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One Woman, One Island, One Year: Madison’s Bold Leap to Roatán, Honduras
9 Plays1 day ago
Is Honduras safe for solo female travelers? Madison from Madison’s Footsteps is here to challenge everything you think you know. After living for a year on the island of Roatán, she’s sharing the unfiltered truth about what life is really like in this Caribbean paradise.
In this episode of Go Far Girl, we talk about why Roatán might be the most underrated island in Central America, how it compares to more popular beach destinations, and what Madison learned as a solo traveler navigating life, friendships, and safety far off the tourist trail. From snorkeling and sunsets to shifting global perspectives, this is your sign to stop playing it safe—and start going where your heart pulls you.
Connect with Madison on her website, Madisons Footsteps.
1:1 Roatan planning services: https://madisonsfootsteps.com/roatan-itinerary-planning/
Roatan restaurant guide: https://madisonsfootsteps.com/restaurants-in-roatan-honduras/
ALL Roatan guides: https://madisonsfootsteps.com/honduras-travel-guides/
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Transcript
Introduction to Madison's Travel Journey
00:00:01
CHANTELLE KINCY
Hi, welcome to Go Far Girl. Thanks for joining us today. I'm here with Madison and she is living proof that solo travel can take you farther than you ever imagined, literally and figuratively.
00:00:09
Madison
Let's
00:00:13
CHANTELLE KINCY
Madison is from Madison's footsteps. She's lived solo in places like Italy, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, but it was one small island in the Caribbean that truly changed her outlook on life.
00:00:24
CHANTELLE KINCY
She's joining us today to talk about Roatan Honduras, a place she called home for a year. She believes it's one of the most underrated destinations in the world. If you've never heard of Roatan or you've been told it's too dangerous to visit Honduras, you need to stick around for this one because we're going to flip all that upside down for you.
00:00:42
CHANTELLE KINCY
Madison, thanks for hanging out with me. I'm so excited to chat.
00:00:45
Madison
Thanks for having me on the podcast.
00:00:47
CHANTELLE KINCY
Of course. So right off the bat, do you say Roatan or Roatan? Because I think I say it different every time I say it.
00:00:55
Madison
I kind of say it different too, but usually I say Roatan.
00:00:58
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay.
00:00:59
Madison
I think it depends.
00:00:59
CHANTELLE KINCY
I'm never sure yeah
00:01:01
Madison
It depends on who's saying it. I hear both ways on the island.
00:01:04
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay, if it's on the island, then I'm good. kidding.
00:01:06
CHANTELLE KINCY
tell
Inspiration and Challenges in Travel
00:01:06
CHANTELLE KINCY
us a little bit about yourself. How did you get started traveling? Have you always had like this little bug where you needed to be going and going somewhere different? How did that all start?
00:01:17
Madison
ah This sounds super cliche, but it started with my study abroad semester in college.
00:01:21
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. Where did you go?
00:01:22
Madison
hadn't had a I went to Rome and I just completely fell in love with it. I know, so stereotypical, but um it really was a little Lizzie McGuire moment.
00:01:27
CHANTELLE KINCY
yeah
00:01:32
Madison
ah And since then, I have just not been able to stop. It honestly did change my entire life. I decided I wanted the digital nomad life. I ah kind of plan my years around where I'm going to live around the world. So it was the best decision I ever made.
00:01:48
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. And are you still traveling and living other places? Like I know you're home right now, but do you have plans to like keep this moving?
00:01:56
Madison
Yes, I do. um Unfortunately, I've been home for about two years now because travel's not free, sadly.
00:02:04
CHANTELLE KINCY
Dang it.
00:02:06
Madison
I know. I learned that the hard way. So head of went, spent all my money, had to come home, earn it back. It's been a little bit of that cycle for the last 10 years, honestly. But um I think that i that will be coming to an end soon. Hopefully, I'm planning on moving abroad again, um hopefully in the near future.
Life in Roatan: A New Perspective?
00:02:26
CHANTELLE KINCY
Do you have an idea of where you want to go?
00:02:28
Madison
Back to Rome, my favorite place in the world.
00:02:31
CHANTELLE KINCY
Love it. can just taste the carbonara now.
00:02:36
Madison
oh my gosh.
00:02:37
CHANTELLE KINCY
Actually, we were in Rome. i had, this fried artichoke.
00:02:44
Madison
Oh, the Roman artichokes.
00:02:45
CHANTELLE KINCY
literally Literally think about that at least once a week. Like, would fly back for the artichoke.
00:02:56
Madison
Oh my God, they're so good. And you can like kind of trick yourself into thinking they're healthy too.
00:02:58
CHANTELLE KINCY
Why was it so good? It's a vegetable-ish.
00:03:01
Madison
You'll like, oh, it's a hard joke. Yeah, it's fine.
00:03:03
CHANTELLE KINCY
It's so good. I literally think about it all the time. And then we were somewhere. or it was in Nashville. And they had it on the menu. I was like, sweet. And I got it.
00:03:13
CHANTELLE KINCY
And i was like no, this is not what I want.
00:03:17
Madison
Not the same.
00:03:17
CHANTELLE KINCY
This is no.
00:03:18
Madison
You guys clearly haven't been to Tristever. Okay.
00:03:20
CHANTELLE KINCY
And they just made it worse. I was like, dang it. No, I really want one.
00:03:25
Madison
have to go back to get the original memory back.
00:03:27
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yes. Oh, my gosh. ah Thinking of you, artichoke from Rome.
00:03:33
Madison
They have the best food. They really do.
00:03:35
CHANTELLE KINCY
Honestly. oh my gosh. So how did you end up in the Caribbean?
00:03:40
Madison
So 2020 happened. We all remember that, unfortunately.
00:03:44
CHANTELLE KINCY
Hmm.
00:03:44
Madison
And i was going stir crazy because I went home and and Come January of 2021, I was like, all right, I'm losing my mind. I need to go somewhere. ah Wisconsin was freezing, so you couldn't do anything because you didn't want to be outside.
00:03:57
Madison
ah So I was like, I think I'll just go to the Caribbean for a month. I work online. i can find a cheap place, especially when everything was dirt cheap because nobody was traveling.
00:04:05
CHANTELLE KINCY
Right.
00:04:06
Madison
So I actually planned to go to Curacao with one of my friends. And about 20 minutes after we booked the Airbnb, we decided to look up if Curacao was letting in U.S. citizens and they weren't. So that plan got canceled really fast.
00:04:19
CHANTELLE KINCY
Future note.
00:04:21
Madison
Might have been something to look up before we hit book, but we got our money back. So it's fine.
00:04:25
CHANTELLE KINCY
future note
00:04:27
Madison
Exactly. For all of you listening. Well, hopefully we don't have that problem again anytime. ah But so so I texted one of my friends who actually um I used to work in.
00:04:38
Madison
so i i lived in Rome during study abroad. then i moved back after college to Florence ah to work for a company that operated study abroad trips for students. And ah one of my co-workers there, he's American, but he grew up in Roatan.
