How to Be Location Independent
E12-The Dive Master
I was living in San Jose, Costa Rica working at hostel Beku, and my boss wanted to throw a party and I offered to make a cake. However, I had to use his oven in his apartment next door and he mentioned his roommate might be home. I baked alone that afternoon until I heard the door open. Unaware of my presence, Sarah exclaimed, “ Is that cake I smell?!?” I peered out from the kitchen to see who had joined me and go to explain I was not break into her apartment “Oh we don’t shake hands, we hug” as she roped me into her embrace. “Omg I thought as this stranger was squeezed me, I love this girl,.”
We immediately broke into a long conversation, as if it was unfinished from years ago. Like a hummingbird, flying from one flower to the next Sarah gave a scattered synopsis of what brought her to Costa Rica and how she was leaving in a few weeks. Keeping my feelings to myself, I selfishly got upset at that news because we had just met and there was already too much to talk about.
Later at the party, we sat with her other friend, also named Sarah but from Scotland (who was in the previous episode) whose quick tongue kept up with Sara and I go on the 11th hour of our first conversation. As the hours went by and the cake got smaller, I was told the history of their friendship, which is a beautiful thing to witness, when you watch two people who are so appreciative of the other, and experiencing them recount their favorite or silliest memories from the past, while relishing in their tropical future together. “This cake amazing, can you make it for my going away party?” She said. I twinged, that was a reminder that she would be leaving soon, but our friendship had just begun.
In this episode, we discuss
How she chose to live in Costa Rica
Why she left London to travel the world
Why she abandoned a publishing career to start her own business
What friendship is like when you are away
How families handle long distance travel
Defining moments of friendship
How it is like to make friends abroad
How to live abroad for years
How she got turned onto diving
How she finds community abroad
What it is like to explore the ocean
How it is like to have your own online business
What it is like to live out of the conventional life
What it is like to live around the world
What it is like to work around the world
What it is like to be location independent
What it is like to teach English abroad
What it is like to be a solo female traveler
Since we parted in Costa Rica she has continued to bounce around the world, going from teaching in New Zealand to being a Divemaster on a tiny island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, where she was residing when we had this conversation. It reminds me of the planet the Little Prince lives on, taking only 15 minutes to walk around the entire floating piece of land, gently bobbing in the middle of the sea. She has become enamored with the discoveries of the underwater world, one that mirrors the great depth she finding within herself. Here’s her story.