Ever ones for a good photo opportunity, we’ve arrived!
Hee hee! 😁
Altogether Too Beautiful!
Well what can I say about the Maldives!?
It’s truly everything you think it’s going to be and more!
White sandy beaches, crystal clear turquoise waters, blue skies, palm trees, sharks, turtles, Manta rays, fish of all descriptions.
Quite simply paradise.
We’re staying at a place called Olhuveli Resort & Spa and 3 nights in a Jacuzzi Water Villa cost us £555 (approx $720).
Bearing in mind we just travelled across India for 12 nights for no more than £1000 ($1300) accommodation cost, this place is a little on the high end!
Add in the 45min boat transfer from & to the airport, food, drinks, snorkelling gear, the scuba dive I will inevitably do & you find yourself a pretty penny or two out of pocket!
But this is why Rhett & I work so hard. This is our ‘Why’.
So we have the freedom & the resources to explore the world, sometimes on a budget & sometimes on the luxury end.
For some it’s houses, cars, clothes, shoes etc. For us, it’s travel. ✈️🗺
So here we are, my Sister & I, at the final destination of our ‘Sisters on Tour – No 4’ annual trip & we are finishing off in style.
Enough talk, here’s some pics! 😁
Manta Rays & Venomous Lion Fish!
I talked on Wednesday about the ‘inevitable scuba dive I would do’ and sure enough yesterday was the day!
At 11am I headed down to the jetty to meet ‘D’ my Japanese dive instructor.
Within an hour we were exploring the reef which was teeming with life! 🐠🐟🐡🦈🐢
I felt like I was in a live version of ‘Shark Tale’!
I swam alongside sharks, a huge turtle, my favourite Bat Fish & a multitude of marine life. It was fabulous. 😁
Later that day after the sun had set over the pristine horizon, I once again ventured down the jetty to meet D.
This time I was a little apprehensive as we were off to explore a dark reef and see if we could spot Manta Rays.
The only downside? At nighttime the reef is full of dangerous fish! 😳
Lion fish, stone fish, trigger fish.
D informed me that if I did not keep perfect buoyancy and happened to make contact with one of these venomous animals, ‘make big problem’ he said.
‘Hospital in Sri Lanka’ he said with a huge smile on his face which did nothing to calm my churning tummy! 🥴
I remembered a conversation I’d had with my extreme sporting friend, 8 years my senior, Nikki when we were skiing.
‘You don’t get old & stop doing these things Jo’ she said. ‘You stop doing them & so get old.’
Not wanting to age prematurely I heeded Nikki’s words & ventures into the dark waters knowing somewhere down there unaffected by venomous fish were also sharks. 🦈
Good god what was I doing! 😯
As it turned out I kept perfect buoyancy, even as the Mantas swooped and played through our torch lights.
We saw a beautiful turtle swim above us, all sorts of brightly coloured fish including the beautiful but dangerous Lion fish.
Then we turned off our torches to watch the neon plankton dance through the water. It was magical!
I’ve had a few magical moments on this trip & I do feel truly blessed (and also very brave!) 😂😂😂
Totally Lashed Up
As is always the way, you meet the most interesting people just as you’re about to leave a place! 🙁
Yesterday we met Jess & Stuart, a lovely couple from Wales in the UK.
Other than having the most beautiful sing songy Welsh accent they were a bundle of fun.
Stuart is a wedding singer! Never met one of those before and Jess is a make up artist and has recently started her own ecommerce business selling eyelashes!
Her brand name – ‘Totally Lashed Up’!
You can imagine her surprise & excitement when I explained what I did! 😁
So naturally we spent a long time discussing her business, what she was doing now, where she wanted to take it etc.
Clearly a talented and committed young woman her tech confusion, fears of marketing, lack of understanding of sales funnels, email marketing etc are the same concerns and fears so many of my community have had over the years.
The same concerns & fears I had when I started out in 2010.
So we set about taking some immediate action.
She said she had wanted to make a video of her new soon to be launched eyelash product while in the Maldives, but fear of looking crap in front of the camera has held her back.
Within an hour I’d sent her marching back to her room to get her products and we were sat on a beautiful beach sofa videoing her demonstrating her new product with a backdrop of a white sandy beach & crystal clear waters.
Is it the best video in the world? No.
Is it good enough to start getting her message out? Yes.
Will people love her slight shyness! Yes.
Did we get it done? Hell Yes! 😁
Here’s a clip.
So impressed was I with her attitude & enthusiasm and after meeting Geetika in Jaipur who wanted to take her husbands cooking business online I found myself with no other choice.
I am going to launch a new, updated & comprehensive training course on how to build a lifestyle business.
It will be a nuts & bolts course including selling digital products, services & physical products.
Best news? It’s going to be FREE! 😁
Watch this space!
In the meantime head over to Instagram & check out what Jess is doing in her business. It’s fab! https://www.instagram.com/totally.lashed.up/
Subscribe to the Working Traveller Newsletter and alongside weekly money making and nomadic lifestyle tips, get instant access to my FREE ebook – 200+ Side Hustle Ideas for 50+ Nomads!
