This is me, Christian Schmitz
It's 1983, I’m 3 years old, and have my floaties on. Hand in hand with my dad I’m snorkeling just above the drop-off. We went swimming almost every single day. The ocean, it fascinated me from early childhood on.
When I finished high school I traded my native island Curacao for Costa Rica. For about a year I guided horseback riding tours, and high in the canopy of the rainforest I played Tarzan as a canopy tour guide. In the summer of 2005 I made the tough, but according to many, wise decision to leave for The Netherlands for studies. Just like my parents, I started to study to become a primary school teacher.
For about four and a half years I dealt with the "beautiful" beach of Scheveningen. Almost every day I saw the ocean, and dreadfully thought back to the times without worries on the beach. I wanted to go back!
By the end of 2004 I knew for sure. I'm going back! Back to the sun, the ocean, the beach. I'm going to do what I wanted to since I was a kid! Become a dive-instructor. And that's what happened. After a year of being a professional "beach-bum" (or better said, dive-instructor) with different dive shops on the island, I started to get those feelings again. Together with Rose, it's time for a new challenge!
Time for a new "sunrise"