Transcript of English Listening Practice👂🏽- Slow English Podcast! (C1+ comprehensible input)

hello and welcome back to my slow English podcast this story begins in Costa Rica and ends with me getting a tattoo in a car and flying to Thailand [Music] have you ever done something so new and so scary that it completely changed your life let me tell you the unforgettable story of my first scuba dive and how it changed the way I see the world learn English with slow stories with subtitles and pictures to guide you along the way english is easy you can learn it just by listening i met a couple of friends in Costa Rica about two years ago they were a French couple one of them is a tattoo artist and she travels the world tattooing her art and the other one is a scuba dive instructor we got along really well and I told them in Costa Rica if you ever come to Mexico let me know and about 3 months later they let me know they were visiting Mexico kosumel a breathtaking island in the south of Mexico so I didn't even hesitate i didn't think twice i booked my flight and they picked me up at the airport we saw the stunning lakes in Bakalar the lagoon of the seven colors with seven different shades of blue we went canoeing and snorkeling bakalar was such a beautiful place and after After a couple days there we began our journey to Kumel a stunning island on the coast of Cancun my friends drove us all the way to Playa del Carmel where we took the ferry to the island of Gool the first thing to do of course was to go snorkeling we got our snorkeling gear and we drove to the beaches of Gool i brought my mask my snorkel and my fins well I didn't bring fins but my friends lent me some extra fins that they had brought the corals and marine life were impressive to see i had never seen anything like that in my life it was my first time snorkeling actually imagine that i was about to go scuba diving and I hadn't even gone snorkeling yet so it was crazy that I got to see one of the most beautiful coral reefs in the whole world for my first time snorkeling it was unforgettable i saw fish corals octopi eels and my personal favorite sea cucumbers they're so cute and squishy the next day we all got ready to go scuba diving we read all the precautions and instructions that we had to follow some important things to know things that you need to know in case of an emergency and I can't lie it was nerve-wracking to read all of the dangers of scuba diving i was definitely nervous nevertheless we got on the boat and we drove to our diving spot when you get in the water you start to sink immediately and since I had weights on me it made me sink even faster we began descending deeper and deeper into the ocean my ears started to pop right away so immediately I had to start unplugging my ears to unplug your ears you cover your nose and blow and blow and blow if you stop blowing your ears will start hurting feeling so much pressure that to me was the most intense part so I was blowing every two seconds while taking deep breaths calm breaths to save your energy and oxygen but it was such a crazy feeling i felt weightless underwater like I was gliding through the water like I could go up and down and around like an airplane in the sky i felt like a fish it was crazy living like a fish even for just a few moments being able to really admire the corals to scrutinize every little detail i realized it's a whole other world it felt like I was visiting another planet with strange creatures with strange homes the ocean is definitely filled with alien creatures it made me happy to follow the stingrays and watch an octopus go into his home the cuttlefish strolling along the seabed the box fish were the cutest thing I have ever seen i got so excited whenever I would see one we saw a turtle swimming along the seabed although it was a little sad seeing her stroll along the lifeless corals actually there were a lot of damaged corals i was told that it was a reef graveyard and it looked like a graveyard where it was once vibrant with color and life it was now colorless and dead we soared around the reef for about 30 minutes until it was time to return to the surface we reached the surface and I immediately couldn't shut up i was bursting with excitement for all of the fish that I saw and the turtle we saw and the feeling of being underwater it was an eyeopening moment the silence of being underwater with no sounds other than the corals crackling and the fish swimming around their busy lives just my breath and nothing else no way to communicate other than with your hands it was so surreal it was a dream come true a dream that I didn't know I had after that day I felt like a brand new person it felt like I had a new goal and dream to follow that day i remember I couldn't stop being excited for my future it was a real turning point in my life i made so many significant changes in my life after that experience I realized what I wanted to do with my life an experience that was nerve-wracking in the beginning ended up opening my eyes to an amazing future for me the next day I was feeling so inspired i asked my friend if she could tattoo me but we had to get back to the mainland in Playa del Carmen for our flight so we decided she could tattoo me in the car we set up the tattooing gear she sanitized everything and we set off to our drive to Cancun first she drew my tattoo with a Sharpie and then she tattooed it and all while we took the ferry to the mainland she wrapped my tattoo in plastic and they dropped me off at the airport i got on my flight to Mexico City and I was picked up by another friend at the airport that whole trip was such an eyeopening experience that two days later when I got home with my parents I told them that I always wanted to travel to Thailand and that I was going to buy a ticket in November 2 days before my birthday they were shocked and a little bit scared but they told me to stay safe and have fun and I did what I knew I always wanted to do even though sometimes my fear would get the best of me that trip inspired me to conquer my fear i booked my flights and my hostel and I said goodbye to my friends and my family and I got on my 52hour flight to Thailand including layovers of course one layover was in Los Angeles where my cousin picked me up and took me to get donuts and Chinese food and then I got on my second flight to South Korea finally I took my last flight to Bangkok Thailand and the first thing that I did when I arrived was sleep i slept so well that night and the next morning I got a massage i have never needed a massage more than that day my shoulders and neck were killing me especially after carrying my backpack around for 52 hours anyways I'll have to make another podcast about my trip to Thailand in a future lesson but it just goes to show that one moment of stepping out of my comfort zone brought me a kind of joy that I didn't know was even possible it opened up a whole new world for me now I want to ask you have you ever had a lifechanging or eyeopening experience a moment when you stepped out of your comfort zone if not what is one dream or life goal that you want to try something that scares you a little bit but excites you a lot this is one of my favorite topics life goals are so inspiring to hear about and to talk about and I hope that I was able to inspire someone to step out of their comfort zone as well have a wonderful day and I will see you in the next Slow English podcast [Music]