Two good friends of mine were relating stories of their recent dive travels to me. One was even getting ready to start packing up for another trip in a month or two. The enthusiasm they had for the dives brought me into their realm and world. I had never been to either of the dive locations. So those went into the rolodex for future travel. Still, I had to chuckle as both would make a statement about why didn’t they start this sooner when they were in Hawaii (long needle scratch over vinyl). Hawaii? Yep, both of these people lived on the island for over a year in their 20’s and never took up diving. Waited until they were back here in the Midwest and started diving. Now I could say that is because they wanted to be better divers and appreciate those warmer climates better. If I did say that, it would probably create a couple messages’ that cannot be repeated. So, why didn’t they take up diving in Hawaii? Why do I bring this up? You may never know where your next great opportunity will come from. Really, what I want to say is that you are a SCUBA diver. Take that opportunity and travel with it! Go to different places, see different things and have experiences that will live with you. That is the beauty of SCUBA diving, you are going to see things if you give yourself the opportunity to do so. You don’t necessarily have to plan a dive trip all on your own. You can look at some of the meet up groups, dive shops or clubs and see if they are going places that you might want to go too. Let some of these other people take the lead and figure things out for you. If you don’t see anything set up for where you want to go, ask for some help on people or agencies to talk with about setting up your next destination. There are some good ones out there. Dive travel is an education and experience that is not best read through a book. It is best experienced! So grab hold of your dream and take off for that next destination. I need to hear some more stories about places to go dive. I love to hear about where you have been and what excited you. I know you need to seize that opportunity. So don’t let Hawaii, The Great Barrier Reef or the Red Sea pass you by. Before you know it, you might not have that opportunity again. Go live the dream and experience. Have fun in your own opportunities! -Mike Shea, The Scuba Shea Adventure