00:04:50
Madison
And so I texted him and I was like, hey, we you know had this hiccup with our Caribbean friends. vacation do you know like what countries around there are letting in u.s tourists and he said he's like robatan literally just open you guys should come here and i kind of was like oh honduras i don't know that sounds really dangerous but then i you know did more research i talked to him about it i talked to some other people i had known who who've been there and i decided to go even though i was still pretty nervous and it was the best decision i ever made so um no regrets there
00:05:22
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. So it's it's Honduras, but it's not mainland Honduras. It's an island off the coast.
00:05:28
Madison
No. Yes.
00:05:31
CHANTELLE KINCY
And so it is separated from... you know, parts of Honduras that you see on on the news that kind of gives it that reputation. It's a tourist location, but people live there full time and more people are living there always, right?
00:05:40
Madison
Yes.
00:05:46
Madison
It is.
00:05:50
CHANTELLE KINCY
Like, it's not just resorts and beaches, right?
00:05:52
Madison
Yes.
00:05:55
Madison
No.
00:05:55
CHANTELLE KINCY
There's, yeah.
00:05:57
Madison
No, there's ah a large population of people, of locals who live there, and then also there's a pretty big expat community on the west side of the island, ah mostly from the U.S. and Canada.
00:06:06
CHANTELLE KINCY
I was going to say, I liked that when I was there, um like I told you before, I was just there for one day, but I noticed that there was just this meshing of a bunch of different cultures and people that I thought was really cool.
00:06:19
CHANTELLE KINCY
We had gone down to like, and even in the grocery store, we did, we saw like Canadians and people just from everywhere.
00:06:19
Madison
Yeah.
00:06:24
CHANTELLE KINCY
And it kind of seemed like everyone just made it their own little community and kind of took little bits and pieces from all of that and created something kind of new and special there. Like the vibe there is just really cool.
00:06:35
Madison
I agree. There is a great vibe. And there's actually like little pockets of, you know, people from other countries. Even there's like actually a huge um Czech population on the island, which is very random because it's not easy to get to Roatan from the Czech Republic.
00:06:44
CHANTELLE KINCY
Oh, interesting. Yeah. Right.
00:06:52
Madison
But um there's it I forget the name of the island.
00:06:52
CHANTELLE KINCY
That's fun.
00:06:54
Madison
It's closer to like the east side, like middle east side of the island. um But there is like a little like Czech village over there.
00:07:00
CHANTELLE KINCY
No kidding.
00:07:02
Madison
Yeah, kind of interesting.
00:07:02
CHANTELLE KINCY
That's how you start getting good food, though. When all these different cultures start coming in, that's when you can really like become a foodie destination.
00:07:07
Madison
Yes. Fusion.
00:07:09
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yes, I love that.
00:07:13
CHANTELLE KINCY
so you went over there with the thought of being there for like a month. You ended up with staying for a year.
00:07:13
Madison
too.
00:07:19
Madison
Yes, that didn't happen.
00:07:20
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. Because you fell in love with it. Because what happened? Yeah.
00:07:27
Madison
So basically my friend, i actually did not go over there solo when we first got there. I went with a friend and were supposed to go for a month and she had a pretty strict job. So she packed up and left after the month. And I was kind of thinking, why do I need to go home? I work online. I'm just going back to my parents' house. I was like...
00:07:44
Madison
There's really no point in me leaving now, and I don't have to because your ah tourist visa is 90 days and you can actually extend it for an additional 30 if you pay like 20 bucks. um And so I stuck around. And ah that four months, I made so many friends, friends that are still friends to this day.
00:07:58
Madison
And I had the time of my life. I'm not going to say that I was working very hard because I wasn't, but the cost of living was low, so was fine. But i came home.
00:08:05
CHANTELLE KINCY
Dollar stretch.
00:08:07
Madison
Yeah, literally. i came home for about a month to repack because I packed really dumb for those first four months. ah Repacked, kind of got my life together here and flew back.
00:08:17
Madison
And I stayed for the rest of the year. And just on tourist visa, i never had to get any sort of like a permanent visa residency or anything. I would just leave every three months. um
00:08:27
CHANTELLE KINCY
yeah
00:08:28
Madison
But yeah, it was an amazing decision. It was such a great year.
00:08:31
CHANTELLE KINCY
So you were able to
Exploring Roatan: Nature and Community
00:08:32
CHANTELLE KINCY
find like a rental property pretty easily.
00:08:35
CHANTELLE KINCY
And, or did you live with somebody? Okay.
00:08:35
Madison
I wouldn't say pretty easily, but I did.
00:08:39
Madison
it was a little tricky at first. I stayed at a pretty questionable place for my second month there. um But I did eventually find a place that was, you know, it was great location. It wasn't the nicest apartment i've ever stayed in but it worked for for the year.
00:08:52
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:08:52
Madison
and I lived with a good friend of mine there.
00:08:54
Madison
So it it actually was was very fun.
00:08:56
CHANTELLE KINCY
That's fun. Do you feel like it's a place you need a car or can you walk?
00:08:58
Madison
Yeah.
00:09:00
Madison
It depends on where you stay.
00:09:02
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay.
00:09:02
Madison
If you're staying in West Bay or West End, point in getting a car. um If you're in Sandy Bay or if you're staying in like the middle of the island or on the east side, then I would probably recommend having one.
00:09:12
CHANTELLE KINCY
Where do most tourists go? West Bay, right?
00:09:16
Madison
It depends what you're looking for. It's either West Bay or West End. So people pretty much always go to the west side unless they've been there bunch of times.
00:09:19
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay.
00:09:25
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay. So what's on the east side?
00:09:29
Madison
The east side is beautiful and untouched. I don't think it's going to stay that way for long. I'm pretty sure they're opening and and like a massive Marriott on the east side of the island, which is kind of crazy because there isn't even a grocery store over there.
00:09:37
CHANTELLE KINCY
ah
00:09:40
Madison
like There's nothing. Dirt roads, no people, just absolutely beautiful.
00:09:44
CHANTELLE KINCY
Wow.
00:09:45
Madison
um But who knows how long it's going to stay that way.
00:09:48
CHANTELLE KINCY
So Roatan's a really popular like water destination. So you've got the barrier reef that runs through there, right?
00:09:53
Madison
Yes.
00:09:56
CHANTELLE KINCY
And then so snorkeling and diving, everything is excellent from what I've heard. We did a little snorkeling, but I would love to get dive certified. And that's one of the places I would love to go and dive.
00:09:56
Madison
Mm-hmm.
00:10:07
CHANTELLE KINCY
Do you do any of that?
00:10:08
Madison
Oh, it's an amazing place to get certified. Yes. I got actually both my certifications in Roatan.
00:10:10
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:10:12
Madison
I had never been diving before I went there.
00:10:14
CHANTELLE KINCY
How exciting.
00:10:14
Madison
It's was so great. It's like, it's like learning in bath water, you know?
00:10:18
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. It's so pretty.
00:10:21
Madison
Yeah.
00:10:21
CHANTELLE KINCY
Oh my gosh.
00:10:22
Madison
It's a beautiful reef. Sadly, it's changing from when I lived there in 2021. I, I went back earlier this year and I've just seen how different it looks even in four years. Um, but coral bleaching events are happening worldwide. So
00:10:37
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:10:37
Madison
We can only do the things that we can control, reef safe sunscreen, not touching the reef, things like that.
