My way to emigration

I am often asked whether it was easy to leave Germany and become a dive instructor and how I made this decision.

The answer is “yes”, it was surprisingly easy once I had made the decision. But this decision did not come overnight. It was a gradual process of change that took years and culminated in taking the risk. I don´t think anyone in their right mind wakes up in the morning and says “I´m going to leave everything I know and all the security behind and wander off into the unknown”.

The path to decision

Trigger

I actually started travelling quite late in life. Because I was working up to 4 different jobs, I couldn´t afford it or find the time.

My first travel experiences were to Asia. My first long and distant trip was to Thailand with friends in 2012 (at the age of 32). All my life I wanted to travel and see the world and from that moment on I was hooked. However, as I had a very intense IT job, I couldn´t travel as often as I would have liked. So I tried to combine my vacation times and take 3-4 weeks off every year from that moment on.

I also tried to be offline as much as possible during this time. In my job, I was supposed to be available 24/7 via various channels and answer everything as quickly as possible. The first vacation without constant availability and without internet on my cell phone was like a detox, gave me time to think and reflect. In addition, the sum of new impressions, the realization of how happy some people can be with so little….I tried to achieve this again on every trip. Sometimes it worked better, sometimes not.

In 2014 I went 3,5 weeks driving across Sri Lanka on a motorbike with a friend. Including the north, which had just been opened to tourism after a very long civil war.

In 2015, unfortunately, I couldn´t fit in a long time, so I tried to explore a part of Greece on a rental motorbike. An immense failure, as I met almost no other travelers. The locals thought I was a local thanks to the license plate and went off once I spoke English. Tourists also thought I´m a local for the same reasons and avoided me. That was much easier in Asia cause all tourists recognize each other directly.

In 2016 I went back to Asia. First to Angkor Wat (Cambodia), then island hopping in Thailand, where I ended up fulfilling my lifelong dream of getting a diving license on Koh Lipe.

I came back from each of these trips and felt each time a little bit more out of place in Germany. After each trip it took longer and longer to “dive” back into the familiar German everyday, capitalistic, time-driven society.

On Koh Lipe one evening I was sitting with dive instructors and full-time travelers. We talked a lot about this lifestyle and I remember very good how I said back then I couldn´t do it cause I needed the safety (of the Germany social network, salary, insurances…) Everyone told me it would be incredibly easy to take this step. I couldn´t image it at this time.

Funny thing: I came back to Germany after this vacation, from the chilled, relaxed vacation life back to the German society of complaints. I couldn’t cope with that any more. I just felt completely misplaced.

The decision-making process

At first, all I knew was that i wanted to change something. I had to!

I was working as an IT project manager at that time. This job meant that I was traveling all over Germany and Switzerland. I was on site with customers from Monday to Friday, staying in hotels and only at home at the weekends.

My private life suffered greatly as a result, it was actually non-existent. I only used my apartment to wash, sleep and repack at the weekends.

However, the more I thought about my vacation and my time on Koh Lipe, the more I got stuck on something like this.

So I started talking to the dive instructors I had met on Koh Lipe. The I heard the sentence “Come join me on the diving side of life”. Hmmmm….why not?

As a project manager I taught our clients and loved this part of my job, the unwilling students less so. Teaching with fun and eager learners? Teaching something I loved from the very first moment? And being able to travel with this job?

So the decision to combine my passions as a diver and teacher was not difficult. The safety aspect, on the other hand, was still an issue.

The preparation

I asked myself what I would need to know in order to take such a step.

It sounds wonderful to be able to travel the world, dive everywhere and earn money doing it. Plus all the pictures you see of dive instructors on various social media platforms. A dream life….

One question naturally gave rise to many new ones.

• What does it even mean to be a dive instructor?
• What do I have to do to become a dive instructor?
• How much money do I need?
• What does life costs?
• How much do one earn as a dive instructor?
• What do I need to consider when emigrating?
• How should I prepare for emigration?
• And and and….

These are big topics in themselves, which are described in more detail in other articles. Over the years, I would also have liked to have had some other information in advance that nobody told me at that time. I also deal with these topics in this blog.

Here is the calculation phase of my emigration back in 2017:

What do one actually earn as a dive professional?

Hehe, a very good question, which I also asked at the time, but which can usually only answered with a rough estimation.

Of course, payment depends on the country, location and dive shop.

I was told as a guideline that a divemaster on Koh Lipe (in 2017) can earn about 500$ per month with this dive shop. That sounds okay at first, doesn´t it? We know Thailand from our vacations, we know it´s cheap and we don´t have to pay for the dives. 500$ should be easy enough….

(Soon I´ll insert a link to a separate article about earnings as a dive pro)

Calculation

I researched the costs, made a projection and planned how I could save the money. Withing 6 months I was able to manage to save enough money by cutting back on all non-essentials.

My calculation is from 2017, whose prices are unfortunately no longer up to date today. Thailand has also become more expensive. But it should give an idea.

It´s based on the plan that I would return to Koh Lipe and do all the necessary courses there up to Divemaster, then work in the same dive shop as a Divemaster in the high season and after the season become an Instructor.

