I mean, of course, it’s the fish and the warm, blue water and all of that…but I think one of the best things is the mystery.

Each dive, we get in the boat for the stunning ride to the dive site. Then we pull up our wetsuits, check our tank pressure, spit in our masks (yes, I actually do still do that), strap on the fins, do a check with our buddy and fall backwards into the drink. And all of the time we are doing this, in the back of my mind is the anticipation of the unknown. What is going to greet us down there? Will it be a fast paced current ride with a gazillion fish? Will we discover one we haven’t seen yet? Will there be charismatic megafauna? It’s a surprise around every coral head…. Each and every dive has the potential to be the best one of my life…how could I not be excited about THAT each and every day?

Getting ready to explore

What awaits below?

And we’ve had great surprises for sure here in Raja Ampat, Indonesia the past three weeks. Yesterday we did some muck diving. Sounds pretty horrible doesn’t it? Well, muck diving, TRUE muck diving is spending a couple of hours skimming the bottom of a sandy bay(usually volcanic) for the wild weird critters that live there. Nowadays, I see people using the term to mean that they are going to take you to a crappy dive site and say it’s muck diving. Anyways, our muck dive yesterday was at the base of these gorgeous, jungle topped volcanic rocks dotting the sea. We never got past 30 feet but in the sand and muck we found sea horses, baby wobegong sharks, juvenile cuddlefish, a plethora of nudibranchs and shrimp and crabs. At every turn, nature shared incredible secrets!

beautiful spot for muck diving!

Shrimp goby in the muck

The second dive was called the Passage. Now in terms of finding cool fish, it was difficult in the ripping current, not really the point of this dive. But this dive was more for the ride. It was a literal river within the sea and we jumped in and flew across the bottom for an hour at close to three knots. Eventually the “river” spit us out into a large bay where we poked around in the coral. Since it was a different environment, we found different fish and new ones we hadn’t seen here before. We spend hours pouring over the fish books most every evening.

Today, we went to a dive site we’ve been to at least eight times. However, each day the same dive site can produce completely different mysteries. Today the hoards of fish were SO large, it was disorienting! Absolutely incredible.

My point ?

Approach each and every day with the attitude that life is a great mystery to be revealed. You can find mystery in everything you do, not just in diving. Take an attitude of curiosity in life, explore and wonder and participate in solving life’s puzzles. It makes each and every day special.

Enjoying the boat ride home from the dive

What will you discover today?

Discovering the Red Bird of Paradise

Never stop wondering!

To Your Adventures!

Mantagirl

We spend hours in the fish books unraveling mysteries!

Have no fear, however, some of the best conversations I’ve ever had, have been “non” conversations. It’s amazing how easily we can communicate without the spoken word. Of course, as scuba divers, it is essential we have a basic form of non verbal communication, a global language of hand gestures to indicate basic commands and questions such as: go up, go down, stop, how much air do you have or look at the big shark!

Here in Indonesia, our dive guides have a smattering of English words and I have an even smaller smattering of Bahasa but I had a lengthy and hilarious conversation yesterday with Eddy, my guide, underwater. It went something like this:

Eddy found a scorpionfish and pointed it out to me. This is an extremely poisonous fish, well camouflaged within the reef and if you are not careful, you can fall victim to it’s excruciating sting as I did one day a year ago by stepping on one off the beach. Anyways, Eddy pointed out the fish. I returned his gesture with a pantomime motion of stabbing it to death. Since my unfortunate encounter, I wish them all ill fortune (in a simple joking manner!). Eddy agreed with me saying we should kill it and eat it. Not being one to indulge in seafood, I waved off his invitation to dine and pointed to my foot with a stamping motion indicating my past history with the fish.

Here we were at 70 feet under the water with schools of fish swirling around us, concentrating on telling stories!

Eddy wiped his brow in understanding and what I thought was sympathy and then a huge burst of bubble erupted from his regulator. He was laughing hysterically at me probably for doing something so dumb as stepping on the fish! He laughed so hard his mask flooded. I rubbed my eyes with closed fists to tell him that I was a cry baby from the pain of the sting which sent him into more peels of laughter. Of course, laughter being infectious, it send me into giggles as well.