00:10:42
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:10:42
Madison
um But the diving is still incredible. You still see some amazing animals. There was actually a whale shark swimming around when I was there last. I didn't get to see it. I never get to see the whale sharks, but it was swimming around.
00:10:51
CHANTELLE KINCY
Oh, I would cry. i would love that.
00:10:54
Madison
It would have amazing.
00:10:55
CHANTELLE KINCY
it was there. Yeah.
00:10:57
Madison
it was on site. I have confirmation.
00:11:02
CHANTELLE KINCY
You're like, how can something that big hide from me? Because where are you going?
00:11:05
Madison
I know they're huge. Exactly. And they stay close to the surface too.
00:11:10
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah, yeah.
00:11:10
Madison
I just, I had bad luck.
00:11:10
CHANTELLE KINCY
It's not like they're 3,000 feet down. I know. I always say like I'm like the anti-Disney princess because someone will be like, oh, this is the most population of moose in the whole world. I'm like, that's funny. I've not seen a single one.
00:11:24
CHANTELLE KINCY
Or they'll be like, oh, yeah, you always see bears. I went to Alaska. I didn't see a bear. Like, what are we doing here? Like, I'm just like, I repel them or something.
00:11:30
Madison
We have the same problem.
00:11:32
CHANTELLE KINCY
Cancel
00:11:33
Madison
We should go diving together. Maybe we'll cancel each other out.
00:11:36
CHANTELLE KINCY
each other Everyone right now is like, not going with those two.
00:11:40
Madison
and Nope.
00:11:42
CHANTELLE KINCY
But it's so sad.
00:11:43
Madison
I remember I went, I think it was, think it was last year. pretty much go back every year. I went diving. It was like February, 2024. And we saw like, I think we saw a couple turtles, which was cool, but not anything like really crazy. And the next week I was, I follow my favorite dive shop on Instagram. They saw a mom and a baby orca, pot of pilot whales and a pot of dolphins and half moon bay.
00:12:05
Madison
was like, are you kidding me?
00:12:05
CHANTELLE KINCY
Stop it right now.
00:12:07
Madison
Yeah.
00:12:07
CHANTELLE KINCY
You're like, I know this is supposed to be inspiring, but it's just making me mad.
00:12:11
Madison
And now I'm just pissed.
00:12:13
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. I feel really left out.
00:12:16
Madison
did. i mean, that would have been amazing.
00:12:17
CHANTELLE KINCY
Oh my gosh. no that's insane. I hate that.
00:12:23
Madison
I know Those lucky people that got to see it.
00:12:25
CHANTELLE KINCY
ah I know. ah It's always the right place at the right time. And it's like, never me. It could never be me.
00:12:31
Madison
i know. me too. ah That'd be our luck will change someday.
00:12:34
CHANTELLE KINCY
I can bring rain. i can bring storms. I can do like majestic creatures. No, not so much.
00:12:44
Madison
Just travel to places that are in drought. Help them out.
00:12:49
CHANTELLE KINCY
Everyone has to do their part.
00:12:53
CHANTELLE KINCY
I'm like, oh, you have an overpopulation of animals here. Let me disperse them for you.
00:13:01
Madison
I'll be there in a week. Get ready.
00:13:04
CHANTELLE KINCY
I could start like charging people.
00:13:07
Madison
Honestly, if it keeps working, might as well.
00:13:13
CHANTELLE KINCY
ah What was your favorite thing about living on the island?
00:13:17
Madison
I think it was the pace of life. Island life is such a real thing.
00:13:19
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. Yeah.
00:13:21
Madison
And you do have to know that going in because or else you'll be confused. You'll be like, oh, meet me at Sundowners at 6 o'clock and they'll get there at 7 because it's island life. So have to be prepared for that.
00:13:32
Madison
But it's nice because everyone just kind of takes it slow, enjoys the day, stops and watches the sunset.
00:13:39
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:13:40
Madison
It's an entirely different world than the U.S.
00:13:43
CHANTELLE KINCY
And ah can you get by with speaking English?
00:13:47
Madison
Oh, yeah. the The first language on the island.
00:13:47
CHANTELLE KINCY
I was like, I know we could wear. Yeah, i say I know we could wear we were, but I didn't know if generally. Yeah.
00:13:53
Madison
The only time you'll have issue is i think a lot of the... If the people that you're talking to came over from the mainland, then they might not speak English. But um everyone who is actually from the island speaks English. It was the first language on the island.
00:14:05
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay. And I noticed the signs were in English too.
00:14:06
Madison
Yeah.
00:14:08
CHANTELLE KINCY
And so that makes sense.
00:14:09
Madison
Yeah, it's really easy to get around. In fact, if you speak Spanish, people will kind of look at you like... Why are you doing that? You're wasting my time.
00:14:17
CHANTELLE KINCY
I liked that you could speak English, read everything in English, but you could still get like, like the real soda, like Coke with sugar in it and not like, yeah.
00:14:26
Madison
Oh, yeah. Exactly.
00:14:27
CHANTELLE KINCY
So you could still have like the, the Latin like benefits without having to speak Spanish. I was like, give me a Coke.
00:14:33
Madison
Exactly.
00:14:34
CHANTELLE KINCY
yeah Yes. I love this place. Yeah.
00:14:38
Madison
Yeah. But it's so the complete opposite on the mainland. We were on the mainland for two weeks and I think I met two people that spoke English the entire time.
00:14:46
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. And I bet that was a totally different, like, how was it on the mainland of Honduras? Like, could you get that poverty and were you a little like less secure?
00:14:55
Madison
I was definitely less secure, but I was also out of my element. Like I didn't know where I was. So that's, that was a big part of it.
00:15:00
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:15:00
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:15:00
Madison
um
00:15:01
Madison
I did part of it with a friend and part of it solo and I did feel okay, but I really did feel like I just had to be like really, I'm not like the areas I was in were were not actually dangerous, but I still just knew that I was in a country that had areas that were dangerous.
00:15:14
Madison
So I was, you know, pretty vigilant, but it was amazing.
00:15:16
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:15:17
Madison
I always say that it's like Costa Rica for a fifth of the price with a fifth of the people. Like it's just absolutely stunning and there's nobody there.
00:15:21
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:15:24
CHANTELLE KINCY
That's cool.
00:15:25
CHANTELLE KINCY
I love that.
00:15:25
Madison
Yeah.
00:15:26
CHANTELLE KINCY
So let's, let's plan an itinerary.
00:15:26
Madison
It's a beautiful place.
00:15:27
Madison
Okay.
00:15:29
CHANTELLE KINCY
So if someone wants to come and they can't live there, which is sad because I told you i already picked out my house.
00:15:35
Madison
You got to go back. I bet they'd still let you buy it.
00:15:36
CHANTELLE KINCY
I know. ah was like, you may not know this, but I called this place like 10 years ago.
00:15:44
CHANTELLE KINCY
I need you to go. I took a picture in everything. So that cemented it. so
00:15:44
Madison
I made dibs.
00:15:51
Madison
That sounds legally binding.
