Jewel Cay, Honduras (just off the coast of Utila) has truly become home for us over the past three months. We have our own apartment, friends, neighbours, and landlords that have become our adopted family.
Our Apartment
In two short weeks, we will be saying goodbye to it all, dusting off our backpacks, and continuing our journey with a trip to Nicaragua to meet up with my mom. I’ll be sad to go, but I can’t begin to describe how excited I am to see my momafter nearly 7 months away from our family.
Sunset on Jewel Cay
At first, for Mike and I, the most exciting part of renting our one bedroom apartment on Jewel Cay was finally having an oven (see the pictures below to see just how excited Mike was… if it wasn’t so hot, he probably would have been hugging it!). After months of hostel kitchens with one pot, one pan, and no oven, we were thrilled to be able to bake things again… so thrilled that we consumed something like 5 pounds of flour, 3 sticks of butter, and who knows how much sugar in the first week alone!
Mike Baking Biscuits
Mike Baking Oatcakes
Mike Baking Bread
We have made bread, biscuits, cinnamon buns, ham and cheese buns, perogies, shepherd’s pie, borscht, and many of the other goodies we miss from home. In a moment of homesick weakness, we even enjoyed a classy meal of KD (Kraft Dinner {mac and cheese}) and hotdogs.
Ham, Onion & Cheese Buns
The real beauty in having an apartment, though, is that settling in immediately gave us a feeling of home… a private space where we could unpack our things and hang out whenever we feel like it.
Home
We even have a cat that hangs around the hotel where we go to use the internet. His name is Balls, Scuba, or Slobber… depending who you ask. He makes us miss our cat, Pi, a little bit less… or is it a little bit more?
Slobber... we call him that for obvious reasons
Renting an apartment has really made a positive impact on our budget, too. We pay $200 USD a month, which includes power (something that’s really expensive here) and water. Our only other expenses are gas and food. Propane for the stove costs about $15 for a tank, which probably lasts a few months (we wouldn’t know since our first tank was stolen and our second slowly leaked out its contents in about two weeks) and we spend an average of about $10 a day on food. We can buy just about anything we want in any quantity we want… spices, mustard, mayonnaise and vanilla are sold by the spoonful, bread is sold by the slice, cabbage comes in heads, half heads, and quarter heads, and so on.
Really happy to be able to buy just the right amount of vanilla for egg nog and fried bananas. The cost... about 10 cents!
All in all, we’re spending a total of about $500-600 CAD per month. Even though we’re still diving nearly everyday, it no longer costs us anything, so it’s a really affordable lifestyle.
Our only question now is… do we return to Utila after Nicaragua? or move on with our travels?
If you have no loose ends and no responsibilities at home, keep going!
No loose ends. We’re definitely not ready to head home yet… we just aren’t sure whether a return trip to Utila is in the cards or not.
I say follow your hearts.
That’s exactly what we’ll end up doing. We probably just won’t know what they’re saying until the day before we need to decide.
Your time in Utila sounds awesome! After seeing a lot of places on our RTW trip, I’d love to travel again but be more settled. Both styles have merits, but as you’ve pointed out, staying longer is cheaper, less stressful, and you get a deeper experience. Only you can decide what you’re in the mood to do, but since you are already leaving, I’d probably check out some new places. There’s nothing stopping you from staying somewhere else for an extended period if you’d choose. Whatever you decide, have fun!
Hey Amy! We have had an amazing time in Utila and are kind of sad to see it coming to an end. While a big part of me is itching to move on, another part of me wants to return and actually work as a divemaster for a while and gain some experience. Plus, free diving is a pretty big draw to return.
Free diving – woo-hoo!
Oh my gosh, AN OVEN!
I too know the feeling (and luxury) of having an oven while travelling!
With some friends, I rented a house in Bali and it ended up being one of the cheapest (and most memorable) parts of my trip!
Good luck with your decision and I can’t wait to read more about your travels!
It’s going to be so hard to leave our oven and kitchen behind! We’ve definitely learned that stopping for a while in one place is our kind of travel style… it really does give you some of the most memorable experiences!
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