I had been diving for about a month at this point, and time was really starting to fly by. My dive total since getting my card was prob about ten by now and in my own mind you would have thought I was ready to dive the titanic that next weekend. I had been jumping in with the desert dog and his Crew every other weekend when there was a spot for me on his boat or when they were planning on doing dives I could do at my diving abilities. These were some serious divers with the ability and the means to see and do anything they wanted underwater. I wanted to dive with and be like these guys. The reason I choose to dive every other weekend is because I actually have an above water life which includes an amazing six year old son and an amazing woman at home. No diving as bad ass as it is will take up all my time and keep me from my family and responsibilities.
One particular weekend which was suppose to be a diving weekend I had to put off my diving urges and attend a wedding. My good friends Jimmy and Melissa were tying the knot. These were two of our original group of buddies to get certified in august with me. One week prior to the wedding Jimmys buddy had thrown him a bachelor party to which I was invited. After some competitive go cart racing we were having some beers and waiting for our dinner at a downtown bar. We were heavy in discussion but it was not trying to decide what strip club to go see, not where the wild woman would be out at tonight. Nope we were talking about diving. There were three other guys at the table that I have also know for almost ten years and had never known they were also scuba divers. They had not been in a long time but loved the sport and had some amazing stories and ideas for me. The one thing I remember most from that beer laden conversation was Nick telling me. " dude you have to go get a copy of shadow divers". He told me it was the best book he has ever read and it changed his life. This really peaked my interest.
So that weekend of the wedding as people were dancing and making the social rounds I sat at our table talking about the only thing you would think I know how to talk about these days. Several other people had heard of this book and were also excited, or pretended to be yo keep from hurting my feelings.
About two days later I received an email on my phone from iTunes. They were notifying me that someone had paid for the shadow divers book for
Me on iTunes and it was ready to be downloaded. I could put it on my iPhone and listen to it on the way to work. My drive to work is almost 90 miles each way and I have Been running out of music and daydreams to keep me from going crazy on the road. I downloaded it and began listening that week. As if I thought my life was already drastically altered from being a new scuba diver, now it was for sure never gonna be the same. I have had very few books, stories, or movies that really pull me in. This book reached out of my cars speakers, sucked me in, and had me right there next to the characters of the story.
For those of you who have not heard of or read this book, please do. Google info on it. It's an amazing true story about a group of guys that changed history and made o of the biggest underwater discoveries of the modern era. The things that happened to these guys were un-describable. They risked everything they had for something that they loved. They watched friends die. They dealt with hair raising depths, and mind numbing scary near death situations. It is a remarkable story about the incredible things a human being can accomplish if they can attain a high level of mental toughness, courage, and have a passion to see things to the end. That right there is exactly the way I feel diving. There is a certain focus in my brain that occurs when a situation gets scary and the hair stands up on the back of my neck. It's a feeling that I use to get from riding bulls or from building a huge double to float on my dirt bike. But none of those lasted very long.
After reading this book I am left with so many new questions and things I wanna see. There are now so
Many different directions a person can take with scuba. There are endless scenarios that I can test myself and see what I'm capable of. It's at this moment when I finished this book that I knew. I am gonna do something new. I am gonna do things people have not done. I am gonna do something big!!
It's only been a few months of diving and and my life has changed so much. What is next? What is down there? What can we do or find? What is possible? I'm gonna find out!
Trav
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