Sticking a pin in a map

05 Jan 2012 1 Comment

by pennyforthem in Blogroll, Latest News, The Planning

The itchy feet urge has struck again. Actually, if I’m being honest, it never really left, and the urge has only grown stronger since I was granted the ability to teach scuba diving for a living. As always, the urge to travel is always tempered by the means to travel, and before I can leave, I have to arrange simple facts such as money, accommodation, and most importantly, where I want to end up.

My husband and I (who will be coming with me and also trying to find work) are trying to decide where to go. There are several factors in this. I would like to teach scuba diving. He is a qualified science teacher. Ideally, we would find somewhere where we can both do what we are qualified to do. Once we have accumulated a bit of wealth, and we’re happy where we are, we might want to set up some kind of business – a cafe/ bar or perhaps a guesthouse. There are other factors to take into account too – such as the ease of getting back to the UK in case of an emergency, the stability of living in a different country – for example, the chance of a natural disaster, or the political environment. We have pets, and if we stayed in the EU, we could take them with us, and again, if we stayed within the EU, being granted the permission to work, or to have a bank account wouldn’t be a problem.

We have three main (very broad!) areas which we are considering. For the safety and the stability, we’re considering Malta. An EU country, cheap to get to/from the UK, a good climate and good year-round diving. It is more expensive to live there, but it’s relative, as we’d be getting paid more too. There aren’t really any other options in Europe, other than possibly Cyprus, but there is less opportunity to dive year-round there.

The second option is Asia – Thailand in particular is a place I know well, and feel comfortable in, there is plenty of diving and there are plenty of school. But, there has been much political upheaval in the past few years, work permits can be tricky to get, and owning your own land as a foreigner is difficult. There is of course a language barrier too, along with cultural differences to take into account. Of course, it doesn’t just have to be Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are all famous for their dive sites, but there is less potential for earning money as an instructor, as fewer people travel there.

Our third option is moving to Central America. It is somewhere we’ve both been, we’re both familiar with the language, and the diving is spectacular. If we chose somewhere that more Americans went on holiday to, rather than backpackers went to, it’s possible to earn good money as a dive instructor. The downside to living there is that it can be costly to get to/from that area back to the UK.

The truth is, that depending on where we end up, one of us will probably suffer. Either the diving is compromised, or the teaching is, as the places that great diving occurs tends to be more remote, and the great teaching tends to be in large-sized towns or cities. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds as though I’m complaining, and I’m really not. We’re so lucky to be able to make this choice – it’s just that we have so many options!

Of course, there are many other places that have great diving, and hold great opportunities, we’ve considered places like Sri Lanka, Egypt, Mozambique, Venezuela, Florida and places in between. With so many different points to weigh up, it may just be easier to stick a pin in a map and go from there…

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