The L.A. Travel & Adventure Show was a blast, and the highlight for me was the SCUBA experience they had, right inside the Long Beach Convention Center!

Below is the video with expo highlights and my spontaneous decision to try SCUBA for the first time.

I’ve been whitewater rafting, ziplining, rappelling down a 240-foot waterfall in Costa Rica and much more… but one thing I’ve been anxious about trying is SCUBA, and the whole idea of breathing underwater and feeling okay. No idea why, but that’s pretty much the reason I haven’t gotten around to trying it yet.

So when my friend Sumita – who shared my trepidations about breathing underwater – and I discovered the 15,000-gallon heated SCUBA pool staring us in the face, we decided to just go for it. The folks from Be A Diver were so wonderful, encouraging us and making it fun the entire time.

Mind you, we were not prepared whatsoever to go underwater… but we just looked at each other and knew instantly that we couldn’t pass up this opportunity, so we just made it work!

Got an impromptu SCUBA lesson… right inside the travel expo!

The guys at Be A Diver provided the wetsuits and all SCUBA gear, so it was an easy process from changing, gearing up, learning to use the equipment and getting to swim underwater for extended periods of time.

A ton of dazzling popular and under-the-radar travel destinations exhibited at the travel show, and you can find out more on the Los Angeles Travel & Adventure Show website.

The travel bug has always kept biting at me since an early age, but it bit me real good again after this expo! It got me wondering if I should visit New Zealand, Morocco or South Africa first… or another one of the countless possibilities out there.

Like I’ve said before, my philosophy is, don’t just wait until “someday” to do the things you really and truly want to do. I’m in my 20’s, and I’ve already traveled to all these places around the world, and more.

So if I can do it — from backpacking through Europe on a budget, to working in Hong Kong, to doing a volunteer and adventure tour in Costa Rica — so can you! Stay tuned for more travel and adventure posts from around the world over at Tanaya’s Travels, and more new and unique food coverage right here. Cheers!