00:15:52
CHANTELLE KINCY
Right. I mean, come on Hey, I said it was fine.
00:15:57
Madison
i um email them and say I said it's fine too. Just go They probably won't who I am.
00:16:05
CHANTELLE KINCY
But um so let's plan an itinerary for someone to just come visit. So where would we fly?
00:16:09
Madison
Okay.
00:16:12
CHANTELLE KINCY
Well, you can get pretty good flights right from the US. It's not far.
00:16:15
Madison
No, it's not too far. It's annoyingly expensive for how close it is. Sometimes if you go on season, um i remember that when I lived there, most of the time I had to pay like 800, 900 round trip, which was frustrating.
00:16:27
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:16:27
Madison
That was from Chicago. But there is a new flight, actually a couple new flights, a direct flight out of Minneapolis on Sun Country, which you can sometimes get for insane prices. I think I took that uh two years ago and one of the flights not round trip but one flight was like 126 dollars it was insane direct straight in a row again yeah i was i mean the return was like 500 but still um and then i think they have a new direct flight from denver as well um
00:16:42
CHANTELLE KINCY
Oh, nice. Yeah. They're begging you to go. Yeah.
00:16:55
CHANTELLE KINCY
Oh, nice.
00:16:56
Madison
Yeah, so it's but you don't even have to step foot on the mainland to get there. like You can. Sometimes if the flights are really expensive, it's cheaper to go through San Pedro Sula. But that's a separate flight and like a lot of hassle. So I usually just prefer to fly directly onto the island.
00:17:10
CHANTELLE KINCY
And then it's not in the hurricane zone, right?
00:17:14
Madison
um
00:17:14
CHANTELLE KINCY
Or is is it?
00:17:15
Madison
When I was there, think it is, but it like almost, I'm going knock on wood for them, but it almost always gets passed.
00:17:19
CHANTELLE KINCY
I know.
00:17:21
Madison
Like, I think the fall or the winter before I moved there, Pedro Sula had gotten like hit hard by a hurricane, but it completely missed Roatan.
00:17:22
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay.
00:17:30
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay.
00:17:32
Madison
Yeah.
00:17:32
CHANTELLE KINCY
So I was trying to... I know like Curacao, Aruba, they're below the hurricane line, but I didn't, couldn't remember if Roatan was. So is there a good time to book book your trip? Can you go during the winter? Can you go during the summer?
00:17:44
CHANTELLE KINCY
When would you go if it, like you were just going to go for the first time, when would you go?
00:17:48
Madison
um The best time to go weather-wise is like February to like May um because it's not in the rainy season, but it's also not summer. So it's not like as hot as it can get.
00:18:01
Madison
But honestly, I living there round trip, like I don't actually think that there's a bad time to go. like yes, you have a higher chance of having rain in the rainy season, but it's still it's a tropical island. So no matter when you're there, sometimes it's going to rain really hard for like 20 minutes and then stop for the rest of the day.
00:18:17
CHANTELLE KINCY
I was going to say it rained while we were there and it actually felt good because it had been so hot and humid before it rained and it rained while we were zip lining.
00:18:24
Madison
yeah oh nice
00:18:25
CHANTELLE KINCY
And so we were just like, this feels amazing. Like it was just like, were like going over the canopy and it was raining. I was like, yes, this is great.
Travel Tips and Recommendations for Roatan
00:18:33
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. Exactly. Like it was perfect for everything.
00:18:33
Madison
the jungle experience
00:18:37
CHANTELLE KINCY
But, um, and like you said, it's, it's not cold rain and it doesn't last very long, but it really kind of just made that humidity more deal to deal with.
00:18:42
Madison
no typically no
00:18:47
Madison
I don't even think it's that hot in the summer because the island is so thin you get breezes from everywhere.
00:18:48
CHANTELLE KINCY
It was
00:18:51
CHANTELLE KINCY
breezes. Yeah.
00:18:52
Madison
Yeah.
00:18:53
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:18:53
Madison
it's not It's honestly any time year. I would just go whenever you could find the cheapest flights. Yeah.
00:18:57
CHANTELLE KINCY
There you go. Um, and then where would you suggest we stay?
00:19:03
Madison
Well, that's a little complicated because it depends on what you're looking for um for.
00:19:07
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay.
00:19:07
Madison
other solo travelers or people, you know, looking to make friends, looking to experience the nightlife, looking to experience the local food, um I would definitely recommend West End because that is kind of like the more like I don't want to say party central, but kind of, but also like all the good restaurants are there. Everything is kind of in that area. It's very walkable.
00:19:25
Madison
um And it's also a lot more affordable than West Bay. um So that's where I always prefer to stay. That's where I lived for most of the year. But if you're going on a honeymoon or a family vacation, or if you just kind of want to, you know, live in luxury, then i would definitely recommend West Bay.
00:19:42
Madison
That's where all the big resorts are That's where i think there was an episode of Love Island filmed there um at the Kempton.
00:19:47
CHANTELLE KINCY
Perfect.
00:19:49
Madison
I don't watch the show, but everyone was texting me that it was filming there. um And that's where you can find like the all inclusive options. And then lastly, if you're going on a budget and you just want something really relaxing and you want to be in a really local area, then I would definitely recommend Sandy Bay.
00:20:04
Madison
ah But you might want a car if you stay there.
00:20:05
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay. Very cool. Back to Love Island. That's a train wreck and you should watch it because...
00:20:13
CHANTELLE KINCY
you feel It'll make you feel so good about your life. I'm always like, yes, I'm so normal.
00:20:13
Madison
All of my friends watch it.
00:20:19
Madison
I do kind of want to watch the Roatan episode just to see it, but...
00:20:21
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. and ok So West End has more – no, West Bay has more hotels and resorts.
00:20:30
Madison
Yes, that's like the bougie place. Yeah.
00:20:32
CHANTELLE KINCY
But you can still find places to stay if you were to visit West End. You could still get a hotel or something decent to – yes.
00:20:38
Madison
Yes, For sure. But you're not going to find like all inclusive type deals over there or like the huge hotels with like the massive pools or anything like that. It's going to be more like ah boutique hotels and Airbnbs.
00:20:50
CHANTELLE KINCY
That sounds nicer though for me.
00:20:52
Madison
That's my favorite.
00:20:52
CHANTELLE KINCY
Like, yeah.
00:20:53
Madison
I like it a little bit more local.
00:20:55
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. I like that. So then what would you do?
00:20:57
Madison
Yeah.
00:20:58
CHANTELLE KINCY
What is there to do? Say we're there for a week. I know it's hard because everyone has different interests, but it's not that big of an island. So kind of something for everybody.
00:21:05
Madison
True.
00:21:06
CHANTELLE KINCY
What would you do?
00:21:07
Madison
Well, It is a beautiful Caribbean island, so you're going want to spend a couple days doing nothing, right? Pina Colada in your hand, toes in the sand, all the the stereotypical Caribbean vacation stuff.
00:21:14
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yes.
