Caribbean 2022
After a month full of programming at the 42 Prague school, I felt so exhausted that I decided to go on a spontaneous holiday. I was lucky enough to find a cheap last-minute flight to the Dominican Republic through a Polish travel agency.
I bought this ticket one day before the departure from Poland. Since the Polish travel agency kept refusing my calls as soon as they realized I did not speak Polish but only English, I was full of doubts about whether I would actually fly anywhere. But that is exactly what real adventure is about. Fortunately everything was fine and soon I was sitting on the plane.
Arrival Without a Plan
After landing I realized I had no cash and somehow had to reach the city 20 kilometers away. Since there were only taxi drivers at the airport charging completely inflated prices, I decided to walk to the main road and find another way to get to the city.
The taxi drivers assured me this was a bad idea, but I did not believe them and kept walking. At the road I started hitchhiking and was surprised to discover that many local taxis were driving there for very little money.
When I arrived in the city I checked into my accommodation and made a plan for my holiday, since I had not had time for that until then. I asked the owner of the accommodation, who knew the country well, and decided to explore the north of the island.
I visited many beaches and made it all the way to the Las Terrenas region, which I particularly liked. The beaches there were much more beautiful, almost empty, and I could enjoy the whole landscape without crowds of people.
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Surfing and a New Passion
The island had excellent conditions for surfing and the water temperature was also perfect, so I took a surfing lesson. I already had some experience with other board sports such as snowboarding or wakeboarding, so surfing was not fundamentally too difficult for me.
What I did find demanding was the constant waiting for the right waves and the moment when you need to jump onto the board in time. That will definitely still need a lot of practice. Overall I really enjoyed it though and truly want to learn to surf well in the future.
Since my time on this island I have also come to love the Spanish language. I often used a translator when talking to locals, but I like the language so much that I want to learn it to at least B2 level, so I can speak it in Latin America, Central America, and other Spanish-speaking regions of the world.