As is so often the case, things turned out differently than planned, but more on that later.

Here are a few examples of where I saved money back then:

• Cleaning lady (72€/month)
• Massage (60€/month)
• Donation (20€/month)
• Expenses for new clothes (300€/month – yayayaaaaa, I know…..)
• Sales of various items
• As a project manager I was away from home all week anyway, so I saved on rent for the last 3 months and spend the weekends with friends and family
• Bonus payment by the company
• Payment of vacation or overtime not taken
• Tax refund
• Repayment of insurance paid annually

Once you start to limit yourself, you realize that it´s not that difficult and that you actually need much less than you thought.

Safety net

I also built myself a safety net.

After I had made the decision, I spoke to my boss for a sabbatical year. He wasn´t pleased at all, but didn´t expect me to be be willing to resign. I just wanted a bit more security. In the end, we agreed on a contract that allowed me to return to my old job within a maximum of one year.

In order to be able to set up an apartment again without any problems, I stored my (supposedly) most important furniture and things.

Flight booking and other

There was a lot more to prepare than just saving the money.

The flight booking was just one of them. Personally, I prefer to go to travel agencies rather than book online. It costs a bit more, but I´m happy to pay the extra. For one thing, they still find flights easily and better than online. Secondly, with a decent travel agency you automatically receive information if, for example, the flight details change, there is a foreseeable delay and it is also easier to rebook if needed.

I have done a lot of research on emigration. What there is to consider, whether you have to deregister in Germany, if so, what that means, how to get out of your current contracts etc.

As this is a very complex topic and it changes so quickly, I have written a separate article on it.

Let´s put it this way: I did a lot of research and made some huge mistakes. I couldn´t find much information on the internet back than.

This is one of several reasons why I started this part of my blog.

Difficulties

It all sounds pretty simple so far, doesn´t it? Decide, plan, organize, save.

But of course it wasn´t quite that easy.

Headwind

I think, apart from the emotional aspect that was added at the end, the biggest difficulty during the preparation phase was the headwind that came from all sides.

I had to be constantly strong at this point. I had to explain myself again and again, and sometimes I simply had to break off the conversation. Professionally, I even had to turn down money.

The most common argument was “You´ll have a hole in your pension fund.”

All German security thinking concentrated in one sentence. The pension. Yes, in Germany, my parents´generation in particular is still primarily working towards a pension. You need money, you finally will have time.

Yes, but do I know where I will live to see it? And if so, will there even be any money in the fund left? And unfortunately, it has to be said that my parents had practically nothing from their retirement and unfortunately no longer with us.

Professionally, they also tried to hold me back. Of course it was unpleasant for my company to see me leave shortly after a planned, important go-live date. This date got postponed at the end and I even received unethical offers for an extended stay.

More money sounds great at first, of course, but I declined with thanks. If I let myself be bought once, I´ll let myself be bought again. And going throught that emotional stress again – no thanks.

Emotional

Nobody has to believe that it was emotionally easy.

Euphoria naturally prevailed. All the planning, the decisions to finally get off the hamster wheel, the anticipation…

But then there are also situation where you realize that you´re going to be on the other side of the world. That you can´t just drive to your best friend´s or your parents house any more. That even with all the technology available today, you have to plan for the time difference. It´s no longer so easy to just make a phone call.

The thought of going to a foreign country on a small island with no familiar faces was something a little frightening, but mostly exciting and adventurous.

And then I also met a man with whom I felt really comfortable and who made me doubt again in the end. That can happen too.

All in all it´s a rollercoaster of emotions, you can´t ignore that. And you have to be constantly strong – in different ways.

Conclusion

Have I ever regretted taking the step? – Not really. Sometimes, of course, you wonder what if, you get nostalgic, but regrets? No.

Do I work less than in Germany? No.

But it doesn´t feel so much like work. One aspect is that when you earn money doing what you love, it doesn´t feel so energy-snapping. The other aspect is that the work doesn´t consist of constant periods of stress, but there are many phases of relaxation in the day.

For all those who come home from a vacation and have the fixed idea of emigration in their minds: It is not done overnight. It´s a relatively long process. For me, it took years before I was ready to take the plunge. organizing the implementation may look like a lot, but it´s actually the smaller part. The path to and the decision itself is the big part.

How many people dream about it, but are too afraid to give up their supposed security and therefore don´t even try it out?

I´m glad that I kept this small aspect of safety thinking and had my safety net. I didn´t know at the time of departure whether the diving life was really mine. Well, that became clear relatively quickly, but there were stumbling blocks here too.

Calculating in advance and saving money is also immensely important. Believe me, I got pretty nervous when I only had 1.000€ left in my account after my instructor course.

Dive Instructor (unfortunately) don´t earn much and not having any reserves can be unsettling and stressful. Especially if you are in a situation where you may have to fly back home relatively quickly due to family emergencies.

However, both of these points apply to every aspect of life. No matter which dream you pursue, you have to prepare yourself.

But is it worth it? I have to say a resounding yes.

Would I take the same step again? DEFINITLY!!