00:21:18
Madison
But I would not recommend doing that for the entire week because there is so much cool stuff to experience on Roatan and there is so much culture there if you know where to look. um So I highly recommend only doing that for like, say if you're there a week, maybe that for three days. so um so i'm gonna you know what's interesting about roatan is there's kind of like a thing to do every day of the week so sundays are like a big day that people go to the roatan brewing company which is uh you have to either get a taxi year or rent a car to go there um it's a little bit more in the middle of the island but they call it sunday fun day and a lot of times the craft market is there and pretty much everyone from the west side of the island just goes to the brewery hangs out for like
00:21:55
Madison
four hours does some shopping drink some beer has some food um and then people head back into the west onto the west side to do have dinner and um go out for drinks for some drinks usually at sundowners but um so that's my favorite things to do is hit the brewing company that's a very cool place especially if you love beer i do because i'm from wisconsin um And then if you're in West End, there's also another some other couple of cool places to hit, ah like the Roatan Chocolate Factory.
00:22:23
Madison
That's a really fun place if you love chocolate.
00:22:24
CHANTELLE KINCY
Oh, cool.
00:22:24
Madison
they grow I know, it's so good. They grow it all on the mainland, bring it over, and then they make it right there in the factory. If you go upstairs, it just smells like heaven.
00:22:32
CHANTELLE KINCY
ah
00:22:32
Madison
It's so good. ah They actually do tours too, but I think you usually have to request them in advance. Um, there's also some local shopping in West End. There's a jewelry cart that I go to every single time I'm there. I like buy way too much of her stuff. Julia, look her up if you're going to Roatan and you love jewelry.
00:22:48
CHANTELLE KINCY
Does she make it?
00:22:49
Madison
She does. And she is so talented.
00:22:50
CHANTELLE KINCY
Oh, so cool.
00:22:52
Madison
It's, it's gorgeous. She has like a jewelry cart with a big like evil eye on it in the ah coconut tree plaza, which is, you'll see it's like a huge green building on your way into West End. So definitely recommend stopping there for some local souvenirs.
00:23:05
Madison
Um, and then let's, let's go back to the nature side of things. So definitely if you are into scuba diving or interested in it, this is the best place to try it in the Caribbean. I think, um, you can easily, if you haven't dived before, you can do a discovery dive, which is usually around a hundred bucks and they give you like a couple of hours of instruction and then they take you out for, um, I think it's usually like 40 to 50 feet on a dive, but you're with an instructor. Everyone's watching you. You'll,
00:23:32
Madison
And if you're you know worried about it, then you obviously don't have to do the second part. um But or you can do fun diving if you already have your certification or if you're not at the scuba diving, which I know a lot of people get a little claustrophobic.
00:23:43
Madison
ah There's lots of great snorkeling in Roatan. It's actually night snorkeling, too, which is a very cool thing to do because you see a lot of stuff that you don't see in the daytime.
00:23:51
CHANTELLE KINCY
That would be cool.
00:23:52
Madison
Yes.
00:23:52
CHANTELLE KINCY
I've never done that.
00:23:54
Madison
I did that in Half Moon Bay, which is like in the center of West End. And we saw a bunch of octopus and squid. and there's actually bioluminescent algae in Roatan if you have the perfect conditions for it
00:24:05
CHANTELLE KINCY
Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah.
00:24:07
Madison
It's rare. I've never actually seen it because we've talked about this. I'm unlucky. but
00:24:11
CHANTELLE KINCY
I tried to see it in Puerto Rico and I missed it there too. so um, but I didn't know that.
00:24:15
Madison
ah We're cursed. Yeah.
00:24:16
CHANTELLE KINCY
I know we're really good advocates. Everyone's like, wow, these people really have got it going on.
00:24:22
Madison
I know. We know it's there. We can tell you about where to see it We just haven't seen it.
00:24:26
CHANTELLE KINCY
ah We just won't go. well
00:24:30
Madison
It's called the string
Sustainable Tourism in Roatan
00:24:31
Madison
of pearls, though. It's supposed to be very cool. um Yeah, there's a ton of cool stuff you can see at night. You can also see amazing stuff during the day. So if you like the ocean um or you want to see some very cute sea turtles, then I highly recommend getting out there for snorkeling or diving trip.
00:24:47
Madison
um Let's see. We can also do a couple of day trips. I love to go to the East End and hang out on Camp Bay Beach and go to this little bar over the water called Las Serenas.
00:24:59
Madison
It's for ah jalapeno margaritas, although... Proceed with caution. They are extremely spicy. ah Yeah, there's there's so much on Roatan. It's a beautiful place.
00:25:11
CHANTELLE KINCY
I love that. um And then we went zip lining. So I know there's a couple of different zip lining places.
00:25:16
Madison
Yes.
00:25:17
Madison
yeah ah Yeah, but
00:25:18
CHANTELLE KINCY
But
00:25:18
CHANTELLE KINCY
for people who do come in on a cruise, you'll come into Mahogany Bay, although I think they just renamed that too. And it's owned by Carnival Corporation, this whole port area.
00:25:25
Madison
Maybe.
00:25:29
CHANTELLE KINCY
So you come in and they have their own little beach and these like chair glider things. And then they have like a bunch of shops. But I recommend getting out of that port area as quick as possible so you can get into actual Roatan and not just stay where the cruise companies are, or like to give money back.
00:25:47
CHANTELLE KINCY
to the locals instead of staying in that port area.
00:25:48
Madison
yes
00:25:50
CHANTELLE KINCY
So definitely if you're coming in um on a cruise, try to book a local tour, try to get out of that port area for your shopping, for things like that. Otherwise it all just goes back to the big corporations and not to the island itself.
00:26:03
Madison
And I'm sure they're charging more than they are in the local parts of the island.
00:26:03
CHANTELLE KINCY
um Oh, for
00:26:06
CHANTELLE KINCY
then there's like an animal park or something, right?
00:26:07
Madison
Yeah, yeah.
00:26:09
CHANTELLE KINCY
Is that ethical? Do you know about Gumbelina or something like that? Is that?
00:26:13
Madison
Goombolina is ethical, especially now, since in March of this year, you can no longer um physically interact with any animals on Roatan legally, except for I think the dolphin experience is still legal.
00:26:24
CHANTELLE KINCY
I hate that.
00:26:24
Madison
ah But that's at Anthony's Key.
00:26:26
Madison
That's different. um So you can't hold sloths. You can't hold monkeys. You can't hold any like tropical birds anymore. But you can go and like observe them and still contribute you know to the um donating to the organization that takes care of them.
00:26:39
Madison
umble I have heard really good things about Goombolina. Yeah.
00:26:41
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay. And then I was telling um Madison before we started the podcast too, one place that I like to support is called Daniel Johnson's. He takes care of um rescue sloths and monkeys, people that have gotten pets and then not wanted them and let them go or something like that. He provides a place for them and feeds them. He does take really good care of them and treats them well.
00:27:01
CHANTELLE KINCY
So that's another good local. think he's from Pittsburgh, but he's lived there like forever now
00:27:06
CHANTELLE KINCY
yeah, so trying to support those local businesses, getting away from the big corporations that take over everything, think is really important, especially on a small island like Roatan.
00:27:17
Madison
Yeah, there's actually, um if you want to do something really unique in Roatan, the Roatan Marine Park has started some new initiatives, um basically tours of local areas on the island that are actually on land. um So we're not, you know, contributing to any degradation of the reef or anything like that.