So here we are the two of us, masks flooded, doubled over in fits of hilarity, bubbles bursting from our mouths over a simple story of the worst pain in my life as the current hurls us down the reef. We kind of slapped each other on the shoulder and then just continued with our dive. We didn’t talk about it after the dive, the whole story had been told and understood under the sea, conversation over.

Sometimes it’s the wordless conversations that are the best way to communicate and build a base for a friendship.  I wonder what Eddy and I will “talk” about today in the blue?

To Your Adventures!

Mantagirl

Dominica – the Adventure Island

2012 Turkey Day in the Tropics

November 17-24 2012

Make a Reservation- email sharkman@globaldivingadventures.com 

It’s lucky number 13! Our 13th year of the incomparable Turkey Day in the Tropics! This year, it’s an all out adventure on one of the most magnificent Caribbean islands! Stay in your own private jungle cottage in a serene, natural setting. Here are a few of the things we can do and see on Dominica, a towering volcanic island in the middle of a blue sea! A week is not NEARLY enough

* Scuba dive beautiful, healthy coral reefs

* Snorkel/Dive/Watch sperm whales!

* Hike to an infinite number of waterfalls

* Meditative yoga in a serene setting

* Climb to the top of volcanoes

* 74 species of orchids, including 23 endemics!

* Mountain biking

* Sea Kayaking

* UNESCO world heritage site, Morne Trois Piton National Park

PLUS all the things you’ve come to love about TURKEY DAY IN THE TROPICS including:

*Fantastic diving and guiding with Sharkman and Mantagirl

*Same time next year friendships with highlights like: Leroy’s hilarity, Liz’s new dress, Marcia’s blue toenails, Lee’s laugh, Chris’s photos, Laurie’s stack of romance novels.

*Thanksgiving feast (of some sort!)

and MORE……

Join us at Jungle Bay Resort and Spa for GDA’s 13th!!!! Annual Turkey Day in the Tropics!

Details you want to know!

Dates: NOV 17-24 2012

Price: $2950.00 per person

Included: 7 nights accommodations at Jungle Bay Resort, 5 days of diving (weather permitting), BLD for 7 days, group transfers, use of underwater digital camera and video, services of expedition leaders including any specialty courses taught, slide shows and other fun stuff including whale watching and waterfall hikes.

Not Included: Air transportation, travel insurance, dive insurance, alcoholic beverages, items of a personal nature, departure tax where applicable, excess baggage fees, SCUBA or snorkel equipment, marine park fees where applicable, dive staff gratuities.

ARRIVAL AIRPORT: DOM

Make a Reservation- email sharkman@globaldivingadventures.com

SEE YOU UNDERWATER SOON!

Mantagirl

*Snorkel with dozens of Whale Sharks – The largest gathering in the world!

*SCUBA Dive the coral reefs and wrecks of Isla Mujeres, Mexico

*Chill out at our MAGNIFICENT PRIVATE VILLA pool or hit the beach!

This is a TRIO of adventure with luxury to match! It’s what we call Surf and Turf which means both the best on land and in the water.  We have rented an incredible villa for ONLY FIVE COUPLES (plus Sharkman & Mantagirl) on the quaint and fun island of Isla Mujeres, Mexico.  When?

July 21-28, 2012

REQUEST A RESERVATION

First!

It is during the summer that the largest gathering of whale sharks in the world arrive! And last summer over 500 whale sharks gathered here. That’s right, literally hundreds of whale sharks; Schools of whale sharks.  And they swim at or just below the surface of the water.  So while you could go whale shark diving, all you need to do here is put on a mask and get in.  We will spend two days snorkeling with them and the experience as well as the photographic ops will be immense. If you’ve ever wanted to swim with the largest (harmless!) fish in the sea, NOW is your chance.

Swim with the largest fish in the sea

Second!

For divers, we’ll be doing two days of diving the beautiful reefs so it’s a PERFECT adventure for those with non diving spouses who might like to hang out at the villa and get a massage by the pool.

Third!

A multimillion dollar villa with private infinity pool and dock, 6 luxury suites (4 with jacuzzi!) private chef and concierge service. Choose your suite! First come, first serve basis so HURRY!

