This is Jack Shackaway. I’ve been invited on another junket, a liveaboard dive trip in the Andaman Sea. We’re setting out from Phuket. I don’t make a lot of money but, hey, I’m a freelance writer, eh? I don’t need a lot of money.
I’m a writer and freelance journalist. Sometimes I’m a hack. A two-bit panderer to any passing proposition. But in my own head I’m a full-fledged author, never mind I never have time to write anything. Not only that, I’m practically a celebrity. Probably a dozen people have heard of me already, and one of them was a cute girl who looked at me kind of funny. Maybe she was a groupie.
So I’m supposed to write this divetrip up as adventure tourism. Harrowing stuff. Three excellent meals a day, my choice of Western or Thai, a snack after every dive (you can lose a lot of calories diving in these waters, which never get cooler than about 27 degrees C). A TV lounge, a camera room, a library, kayaks. You name it. The last one, I say, got my inflatable fishing kayak from naturerated.com. Bring it on, all this adventure.
(Phuket-based Siam Dive n Sail can look after all your regional diving needs.)