00:27:35
Madison
So I know off the top of my head, one of them, there's like a a community of beekeepers on the island and you can go and tour that and see how like all the honey is made and try a bunch of like dishes made with the honey um there's another one it's like hiking led by locals there's actually not a lot of hiking in roatan because most of it is private land um oh there's a couple other really good ones on their website the roatan marine park website i can't remember for sure because they only launched them earlier this year
00:28:01
CHANTELLE KINCY
But that's good to know. And that's the kind of stuff that people, I like to encourage people to seek out those kind of different experiences um rather than like you said, just sitting at the beach the whole time, which you definitely have to do a little bit of or visiting kind of these like high tourist, like entertainment places.
00:28:13
Madison
yeah
00:28:17
CHANTELLE KINCY
I think it's nice to do those other little things um while you're there.
00:28:20
Madison
especially things that give directly back to locals.
00:28:22
CHANTELLE KINCY
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
00:28:23
Madison
Yeah.
00:28:25
CHANTELLE KINCY
um Food is good, right?
00:28:28
Madison
So good.
00:28:30
CHANTELLE KINCY
What kind of food are we looking at here? It's a, is it like a Caribbean fusion or is it?
00:28:35
Madison
Yeah. So it's got like, if you've been to, you know, Costa Rica or any other countries in Central America, you'll find like the staples like rice and beans, a lot of, yeah,
00:28:43
CHANTELLE KINCY
who
00:28:47
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay. So tell me about the food in Roatan. What kind, what kind of food can we expect? Is it like Caribbean fusion? Is it Latin flavor? What do we got?
00:28:57
Madison
A little bit of everything. So we get a lot of seafood, but you do have to be obviously cautious of what you're eating because not all of the seafood available in Roatan is farmed ethically. um there's a The Roatan Marine Park puts out big poster of like what seafood is safe to order and what's not. So I would recommend checking that out before you get there ah because it will still be on the menu. You just have to know what not to order.
00:29:19
Madison
um And then you'll get a lot of, you know, the typical Central American cuisine, like fried plantains, beans and rice, a lot of ah pork, jerk chicken, all that good stuff.
00:29:25
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yes.
00:29:29
Madison
Amazing hot sauce. I always like fill my suitcase with hot sauce on the way home.
00:29:32
CHANTELLE KINCY
Uh-uh. I didn't.
00:29:35
Madison
it's I can't stop. um But my favorite thing on the island, which I believe is unique to Honduras, is called a balayata. um i don't know if you've heard of it. Maybe you tried it when you were there. no Okay.
00:29:45
CHANTELLE KINCY
i didn't
00:29:46
Madison
You didn't have enough time. Next time. um So it's basically a homemade flour tortilla, which I, like you know, store-bought tortillas are great, but there's nothing like a homemade tortilla.
00:29:55
CHANTELLE KINCY
You can't replicate that. And once you have it, like it's just the bar is so high.
00:29:57
Madison
You can't.
00:30:00
CHANTELLE KINCY
Like I've never had a bad homemade one.
00:30:00
Madison
It is. And they're so hard to make.
00:30:02
CHANTELLE KINCY
I know. You don't think it would be, right? They're just like out there just whipping them up real quick. Like she's 112 years old out there just making like this little And then there's also like a four-year-old making them, you know, and they're like perfect. And then I'm like, I could do that. You can't do that.
00:30:16
CHANTELLE KINCY
It's just like...
00:30:16
Madison
And they're over like this, this massive grill and it's like a hundred degrees and there isn't like one drop of sweat on them.
00:30:20
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. it
00:30:22
Madison
And I'm like, what is happening here? It's crazy. I tried baking them. Mine cracked in half when I tried to fold them. It did not work
00:30:31
Madison
out. But so you basically take a really good homemade flour tortilla and And you put refried red beans on it, which is something I've actually never had until I got to Rootan, but they do sell it in grocery stores here.
00:30:40
CHANTELLE KINCY
yeah
00:30:42
Madison
I think Goya makes them. They're so good. um And then you can put whatever else you want in it, but I usually get scrambled eggs, pickled onions, avocado, and mantequilla, which is, I know it means butter in Spanish, but what it actually is, is Honduran sour cream.
00:30:57
Madison
It's just like kind of buttery or sour cream. It's ridiculously good.
00:31:00
CHANTELLE KINCY
Hmm.
00:31:02
Madison
and then hot sauce and then you just fold it in half and it is so good they're like two dollars it's my favorite thing to eat on the island i ate them way too much they're so good yeah ridiculous
00:31:10
CHANTELLE KINCY
That sounds amazing. Yeah. Can you get them all over the island or is there just like a certain restaurant that you have to like go to?
00:31:18
Madison
no you can get them everywhere i mean not in every single restaurant but most places even if it's on on the menu they'll probably make you one um but You can get anything in it. Like I know a lot of people like to get chorizo or chicken in it. um It's like even if you get lobster, it's still only like eight bucks. Like it's so cheap. It's crazy.
00:31:37
CHANTELLE KINCY
Lobster and avocado sounds amazing actually.
00:31:40
Madison
right definitely recommend trying that in Roatan and if you need recommendations I have all my favorite balayata places on my blog post about restaurants in Roatan
00:31:49
CHANTELLE KINCY
I'm like sitting here i like, man, we should plan a trip real quick because my husband's off work from his surgery. He's not doing anything. We should go.
00:31:57
Madison
Oh my god, the perfect excuse.
00:31:59
CHANTELLE KINCY
i mean, what else are we doing?
00:32:01
Madison
You don't need a hand to lay on the beach.
00:32:03
CHANTELLE KINCY
ah of course you know Just we need one for the Carib beer. and
00:32:08
Madison
Literally, literally, that's all
Safety and Independent Travel for Women
00:32:10
CHANTELLE KINCY
is there good Is there good local beer on Roatan? ah You said there's a ah brewery.
00:32:10
Madison
he needs.
00:32:14
Madison
There is.
00:32:15
CHANTELLE KINCY
Do they make beer that is like...
00:32:17
Madison
They do, and they have really good beer. It's like craft beer. um But then if you go to any restaurant, they'll have the three local beers, which is Selva Vida, which literally means lifesaver.
00:32:21
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:32:26
Madison
That's my favorite one. um Imperial, which is a little bit stronger, a little bit darker. And then they have Barena, which is basically exactly the same as a Corona. Yeah, it's pretty good.
00:32:35
CHANTELLE KINCY
Okay. Fun. Yeah. has
00:32:38
Madison
It's cheap, too.
00:32:38
CHANTELLE KINCY
Husband's a big beer guy. I just want a pretty drink that tastes nice and fruity.
00:32:43
Madison
fair like a little bit of both exactly exactly you get it you've been there you understand
00:32:44
CHANTELLE KINCY
Have something. Yeah. Just one for each hand. Mix it up a little bit.
00:32:55
CHANTELLE KINCY
So awesome. um Anything else you want to share about? Well, let's talk about safety real quick, because that's a big concern, especially for solo women.