 Travel Details You Want to Know

FLIGHTS
: Fly into Cancun, airport code CUN.  Tons of flights from tons of airports at good prices.  Go to Kayak.com to easily source your flight.

PRICING
: per person, dbl occ.
$2895

INCLUDED: 7 nights luxury accommodations, BL for 7 days and D for 5 days, 2 days whale shark snorkeling, 2 days two tank diving, group transfers, services of expedition leaders including any specialty courses taught and slide shows.


NOT INCLUDED: Air transportation, travel insurance, dive insurance, beverages, items of a personal nature, departure tax where applicable, park fees where applicable, excess baggage fees, SCUBA or snorkel equipment, dive/snorkel staff gratuities.

REQUEST A RESERVATION

As 2011 comes to a close, it always makes Ridlon and I think back on the year. Like many people, we do a end of year review of what worked, what didn’t, what we accomplished and what lies ahead.

This morning Ridlon found a list of things we wanted to have, be or do that we wrote at some point in 2010. Considering they are major events/experiences or purchases, we were surprised at how many we could check off the “bucket list” since then. It’s not a yearly list but a continual, organic, dynamic document. And it is simply amazing how intention works. Once we write it down, put it on a dream board and open up to opportunity, how it all falls into place. Just for fun, here is the list. What is in red is what has been completed.

1.Purchase/learn Final Cut Pro editing software

2.Purchase lights for video system (did it but have to do it again!)

3.Train on a diving rebreather

4.Get our dry suit diving certification

5.Become a published author

6.Dive with whales

7.Stay at the ice hotel in Finland

8.Fly to London with our friend Lee at the helm (an AA pilot)

9.Dive the Sardine Run

10.Dive with the mantas in the Maldives

11.Do a Civil War battlefield tour with Dad (Ridlon)

12.Take a trip with our nieces and nephews

13.Climb the Seven Summits (ONE of seven summited so far)

14.Climb Mt. Rainier

15.Three month speaking tour for Ocean of Hope (our non profit)

16.Dive Raja Ampat for a month (headed back again in 2 weeks!)

17.Dive the southern Red Sea

18.Travel/Dive Cuba before it opens up

19.Safari in Africa

20.Climb Torres del Paine (Patagonia)

21.Argentina wine tour

22.See the sandhill crane migration in Nebraska

23.Swim with whale sharks using a biofin

24.Fly an Ultralight

25.Dive the cownose ray migration in Mexico

26.Take a luxury cruise with mom (Ridlon)

27.Costa Rica birding tour with brother and dad (Ridlon)

28.Hike the Great Himalayan Trail

29.Buy a red jeep

30.Dive Cocos Island (did it twice!)

31.Spend a season in Antarctica diving

32.Fly at Mach 2

33.Go into space (orbit)

34.Film a documentary

35.Speak at a Fortune 100 company

36.Have a personal assistant

37.Have a massage every day

38.Go to the bottom of the Marianas Trench

39.See polar bears and tigers in the wild

40.Dive with sailfish at Isla Mujeres, Mexico

41.Dive the Line Islands

42.Buy at Yeti mountain bike (Ridlon)

43.Do Ocean of Hope village projects

44.Dive Fakarava (again)

45.Round the world expedition (IN PLANNING for a July departure!)

46.Live in a foreign country for a year (non English speaking)

47.Dive with the Great White sharks of Guadaloupe Island

48.Learn to Kiteboard

49.Go to Greenland

50.Bike the Telluride/Moab trail

Put intention to work for you in 2012 and see what dreams you can make come true! I know by looking at this list, it CAN and WILL happen!

To Your 2012 Adventures!

Mantagirl

keep a list of intentions you'll be amazed at what you accomplish

Every year, nearly 20,000 people die and 21 million medical visits are needed due to home accidents in the United States, says the U.S. Home Safety Council.

Here are six of the top accidents waiting to happen in your home.

 1. Cutting yourself with a knife. 150 people stab themselves every day while trying to open a jar or a packaged meal with a knife!

2. Slamming fingers in doors/windows. 30,000 people are rushed to the US Emergency rooms each year with an amputated finger and one of the top reasons is slamming them in doors!

