Finding a Home in Roatan Honduras

And for the first time I can see how travelers can get stuck in one location.

I've spent five weeks in Roatan, Honduras. Time wise, five weeks compared to a lifetime is completely insignificant. But these 5 weeks have felt like a lifetime. Have been 100% significant. And turned into a mini life, one that I will never forget.

I came to Roatan to relax, learn how to scuba dive, work on my blog, and for the most part I wanted to keep to myself.

I'm rolling my eyes at my former self, I should have known that last part was never going to happen...

Yes, I have relaxed

Yes, I have learned to scuba dive

and yes, I have worked on my blog

Now, have I kept to myself ..

well that's a big fat NO

I found a set of bearings here. I found faces that felt familiar. Faces that I felt actually knew me. I remember walking into a restaurant bar one night and realizing I knew 4 different groups of people there. All of which greeted me by name. Being surrounded by familiar faces is what made this place my temporary home.

Hostel Volunteer

I spent my time in Roatan volunteering at Roatan Backpackers Hostel in exchange for accommodation. The owner traveled back to Canada for the summer and left Melissa in charge of the hostel. My job was to help Melissa run the front desk while the other volunteer, Meg, helped with the cleaning.

It amazes me how fast things happen on the road. It's a time warp. Days feel like weeks, weeks feel like years. Yet all of it flashes by so fast.

Friendships form at lightning pace. I only had to know Melissa and Meg for a few days before it felt like a lifetime. I remember being at the hostel for less than 24 hours feeling like I had already been there for weeks. Like I belonged.

It's madness and I will never get over it

Meet my new friends

Melissa is from mainland Honduras, she went to college in Taiwan, and heads to California soon! Meg is from Wales, my first Welsh friend!! She is a dive master, lived in Thailand for 7 months, currently lives in Australia and is traveling for 6 months.

The three of us became three peas in a pod.

There was a collection of other people at the hostel living there long-term or for the summer that became part of the family as well. In particular.. Marco, from main land Honduras who worked at the Beach House restaurant. Billy from Montana, the chattiest little critter you have ever met. Liam who was volunteering for his college summer break at the Roatan clinic. Liam was the cutest, despite being 20 years young he fit right in and was so sweet to all us girls and made us countless dinners. When he left I wanted to cry.. and I thought my days of crying over 20-year-old boys were done..

We had pool parties, cook outs, beach days, countless rope swing adventures, over the top nights out, and days where we rented cars and explored every part of the island we could.

To Meg and Melissa...

We made quite the trio. Found the strangest things to entertain ourselves. Had hours and hours of pool side chats. Talked each other through moments of doubts. Spent way to much time speaking in dreadful Scottish accents and shared everything from secrets to make up brushes to inside jokes.

What gets me the most is our ability to find the fun in nothing. All we needed was each other and a couch to somehow find ourselves in fits of laughter.

Wether we were all crammed into the corner of a taxi, getting ready to go out, drawing illustrations on water bottles, singing in the car, accidentally belly flopping off a rope swing or making friends with sloths.. you girls made my time here in Roatan what it was.

One of those moments in time that could never be recreated. One where everything fell into place and it was just plain FUN.

PLUS, they were the poor souls that had to witness the sheer manic amount of emotions I portrayed when Taylor Swift announced and released her new music while I was here..

So cheers to you two, Meg and Melissa. Thank you for making my time here unforgettable.

Scuba Diving

I got to check scuba diving off my bucketlist while I was here too! Spending three days getting my certification with Coconut Tree Divers in West End. I had a freaking blast there and made a lot of new friends. The people were great, the shop was so fun, and diving is just f*cking awesome. Probably didn't hurt that their was a pretty cute guy that worked at the dive shop... but maybe more about that in a later post 😜.

When the stars align

So many different guests flooded in and out of the hostel, interacting with them was one of my favorite parts of volunteering. A weekend that sticks out in my mind.. A girl named Carly from Austin Texas traveled solo to Roatan over her birthday weekend. I thought that was so brave, and she was the sweetest girl. That same day a man named Emilio, originally from Honduras who now lives in Houston Texas, rolled through as well. Together we made it our mission to show Carly a great birthday. It worked. We went to the beach, visited some sloths, sang karaoke, hung out in the pool and just talked about life. The never-ending smile on Carly's face said it all. She felt special. A bunch of people who had just met shared this magical weekend and no matter how hard I try, it is too difficult to put into words. A moment I do not feel like anyone else will ever understand.

For the first time I can truly see how travelers get stuck at their travel destination, and stay weeks, months, or years longer than intended.

I don't think it ever has much to do with the scenery or landscape of a particular place. It's the feeling you get from being in that place, the people you meet, and the experiences you encounter that tie you to it. It's feeling welcomed, the waves and the smiles and the friendly good morning Colleen's.

I could happily spend more time here. I am sure of it.

Parts of me do not want to leave.

But I have a great big world out there just daring me to pick it up and take it for a ride.

Im ready for it. Let's go

Next stop: Nicaragua! Where my friend Nicole from back home is flying in to spend a couple of weeks with me! It will be the first person I have seen from back home in 4 months and I am SO excited!

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