00:33:02
Madison
okay yes I was
00:33:03
CHANTELLE KINCY
So you were there solo. You were there with friends, too, but you were also there for a good portion of the time by yourself. you felt secure and safe.
00:33:14
CHANTELLE KINCY
Are there places that you should avoid? Are there like, is nighttime? Okay. Talk to us about that a little bit.
00:33:21
Madison
So I had people telling me before I went, they're like, don't go. You're literally going to get mugged. You're not going to come back. And I was so freaked out. And the second I got there, I was like, what were they talking about? Like, they've never been here. They don't know.
00:33:34
Madison
It was so safe. I felt completely at home from the second I got there. ah That being said, like, it's still a place on earth. There are still people everywhere on earth that might do you harm if you allow them.
00:33:44
CHANTELLE KINCY
We're not just going to recklessly like be yeah
00:33:47
Madison
Exactly. Exactly. i do the normal things. I don't, well, I used to walk home alone at night, but that's because my walk was like one minute down the road from my favorite bar. um But ah you know, keep an eye on your drink. Don't leave your belongings on the sand when you go swimming for like 45 minutes and not check on. I'm like, there's just common sense things that I would do.
00:34:05
Madison
um But if you're on the west side of the island, you really don't need to be concerned. um There are places on the island I wouldn't go after dark, like Cox and Hole, French Harbor. But those are really in the middle of the island. And the only reason you would ever be there after dark is if you had like a flight or something. And in that case, you'd be in the car on the way to the airport, which is not a concern at all. It's not you know so dangerous that you can't be in a car.
00:34:28
Madison
um Just keep your wits about you like you would anywhere else. um And you'll really be totally fine.
00:34:36
CHANTELLE KINCY
I love it.
00:34:37
CHANTELLE KINCY
I mean, everywhere is dangerous at some point. Like you said, people are people, but I think that some places get a bad rap and then people are like, oh my gosh, like I'm just too scared to go there.
00:34:37
Madison
Yeah.
00:34:42
Madison
Exactly. Unfortunately.
00:34:49
CHANTELLE KINCY
And yeah.
00:34:50
Madison
I think that's what happened with Roatan. But I'm trying to kind of get rid of this safety stigma around Roatan because it's just it's completely different from the mainland.
00:34:52
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:34:59
Madison
It really is. It feels like a different country. And I'm not saying that Honduras is a bad country. I had an amazing trip to the mainland and I think there are places on the mainland you could travel to solo. um if you're just really you know safe about it but it's entirely different in the bay islands same with utila and i haven't been to guanaja but i've heard good things i did i loved it there it was so fun yeah it might actually that's probably even a better place for solo travelers if you like really want a party and if you're like strictly on a budget that's the best place for that yeah it's a lot of fun i know
00:35:17
CHANTELLE KINCY
Did you go to Utila?
00:35:20
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah, I've heard that. Yeah.
00:35:31
CHANTELLE KINCY
That's amazing. Yeah, I've heard that is a good spot too. Gosh, I love the Caribbean though. I just love like the whole like vibe and people are so great and just like a totally different mentality. It's not that far away, but it's like a totally different world.
00:35:45
CHANTELLE KINCY
And people just kind of like, all these little islands are so like community focused and close to each other.
00:35:46
Madison
I know.
00:35:51
CHANTELLE KINCY
And they all kind of, even if they're like right next door, they just have their own little vibe and their own culture. And it's just, I just love it. I love the Caribbean.
00:35:59
Madison
yeah ah I wish I was there right now.
00:36:01
CHANTELLE KINCY
I know. I'm just looking outside. It's like gray and windy. I'm like, get me out.
00:36:06
Madison
I know we had a tornado watch here yesterday and I'm like just stuck inside.
00:36:08
CHANTELLE KINCY
Stop.
00:36:10
Madison
oh Like just send me back to Roatan.
00:36:11
CHANTELLE KINCY
I would pack up my cheese curds and go.
00:36:12
Madison
Yeah.
00:36:16
Madison
the only thing I missed when I leave Wisconsin.
00:36:21
CHANTELLE KINCY
that could That could be your side gig.
00:36:21
Madison
Just kidding. It's a great state, but
00:36:23
CHANTELLE KINCY
You're on the beach frying up cheese curds for people. You're like, hey, this is what we're going to do.
00:36:26
Madison
honestly, I can work with the guy in the kayak that sells Coco Locos out of the back of his kayak.
00:36:28
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yes!
00:36:32
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yes!
00:36:33
Madison
We can have a little team going which by the way, don't order those unless you want straight rum. That is a very strong drink.
00:36:42
CHANTELLE KINCY
Noted. Order the Coco Loco.
00:36:46
Madison
It's literally just rub and a splash of coconut water. It is so strong.
00:36:52
CHANTELLE KINCY
You're like, are you trying to kill me?
00:36:55
Madison
I bought one once and it was a, that first sip was a big awakening. Let's just say that.
00:37:01
CHANTELLE KINCY
The full body shiver, like, okay, we're here.
00:37:03
Madison
Literally, I think I passed it off to my dad. I'm more of a pina colada girl.
00:37:11
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah, like heavy on the colada.
00:37:15
Madison
Yep, exactly.
00:37:16
CHANTELLE KINCY
Oh my gosh. All right. Anything else you want us to know?
00:37:22
Madison
I think the one thing I just want to leave everyone with Roatan is getting a little bit more popular ah for good reason.
00:37:22
CHANTELLE KINCY
yeah
00:37:28
Madison
I mean, it's an amazing place, especially if you're into diving. And it's also a pretty cheap place to buy property if you're looking through that in the Caribbean. um But as more people come to Roatan, it's pretty clear, you know, what's going on with the reefs. You can see the difference in the reefs even in the four years since I left.
00:37:45
Madison
um So if you are going to go there, I would be very conscious about leaving it the same way or better than you did you know when you arrived. So just keeping a couple of things in mind, um checking out the responsible seafood guide from the Rotan Marine Park, but bringing reef safe sunscreen, so zinc sunscreen. um I have a little bit more information about that on my website as well.
Conservation Efforts and Travel Philosophy
00:38:06
Madison
um And just making sure that, you know, when you're out there snorkeling, you're not going with a group of 50 people and everyone's kicking the reef and, you know, messing with turtles and just observe, don't touch, makes just be as respectful as possible.
00:38:20
Madison
We want to keep it beautiful.
00:38:21
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah, we don't need to bring starfish out of the water for a picture. um
00:38:24
Madison
Exactly. Exactly.
00:38:25
CHANTELLE KINCY
Those kind of things. Don't touch the turtles. Also, you know, the reef safe sunscreen is great, but what's better is just wearing like a rash guard too. So you're even limiting the amount of sunscreen you're putting on altogether.
00:38:37
Madison
True.
00:38:38
CHANTELLE KINCY
um ah kind of like that. Yeah.
00:38:41
Madison
Yeah, reef safe sunscreen honestly does kind of suck. I wear it because I have to, but it's so hard to rub it.
00:38:45
CHANTELLE KINCY
Right. And it's like you, you have to wear sunscreen there. Like you definitely do.
00:38:48
Madison
Yeah, you do.