Scared Yet? Ready to run away from home?  Here’s more!

falls are the biggest culprit in home accidents

3. Falling down the stairs. More people end up in the US Emergency rooms because of fall related injuries than from any other cause.

 4. Getting burned while cooking. 60,000 people are hospitalized every year with burn related injuries and cooking is one of most hazardous.

Wow, I don’t know about you, but I’m packing my bags RIGHT NOW. Ready for the last two?

hmmmm, safer to go adventuring huh?

 5. Falling out of windows (really??). According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, thousands of young children are killed or injured from falling out of windows every year.

 6. Electrocution. About 1000 people die each year from this.

Of course you can argue that the reason this happens is because most people spend most of their time at home and these numbers also include children. And you would probably be right. I’m simply making the point that staying home is not a safer way to live life. Get out and experience the world. Don’t let FEAR stop you from life.

What on earth made me think of this? The irony of a situation that happened last week. In 2009, Ridlon climbed and summited the 6th highest peak in the world at 26,906’ as well as two 20,000’ mountains in the Himalayas. Last month we summited Mt. Kilimanjaro at 19, 341’. Not a scratch on him! Last Friday he ran up the stairs in the dark and slammed his foot into the couch. Result? Spiral fracture of the middle toe!

I’m convinced!!! It’s safer out of the house… I’m leaving and going traveling…..I’m going “out there” where I don’t have to fear for my life……I just hope I don’t slam my fingers in the door on the way out!

To Your Adventures!

Mantagirl

That's it, I'm OUTTA here!

PS: Big thanks to George at the Norco Inc. in Hamilton, MT. George hooked us up with a great boot for Ridlon’s foot and I promised him a link in my blog. If you live in the northwest and need safety supplies for welding, medical, or industrial gas, check ‘em out! www.norco-inc.com

But this morning, I was contemplating a Bucket List timeline. Initially, not in the sense of what I want to accomplish in the next number of years but in terms of the past. Has the time come and gone for parts of your bucket list?

Reaching 200 dives and a bucket list accomplishment!

Seize the NOW opportunity for your bucket list

Living The Bucket List

Between the years of 1995 and 1997 I had one of the best adventure jobs in my life. I was living in Tahiti (say no more!) and working on a luxury cruise ship. I was running a scuba diving program, diving six days a week, feeding sharks and educating people on the ocean. I had all my expenses paid for including a bar allowance (say no more again!). It was an extremely physically demanding job so I was in the best shape of my life. I was working alongside my husband, making life long friends and was always tan. It was the right time in my life for that job. I was living the bucket list!

Living the Bucket List

Eleven years later, I went back to the same cruise line to work for a year. The ship had changed. The job had changed. We did much less diving and more handing out of DVDs. My tendonitis bothered me to the point of cortisone shots now that I was more than a decade older. I had all my expenses paid for still but now I also had a home mortgage that I didn’t have in the 90’s. I realized that the time for me and cruise ship life had passed.

Has Your Bucket List Changed?

I started to relate this to my bucket list. When I was a kid I always wanted to hike the entire Appalachian Trail. I read all the books, did a lot of backpacking in various places in the country but I never did the entire trail. Now, 30 years later, my bucket list has changed. The AT is not at the top of the list anymore. The time for the AT may have passed for me simply because other things have replaced it. I wish that I had done it when I was eighteen like I had planned.

I realize this as an opportunity lost. As life changes so do our desires. I don’t dwell on it or spend my life in regret over it but it causes me to stop and think now about the present and the future. What is on my bucket list NOW that the time is right to accomplish? What will change in the next five years to make me rethink the list due to age or finances or health or simply desire. There is a window of opportunity for many things on your bucket list.

Realize the Window Of Opportunity on Your Bucket List

Pull out your list, make a timeline, realize the timing of opportunity. DO NOT live in regret of those things for which the time has passed, look to NOW and see what you can accomplish in this window of your life.

Carpe Diem and Seize the Bucket List!

To Your Adventures!

Mantagirl

If you're lucky enough.....

