My mission to visit every country in the world comes at a high cost. And I do not only mean financially. People tend to only see the end result—the posts, the stories, the photographs. But, nobody sees what happens behind the scenes. Sacrifice. I have sacrificed so much for one goal. Family. Friends. Relationships. Health. And most importantly time. Time that I will never get back. Time with my family. Time for a social life. Time to create and build relationships. Time for myself. These days, I do not really have any time for myself. The only person funding my travels is me. Leaving the country every single month adds up. In the grand scheme of things, staying at hostels for dollars a night instead of hotels does not offset the thousands spent on airfare each month. I need to work to be able to travel. Juggling a full-time job and a journey around the world is not exactly easy. But, this is a choice I made. I chose this lifestyle. I choose to travel. What would you sacrifice to realize your dreams?
I took a month off from traveling to focus on work and tackle my never-ending to-do list. I needed to catch my breath after the last two months of back-to-back travel. Not sure where that time went, but it was definitely not enough. I needed a break.
Strategically, Honduras checked all of the boxes. After a night in Houston, I arrived at Toncontin International Airport in Tegucigalpa just before noon on Friday, March 22, 2019. I had no plans. Well, the plan was to spend one day in Tegucigalpa and then take a regional flight to Roatan the next morning to do absolutely nothing but relax under the sun and in the water. But, that is about it.
Hotels in Tegucigalpa were much more expensive than I had expected. I booked a one-night stay in a standard double bed private room at Palmira Hostel Tegucigalpa. Hostels are limited in Tegucigalpa; the Palmira Hostel Tegucigalpa is one of the only two properties listed on Hostelworld. Fortunately, the hostel had good ratings and made the decision to book a no-brainer. Centrally located in the safe embassy area of the city, the hostel is within walking distance from restaurants, supermarkets, malls, banks, and bus stations. The property itself is actually the former Embassy of Ecuador and has an awesome rooftop terrace.
The hostel offers airport transportation for $10 USD. However, these transfers were not exactly reliable. I booked the transportation offered by the hostel, but nobody showed up to pick me up from the airport or to drop me off. I ended up hailing a taxi, and paid the same amount each way.
The hostel also offers free walking city tours at 2:00 PM from Tuesday to Friday each week. If you are around for a bit longer, the hostel offers excursions to places like La Tigra National Park and El Picacho with La Tigra Tours Company. I had the privilege of having the hostel’s owner, Hernan Seguardo, himself as my guide for the walking tour. After transferring to the hostel and dropping off my backpack, Hernan took me around the city. We walked from the hostel to the city center, stopping at various sites along the way.
After finishing the walking tour with Hernan, my plan was to continue sightseeing on my own. However, I made the mistake of stopping by my room. As soon as the door shut behind me, that plan was immediately revised to include a nap before venturing back out. Can you guess what happened next? That one-hour nap quickly turned into a night of sleeping. Fortunately, somewhere between snoozing my alarm, I remembered to set one for my early morning flight to Roatan on CM Airlines.
I arrived at Juan Manuel Galvez International Airport in Coxen Hole just shy of 8:00 in the morning. Getting around Roatan is relatively expensive. Rideshare services, like Uber, are not available. A taxi from the airport to West Bay costs $30 USD. Mind you, it is just a 30-minute drive. I organized a transfer through the hotel for the same price, but nobody showed up to get me—three times in one trip!
Although relatively small in size, the island offers a range of activities to enjoy—from ziplining, horseback riding, and deep sea fishing to dolphin encounters and day trips to iguana farms and botanical gardens. I passed on all. The most I was willing to do was scuba dive or snorkel. I chose to stay in West Bay primarily because majority of the hotels and resorts in that area are located right on the beach. My goal for that weekend was to literally do as little as possible. Which meant, not even having to walk to the beach.
I booked a two-night stay at Bananarama Dive and Beach Resort. I did not want to spend a lot of money on this trip, but at the same time I did not want to share a room with anybody either. This mid-range hotel offered the best of both worlds.
After dropping off my backpack, I headed directly to the beach. I read that Honduras is arguably one of the best locations in the world for snorkeling and scuba diving. In regards to Roatan specifically, various blogs and articles advised against booking tours or paying for boats to snorkel from West Bay. I read that snorkeling right off the beach promised the same experience. Skeptical by nature, I let someone in front of the hotel convince me to take a boat out to the middle of the reef where there is a channel that opens up. What a complete waste of money. After returning, I spent the rest of the day snorkeling right off the beach—which was so much better. I should have listened. Lesson learned.
I literally spent that entire day in the water. Before I knew it, the day turned to night.
The following day was my second and last full day on the island. I decided that I could not leave Roatan without scuba diving—that would be like going all the way to Giza and not visiting the pyramids. With so many companies to choose from, I booked two dives with West Bay Divers based on the company’s excellent reviews.
The cost was $55 USD per dive, including all gear, plus the 15% Honduran sales tax and the $15 USD Marine Park fee—you can definitely find cheaper alternatives. Per West Bay Divers, there are about 80 sites within a ten minute boat ride of the shop. The company chooses the spots based on water conditions rather than ability. Worrisome at first, but I was not disappointed in the end. The area sure has some of the most beautiful and best preserved coral that I have ever seen.
We returned to shore during the surface interval. I was not feeling too well and decided to cancel my second dive. After lunch, I went for a walk and spent the rest of the day relaxing under the sun and in the water.
I stayed on the beach to watch the sunset, and later a fire performance in front of the hotel.
Satisfied with my much needed break, I spent the following morning lounging around before my early afternoon flight back home to Chicago via Houston.