00:38:49
CHANTELLE KINCY
But if you're covering most of your body with clothing, then that limits what you're putting in the water too.
00:38:49
Madison
You will get burned.
00:38:55
CHANTELLE KINCY
Um, you know, and so,
00:38:56
Madison
True. Yeah. Whatever you can find to, you know, not get skin cancer, but not damage the reefs further.
00:39:01
CHANTELLE KINCY
yeah, yeah. Don't touch them. Um, that's always a big thing. I see people just doing the stupidest things and,
00:39:09
Madison
No, even divers. even I've had dive instructors kick the reef. I mean, obviously it was an accident, but I feel like if you're a dive instructor, your buoyancy should be good enough that you're not damaging anything on the reef, right?
00:39:19
CHANTELLE KINCY
Horror reel. Yes.
00:39:21
Madison
So I think it's just as conscious as you can be about those things. um And there's a lot of initiatives on the island that if you decide you want to, you know, give back while you're there, there's a lot of exciting things to do.
00:39:25
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:39:31
Madison
I just did a um it was a reef conservation course with the Rotan Marine Park. So we actually learned how to like clean the coral nursery where they grow the baby corals and how to outplant them back on the reef.
00:39:42
Madison
um You can also go lionfish spearing, lionfish are invasive. So if you want to eat really good seafood, that's totally sustainable, eat as much lionfish as you can while you're at Rotan.
00:39:52
Madison
So just educate yourself before you go. um Make sure that you're doing your best to keep it beautiful for future generations.
00:40:00
CHANTELLE KINCY
And I love that, but unrelated, but sort of related. I follow this guy on TikTok who is like a lionfish hunter.
00:40:06
Madison
Really?
00:40:06
CHANTELLE KINCY
And yeah, oh my gosh. But he's like in Florida right now, but he goes all over the different places. But because they are invasive, you know, places hire him and he goes and just like, collects as many as he can. He sells some of them to local restaurants and the ones that are too small, he gives to like other vendors and things like that for stuff.
00:40:23
CHANTELLE KINCY
But his videos are just mesmerizing because you're just like along with him while he's diving through these reefs and he's like, oh, there's an octopus. Oh, there's a lionfish. And you just watch him like all these fish. It's the most amazing TikTok channel.
00:40:23
Madison
Yeah.
00:40:35
CHANTELLE KINCY
So that
00:40:35
Madison
Oh my gosh. You got to send me him. i need to see that.
00:40:37
CHANTELLE KINCY
I think it's like literally called like lionfish exterminator something.
00:40:38
Madison
That's
00:40:40
CHANTELLE KINCY
I'll find it and send it to you. But I can always tell like when I'm like getting ready for bed because I'm like lionfish time.
00:40:43
Madison
the best.
00:40:47
CHANTELLE KINCY
Let's go.
00:40:49
Madison
You know, they are beautiful fish. Like when you see them in the water, you're like, this is stunning.
00:40:51
CHANTELLE KINCY
They're so, but some of them are huge. Some of them are so big, but what they're doing in Florida is there's no native predators to them.
00:40:54
Madison
oh my God, I know. Yeah.
00:41:01
CHANTELLE KINCY
So they were brought in they're,
00:41:01
Madison
yeah
00:41:06
CHANTELLE KINCY
Um, the lionfish, there's no predators. And so they're just eating everything on the reef and like none of the native fish are able to get food. So they're all dying. So it's important that they're getting them out of there.
00:41:19
Madison
Yeah, and we're lucky they're tastier or else people wouldn't be killing
00:41:19
CHANTELLE KINCY
And, um, that's the thing. They are good for something.
00:41:25
Madison
them. True.
00:41:27
CHANTELLE KINCY
So yeah, eat the lionfish.
00:41:28
Madison
But they also are poisonous, so be careful.
00:41:29
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yep.
00:41:31
CHANTELLE KINCY
But it's amazing like how they have the spear with the little rubber band and they're just like, pop. I'm like, the get them.
00:41:36
Madison
I know. Have you ever tried one of those, though?
00:41:36
CHANTELLE KINCY
they
00:41:37
Madison
That is so hard to pull back.
00:41:38
CHANTELLE KINCY
No. It looks like it.
00:41:39
Madison
Oh, my God. I tried it once. I was like, how are you doing this? Like, I work out, but apparently not enough.
00:41:43
CHANTELLE KINCY
Plus, you're underwater and you're like doing the whole thing and then they're filming.
00:41:47
Madison
Yes.
00:41:48
CHANTELLE KINCY
I'm like, what is happening? I'm so into it. Oh my gosh, I'm going to it to you.
00:41:51
Madison
Oh, yeah.
00:41:51
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah.
00:41:52
Madison
Oh, my gosh. Please do. um want to see that.
00:41:55
CHANTELLE KINCY
All right. Final last words. Where can people find you? I'm going to put the links in the description, but tell them your website and the resources where they can follow along with your journey.
00:42:06
Madison
Yes. up So madisonsfootsteps.com is my travel blog. I have an entire page dedicated to Honduras with every single blog post you could ever need to plan your trip. ah Best nightlife, where to stay, a couple hotel reviews from some of my favorites, um best things to do, and things about my favorite dive shop, the reef conservation course I took, basically anything you could need.
00:42:28
Madison
um I also offer 30 minute Roatan consultation calls and one on one itinerary planning. If you're a little bit stressed about planning your first trip to Honduras, I know like we talked about, it has a negative reputation for being unsafe. um So I'm happy to help you talk it through and help you plan your future trip.
00:42:44
CHANTELLE KINCY
I love that. Such a good resource for people to reach out to you because you've lived there. So like, I love it, but I've been there for like 10 hours, but you have like been there.
00:42:52
Madison
yeah
00:42:52
CHANTELLE KINCY
So you really know the nooks and crannies and all the ins and outs. And so such a great resource for people looking to plan that first trip. um Are you willing to help even if they're going on a cruise, they're just there for a day?
00:43:00
Madison
Yeah.
00:43:03
CHANTELLE KINCY
Can they still reach out to you for things to do with that?
00:43:04
Madison
Oh, absolutely. Yeah.
00:43:06
CHANTELLE KINCY
Yeah. I love that.
00:43:07
Madison
Yeah, anything. I also have a ah very long list of wonderful vendors who will not try to scam you out of more money, which is sometimes hard to find.
00:43:08
CHANTELLE KINCY
So cool.
00:43:15
CHANTELLE KINCY
So important. Very good. All right.
Conclusion: Embracing the Travel Spirit
00:43:19
CHANTELLE KINCY
Final last words of encouragement for women, anyone that needs to get out there and travel. We want everyone to go.
00:43:26
Madison
My, yes, I do want everyone to go. I think, you know, my philosophy for life is if you wait for other people to join you, you'll probably never end up doing it. So just go have the time of your life, make memories while you can and, you know, squash the fear down.
00:43:42
CHANTELLE KINCY
Get it. i love it. Thank you for joining us, Madison.
00:43:44
Madison
Yeah.
00:43:45
CHANTELLE KINCY
That was great. Talk to you soon.
00:43:46
CHANTELLE KINCY
All right.
00:43:46
Madison
Thank you so much.