My neighbor came by the other day and when he came into my house he was in hysterics. I chuckled with him and asked what was so funny. He said,” I always laugh when I see the plaque at your front door which says, “If you’re lucky enough to be in the mountains, you’re lucky enough.” It’s hilarious because you’re never here!”

Only minutes before I had been thinking that it had been ages since we had traveled, which to us meant three weeks. Guess it’s all in the perspective!  I began to think about the triggers that signal the death sentence of an over-extended home stay.

So for all of you adventure travelers out there, those whose lives consists of airports, exotic locations and a stack of TSA notices, here is a list you can tack on the fridge to indicate when it’s time to bail……

Top 10 ways you know you’ve been home too long.

• You begin to figure out which light switches turn on which lights in your house.
• You actually care which side of the bed you sleep on.
• You realize you have to buy groceries twice …in a row.
• You have to change the oil for the SECOND time in the truck this calendar year.
• You stop dialing “9” for an outside line.
• Your neighbors ask you to dog sit for a few days and you actually realize you can.
• You re-arrange the furniture in the living room after a week because you’re “bored” with it.
• You finish the laundry.
• You enter a pool for the NFL playoffs because you’re going to see all the games.

And the number one way to know that you’ve overstayed your welcome in your own house……

You wake up in the middle of the night and recognize where you are.

…yep….time to hit the road!

I’ve been home 27 days.. if you count today and the day I landed at the airport. About 22 days too long. Not that I don’t like home, in fact I LOVE my home. But when I’m home, I’m not traveling, simple as that.

My biggest fear is living an ordinary life.

My biggest fear is living an ordinary life

I abhor allowing even a single day to pass without some kind of adventure. Even as the world gets smaller, there is more to see and experience and learn than could ever be accomplished in one life. It’s like never getting to the end of the internet, you can never come to the end of adventure. This is why it’s both a gift and a curse. It’s infinite.

Many people say I’ve been lucky to do what I’ve done in my life. I will be bold here and say, no I’ve worked VERY hard at it. In fact, I’m obsessed with it. I’m always planning and thinking and scheming and figuring a way to the next plane ticket, the next “never been to” destination. And it never seems enough.

As the year 2011 winds down, I think about what I’ve done this year and I feel that I haven’t been very adventurous. Then Ridlon shakes his head and recounts the year.

“We began by watching an amazing New Year’s Eve 2010/11 night of fireworks, anchored in the harbor off Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia after spending a month diving Raja Ampat. From there we headed off for a week of exploring in Ubud, Bali. The bags were repacked within a week to go off in search of the hammerheads of Cocos Island, Costa Rica for two weeks. After a brief stop to visit our families in Ohio and Texas, we left barely two weeks later at the end of February for six months traveling back to Costa Rica and then by ship across the Caribbean and the Atlantic and finishing up in late August in Greece. We managed an entire three weeks back home before a month of exploration of Tanzania, Mozambique and S. Africa including climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, diving and safari.”

Well, I guess when he says it like that, it’s been a pretty busy year.

Now, I’ve spent an entire 27 days at home….. sigh… I feel I’m living an “ordinary life” once again. I feel I’m wasting precious time.

Adventure is life giving oxygen

It makes me feel alive. It ignites my sense of wonder and encourages my sense of wander. I sit here today and wonder what people are doing in Uganda or who’s diving today in the Galapagos or who’s beginning an adventure of a lifetime? And every day I think I should be there.

When I am out adventuring I feel I have this gift I can’t hold in my hand. It’s sand through my fingers and so I need to keep digging back into the beach and refilling my hands. I need to live and experience it at each and every moment. Traveling and connecting with the world through people and culture and nature is the fabric of life and I am furiously weaving as fast as I can. It’s a rush of a lifetime.

Adventure is life giving oxygen

Really, I used to have a swing in my house

I used to have a swing in my house. Yes, a real swing and yes inside my house and yes, I had very high ceilings! And I used to swing on it every day, pumping my legs and reaching as high as I possibly could. The thrill of being at the top of the pendulum was exhilarating. Flying high, half out of control, in a state of constant movement was key. And in order to keep flying high, you have to continuously pump your legs and work towards it or else you will slow down and stop at the bottom… and when it stops it’s no better than simply sitting on a chair…. or living an ordinary life.

