Learning this travel skill changed my life
Some of us are naturals. Others have to work at it. But for frequent travellers, there are some basic skills that are absolutely priceless. Picking up a few words of the local language, developing a basic sense of direction, doing a rough currency conversion in your head – they are all skills you will call on time and again. (And yes, there is an app for that – but trust me, being able to do it yourself makes it so much easier.)
The skill that changed the way I travel, however, was nothing that pedestrian. The day I learned to scuba dive was the day I discovered a whole new world to explore: a world of coral reefs and caves, a place where I could be awed by a passing hammerhead shark or enchanted by the filigreed delicacy of a feather star, tendrils swaying gently in the current.
Not that it was an easy journey. It helped that I learned to dive in my early 20s, when many of us are naturally more inclined to learn knew things. Still, the day I took my first dive – at a resort in Fiji – I was terrified. I still remember bobbing on the surface of the water, life vest inflated, tank strapped on, looking down into the crystal-clear water, my lizard brain screaming at me that there was no way I could breathe down there, so what the hell I was thinking?
The only way I was able to deflate that vest and sink slowly down was to make a deal with myself. I had to make it all the way down to the ocean floor, which was only about eight metres beneath me. Once I had done that I could return to the surface and never put myself through this again.
That’s not what happened, of course. The moment I was fully immersed in the water, I fell in love. The way the light carried through the water. The view looking up to the surface, seemingly solid yet always moving. And the fish! In all colours and sizes, they were the most dazzling thing I had ever seen.
I was hooked, and now many of my favourite travel memories are linked to the water, from swimming with whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef to communing with turtles in the Andaman Islands and exploring the untold wonders of Raja Ampat, my very favourite diving destination.
The biggest impact, however, has happened out of the water. Since learning to dive, whenever I’m hesitating about trying something new, I remind myself, “You may love it as much as you love diving.” And even if I don’t love it, I inevitably feel great that I’ve pushed myself out of my comfort zone and notched up another new experience.
One more thing
A new map showing the location of every drinking water fountain in Venice - more than 120 of them - is the latest attempt to minimise the impact of tourism on the city. Visitors generate 40 per cent of the city’s waste in peak periods, so simply bringing your own water bottle instead of buying bottled water makes a big difference.