more info over the net concerning my decision. I am trying to plan this out to the max. Double thoughts at times - yes, for sure - but I know what I have to look for when I'm in the middle of this transaction zone.
Want to know what keeps me running? Well, I just watch some movies about diving and that's more than enough to keep me going and get my head straight again, right away.

The under water world is an amazing scene that really attracts my attention, and I really feel like I want to embrace that feeling and just get out there and dive.


It's not just the diving, it's the whole concept. The path to becoming a good instructor, experienced diver, passing it on to others, enjoying my work location, taking care of my work location, working in a field that is at the same time recreational and professional, yes, diving the oceans and seas. Making others aware of the darkness that is slowly taking over.
Embrace the oceans. If the oceans die, I'm sure we soon will all die. So why wouldn't I make this adventure worth living for, and pick the right side.

Diving will give me the degree I want, allowing me to exercise this profession in great places, near the sea, in the water. All over the world.
Right there where all the sea creatures are at, the ones you only see in pictures, and movies, or the ones you never saw or heard about.
Soon I'll be able to swim with the biggest of them and I'll be amazed by their beauty and serenity.
 

An even more growing important thought to me now is the fact that I am getting more and more aware of what is wrong in this world.
I all ready had that feeling in our materialistic non-sea world. I mean, the way we are living, is not really supporting our planet. It's killing it, we just don't realize it, and we live on with our lives, not really thinking about what's coming next. Greed is killing our world!

Well it's totally the same down there, under water, ... that world is also suffering. Actually it's not just suffering, ... it's slowly but surely dying. Most fish might be exhausted in 30-40-50 years if we continue to take what we want and do what we are doing, the way we do.
Where did this awareness come to my mind? Well many of the divers I met in Malta, at the dive club, tell me about tons of fish swimming around Malta like 10 years ago. It's not like that anymore. We are over-fishing, that's what's happening and it's killing the sea and oceans! Of course over-fishing is not the only problem. It's a vicious circle, hidden from us as we get blinded by our so perfect busy lives.

I have no children, but this does not mean I don't want this world to be a livable, better place for future generations! 

So here is where I get sad, ... sad, very sad after watching these 2 video's. I am goose bumping when I see the passion of this 20 year old girl. I think this is truly amazing!
Feel obliged to watch these; if you are reading my blog, I encourage you to do so! As a matter of fact, if you don't watch them, simply stop reading! (just kidding but you'll get my point).
This is not only happening underneath the surface of the earth, it's even worse above level-zero in my humble opinion. We are destroying our planet.

Watch and listen:
https://vimeo.com/94363725

Again, watch and listen:
https://vimeo.com/100841208

I am not turning into an ocean activist all of a sudden but ...it's simply the truth. What is being said here on a shark-level is totally not contradictory to what is happening to the rest of our world. We are really killing it. How long can we go on like this?
I know, it all seems far away for us or better: We just don't get a chance to see or think about this stuff because, we are all brushed up with our busy materialistic lifestyles controlled by the system, the media system, that is controlling our lives, blinding us from what is really happening, making us feel comfortable and safe.
The media, controlled by powerful engines set up by world governments. Until ... someday, it will be to late to bother.
Someday it will all be over if we don't act. Heck you gotta start somewhere right? Well I'll start right here, as my dream took shape!

I hope some day I'll be able to help fight against all these bad things and I hope I'll be able to contribute my mite for real. Good thoughts like these are a good start. A good start towards a better me, and hopefully a better world. I'll try to convince as much people as possible.

And thus, by having said this, I am all ready contributing in the fight. Yes! Because you are reading. I'm sure some of you have similar thoughts. ;-)