K. Aleisha Fetters
When you go away for a tropical getaway, there’s no end to the list of ways that you can fit in fun physical activity. You’ve got beach volleyball, snorkeling, kayaking…the list goes on.
At one point or another, I’ve tried them all. Heck, the stand-up paddleboard (SUP) trend even had me doing yoga inversions on a board in the middle of the ocean. (OK, they were pretty horrible inversions, but still, I did them.) And SCUBA diving? I got certified several years back and now make it a priority to go diving each and every time I visit someplace with open water.
But it wasn’t until a recent trip to the Galápagos Islands with Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic that I considered freediving—a form of deep-water diving where you simply hold your breath. In all honesty, when I first tried freediving, I didn’t even know it had a name. I was snorkeling with an underwater photographer, and when he dove down to get up close and personal with the sea turtles, manta rays, and even sharks that were just 20 or so feet below us, you bet your wetsuit that I was diving down after him to see what there was to see.
By the time I made it back up to the surface, I knew two things for sure. First, that what I just saw was awesome. And second, that I was out of breath and every muscle in my body was exhausted.
Read the article at SelfMagazine.com!