🌊 First Splash: Welcome to the Salty Side of Life

Hey there, fellow ocean junkies and road roamers — welcome to Salty Nomad.

This blog isn’t your average “10 Tips for Perfect Buoyancy” guide or a picture-perfect #vanlife feed full of filtered sunsets and yoga poses on rooftops. Nope. This is where salty fingers meet scratched GoPro lenses, where wetsuits never quite dry, and where freedom tastes like sand, diesel, and compressed air.

My name’s Gilles. I’m a PADI dive instructor, digital wanderer, dog dad, and the brain (or at least the burnt-out sea-salted braincell) behind Salty Nomad. I live between the surface and the depths — teaching people how to breathe underwater by day, and chasing Wi-Fi signals from my campervan by night.

So, what the hell is this blog?

Glad you asked.

This is a place for:

• Stories from the road, the reefs, and sometimes the ridiculous.

• Underwater tales — both majestic and messy (ever lost a student? I have).

• Tips for salty souls wanting to ditch the 9–5 and dive headfirst into a freer life.

• Raw honesty about van build fails, budget breakdowns, tropical bacteria, and unexpected adventures.

• And of course... a little merchandise madness with designs that are just as cheeky as they are deep.

Why “Salty Nomad”?

Because I’m salty — in the best ways. Salty from the sea, from long dive days, from chasing dreams barefoot and occasionally broke. A nomad by choice, diving wherever the compass (and a full tank of gas) takes me.

What's next?

Stick around. This blog will grow just like my logbook — one dive, one detour, one design at a time. Expect the occasional profanity, lots of ocean puns, and maybe a few life lessons accidentally learned along the way.

If you're into scuba, freedom, sarcastic humour, or vanlife with a twist of ocean, you’re in the right place.

Thanks for popping by. Let’s make some bubbles.

— Gilles
Roaming the Blue, One Bubble at a Time