My first experience with Scuba was in Greece during the late 90's. I instantly loved it but like many I fell right into the trap of not following up from that cool vacation experience.
Fast forward a few years and a group consisting of friends and relatives back home (I'm from the UK) began to boast of their Scuba certification during a trip abroad. Their adventures sounded exciting and I was regularly advised that I needed to join in. When the same relatives announced they were to visit us here in Texas, I figured we could make diving a group activity in Lake Travis and at long last I took my Open Water Certification in preparation.
The visiting divers enjoyed the unexpected activity - I had been a good host. They returned to the UK and got on with their lives, but mine had been changed forever. If someone would've told me back then that I was looking forward to spending two months out of the last year in Bonaire, with the most recent trip turning into an even bigger family reunion and me assisting a 10 year old niece/future marine biologist in getting her Junior certification as a dive professional...I would've told them they were crazy.