I am so glad that you got to do that despite your fears and apprehensions.

Just goes to show that we are bigger than our fears, only we don’t know it till we try it.

When are you back in OR? How long do you plan on staying? or is this a more or less permanent move back?

Keep in touch buddy.

Rasheed

Way to “dive” right in and do it (i worked really hard on that pun).

I’ve found that I end up doing some of the coolest things at the end of my trips, right when I have to leave! It just makes me want to come back (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing either). Good for you for taking that step and being ready to dive next time you’re back in Thailand!

(ps thanks for adding the follow-up comment notifications)

And, it is SO cheap in Thailand. Seriously. SO CHEAP.

I’m actually SSI certified and I picked it over PADI because 1) it’s cheaper 2) it doesn’t require you to buy the darned books that you’ll never use ever again and 3) once you’re certified, nobody cares.

It’s not WHO you are certified with but how experienced you are. Don’t dive once and not do it ever again. To become a good diver, you have to dive a lot without a short amount of time. It sounds strange, but buoyancy is a weird thing to learn. Once you get it, you’ve got it done pat, but it takes a bit of getting used to.

Keep at it. You’ve missed the season to dive the Andaman but if you’re EVER back in Thailand, go to Khao Lak and do a 5 day liveaboard diving the Similans. In ONE dive (best dive of my LIFE and I haven’t even dove that many times), I saw 6 to 7 giant manta rays AND a whale shark. It was flipping incredible.

Enjoy the ocean. It’s a beautiful, majestic and powerful place.

“There was some adjustment and even some minor discomfort…” and then you were swimming around enjoying life! And I bet this is what most of us would experience when we overcome the fear that has been holding us back. We have some period of adjustment where we feel that initial self doubt and maybe it transitions into some minor discomfort but then this all gives way to the experience and we have this realization that we worried for nothing.

I’ve had two recent life events that have opened my eyes to what you experienced here which is to grab these opportunities and not waste them. The first was the unexpected death of my Grandma which made me realize how short life is and the second is an aggravation of a past back injury which has left me with a painful pinched sciatic nerve. This more than anything made me realize that you can’t put off too long the things you want to do in life because not only do we have an unknown quantity of time on this earth but we may have a life event that leaves us physically unable to pursue these things. I love that you overcame all of this and just did it.