A diver out of water

Even a liveaboard trip doesn't mean you spend 18 hours under water. And the usual diving holidays' two tank daytrips last only for a few hours. When you prepare to spend your free time on a dive trip you have some easy choices. If there is WiFi, you can surf the internet, but who's interested in the politics and economics when think about the next dive? Anyway, don't forget your computer as you can check your photos, you can ask expert advise why it's overexposed or blurry. A dive trip is a perfect place to practice and you'll learn a lot during a week if there are some more experienced photographers around. Surprisingly an expert is able to show the right way with a few words. I know sometimes we are too shy to show our photos but that is the way of mastering your skills. Everybody was a beginner...

Sometimes I'm surprised when someone complaining about the lack of the TV in the room or cabin. Scary but true: we can live without the loud, flashing box. (OK, I'd miss the really entertaining Arabic music channels in an Egyptian hotel, but that's only an exception.) If there is a DVD, you can watch movies. Or probably only one single movie for several times? I've been to trips where I became crazy after the replays. One of the memorable movies was The Guardian with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher: they always had to stop because of the next dive and started from the beginning again 2 hours later. On my last liveaboard trip the hit was the Kill Bill. When I heard 'What should we watch? Kill Bill again?' for the third time I went to the upper deck. But in the upper deck we had to be careful because in July in Egypt was extremely hot for sunbathing...

So I spent many hours in my cabin with reading. I confess e-books changed my life. I used to read a lot in the past but since I have my small netbook I read even more. Later I bought a real e-book reader and I'm happy with it: it's lightweight, on its memory there is space for dozens of books and it works for weeks without charging. I love it!

Before you remind me I write a few words about the other people on the boat. Yes, you don't need any books, DVD-s, gadgets if you travel with friends. You hang in the bars in the evening or drink in the saloon of the boat. You discuss the dives and you hear nice, frightening or unbelievable stories from past trips. You make new friends, some of them you'll meet on future trips where you can share the same old stories. And there are the local dive masters who can tell you about the local conditions, myths and one in a lifetime encounters. The dives AND the people who you travel with can make your trip unforgettable so be open-minded and don't worry if there isn't a TV around- the real life is way more interesting than the reality shows.