The Blue Fish

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Is travel a component of self education, or merely entertainment? Obviously, it can be both, but I think many of us delude ourselves into thinking what we usually do when we travel is any more than entertainment.

For instance, when my husband and I first met (three and a half years ago) we went on a couple of cruises. We certainly did travel, and we saw many terrific islands in the Caribbean. But mostly? It was Diamonds International and other tourists traps. We saw little of how people lived in these places and we had few contacts with the locals that weren't more than a brief and shallow transaction.

But, that wasn't true for my most intense memory from our first cruise. One of the stops was Roatán, Honduras, a terrific island in the western Caribbean off the coast of Honduras, not surprisingly. On the map, it looked boring, but everything written online mentioned great snorkeling. So, we reserved a snorkeling adventure. My husband was excited, although a little cagey, too. He loves to snorkel, but he knew I never had.

I think Roatán was our second port. We walked off the boat, through the tourist cash extraction compound, and onto a bus. The bus ride to the other side of the island was memorable -- we drove through a town where people actually lived, something you can miss entirely when you cruise. Warm sun, a beach with fleas, a dock and onto the catamaran and out into the bay. I geared up and gingerly raised my hand when the roll for first timers was taken. Then, buoyed by an overinflated life vest, I dove into the Caribbean for the first time, mask on, snorkel in mouth, bobbing on the top of the water.

I put my face down and, suddenly, out of the blue, the panic hit. I couldn't breath through the tube, I would drown. I guess I must have flailed about some because one of those positively gorgeous young men with a body built by swimming for a living, came to my rescue. He was a pro, he'd seen it before, and he knew what to do. And he stayed there, reassuring me, holding my hand. It helped. I was still terrified, but at least I was breathing.

I put my face down again, and the panic hit again. Then I saw it: The blue fish. It was this intense, out of the world blue -- I should know now what kind of fish it was, but a fairly quick online search brought no joy. It wasn't a big fish, and I think I have seen it in an aquarium somewhere but, to see it like that in it's own world? Wow. And, there was coral, lots of brain coral! And, those bright lemon yellow guys! And, I knew that, as afraid as I was, I really, REALLY, wanted to see more. So I learned how to override the fear and snorkel.

Sadly, the panic still hits each and every time I snorkel. I just don't do it often enough for that to change. But, I'm not proud -- bring that noodle over here!

Since then, I've had a panic attack at least one other time when traveling outside the country -- when not snorkeling. Guess I'm not as adventurous as a proper world traveler should be. But, each trip outside our boarders has brought something to my life that wasn't there before. Perspective maybe? Curiosity?

Bottom line, I'm lucky enough to have this time in my life to see something of the world and, let's be real, most people never do. This is particularly of those living in the United States. Here, most are chained to the continent, if not the country, by onerous debt and two weeks (or less) of vacation time. Most of the people I know who pulled it off in their working years either traveled as a part of their jobs (as did my husband) or worked in the non-profit sector where generous vacations have traditionally counterbalanced lower industry pay.

For reasons rarely discussed, I live in a country where ignorance of other people and other countries is socially engineered. It always takes time and money to travel, particularly in a country bordered on two-and-a-half sides by oceans.

Sad.

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Photos

Roatan 2010
Tourist Cash Extraction Compound ahead