The dichotomy of adventure, the curse of the addiction and the precious gift…..

To Your Adventures,

Mantagirl

27 days ago in S. Africa, time to go!

We all have bucket lists. Things we want to do before we die. How many items does your bucket list have on it? 10? 20? 100? Take a look at it. Is it the same 20 or 100 things this year as it was last year? Or five years ago? If so, why? Lack of time? Money? or is it FEAR?

What's on your bucket list? Kilimanjaro is on many!

If you think long and hard about it, fear probably is at the top of the list. I mean, it’s easy to SAY that it’s time and money but ….it’s probably FEAR. Time and money are things that can be overcome much easier than fear. If you need the time, take a leave of absence from your job and go it. That’s not rocket science. And there are always ways to fund the dreams but fear is a mountain high hurdle.

“Courage is the resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not the absence of fear”

                ~Mark Twain

“I want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, but I have no idea HOW to do it”

Fear stops us in our tracks. We fear that we don’t know how to do the thing it is we so long to do. . Fear keeps us from asking HOW and moving forward to success.

Recently, Ridlon and I completed writing a how to guide on Living Adventurously (soon to be available as a free download on our website). One of our eight principles is “Not knowing is never a reason for not doing”. I thought about this yesterday when I had to do a couple of things I’d never done before.

It was snowy and my almost vertical driveway was slick. If I wanted to go to town, it would be smart to put the chains on the truck. But I had never done it. Like many women, I relied on my husband for this more “manly” task. But now, here I was faced with “figure it out or stay home”. I was afraid to try and fail. It took a few tries to get them lined up around the tires and get them hooked in the wheel well. My neighbors probably would have laughed! One fell off halfway down the driveway and wrapped around the axel so I was under the truck in the wet snow, learning and feeling dumb. Now I know. Then as soon as I got to town a brake light went out on the truck. I went and bought a new light and rather than just let the CarQuest guy fix it, I watched and asked so I knew how to get the taillight cover off and back on. I felt kind of stupid not knowing but I WAS stupid on that particular subject. But… now I know. We are not all experts on every subject.

“Hey, why would they want to talk to me?”

It made me think even further back to an enlightening moment I had on a cruise two years ago. I had joined a fantastic company of people who make and distribute vitamin supplements (www.usana.com) and 700 of us were on a Caribbean cruise together. I was a novice at the sales process and was feeling a bit shy and stupid on the subject because I WAS unknowledgeable about it. Ridlon jumped right in and went and asked the most successful people how to become successful but I was thinking, “Hey, why would they want to talk to me?” I was letting FEAR get in the way of my success.

We spent one evening with another couple who were at the top of the company. The wife, (I’ll call her Sarah) was an especially strong, go after it, type of woman and while I really liked her, I was a bit uncomfortable because of her knowledge and success. I didn’t think she would want to give me the time of day.  As the conversation turned to scuba diving, she and her husband mentioned that they had just finished their beginning course but had not completed their training dives. Well, here we were in the Caribbean, so we offered our services to help them complete their Open Water course.

We took them out the next day into a shallow bay of just 25’ of water in perfect conditions. I could tell that Sarah was nervous. I couldn’t believe it. How could this strong, confident, successful woman be nervous about 25’ of perfect blue sea? I took her down slowly, watching her eyes widen we dropped further down. I reached out and she took a death grip on my hand. I led her confidently, smiling with my eyes and showing her that it was alright. She was terrified, I could tell. In her mind, she was simply trying to survive, in mine, I was learning a valuable lesson.

Learn from someone who knows, don't be afraid to ask

We all have something we do great but we all have things we are “dumb” at only because of lack of knowledge. Don’t be afraid to find those people who have the knowledge and ask, “Can I learn from you?”. Sarah was top dog on terra firma but underwater was my realm. It wasn’t a contest, it was a lesson. We all have FEAR.

What’s on your bucket list that with only a bit of knowledge could you accomplish? What will it take to get over that fear of not knowing how? Ask someone! Don’t let “Not knowing EVER be a reason for not doing”.

To Your Adventures and may you check off many things on your bucket list in the new year!

~Mantagirl

To Your Adventures!