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In Deep Dive with Us, Amanda and Marco return to the microphones after recent travels, easing into a softly spoken recap of sunshine, snorkeling, and city streets. Amanda reflects on a gentle ocean adventure in a warm, sun-drenched location — describing the quiet rhythm of breathing through a snorkel, drifting over underwater landscapes, and the calm wonder of spotting sea life below. The conversation moves slowly, like floating on the surface, unhurried and easy to follow.
From there, the episode takes a mild detour to the lively energy of Los Angeles, where downtown moments contrast with the stillness of the sea. Rather than rushing through highlights, Marco and Amanda let the stories unfold at a relaxed pace, offering small sensory details and playful hints without urgency. As always, this calming podcast is designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, or quiet racing thoughts. It works beautifully as background listening at bedtime or during a middle-of-the-night wake-up. Whether you’re imagining ocean breezes or city lights, let this gentle travel reflection guide you steadily toward rest.
Deep Diving and explore
(Original airdate: June 12, 2024) The Insomnia Project is a podcast designed for insomniacs Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation that'll hopefully bring you to sleep. The Insomnia Project, of course, is a podcast designed by insomniacs for insomniacs or for people who find it a challenge to find sleep to help to get Amanda: you there, or for people that, like me, don't always find it challenging. But finding a way into sleep through sort of a stream of consciousness, that's sort of what we provide. That's how I see it. Marco: And if you're one of our listeners who just likes to listen to it and chill in the morning, or find your day by listening to our podcast, Amanda: or find your evening with a cup Marco: of tea, we welcome you as well. I'm, your host, Marco Timpano I'm Amanda: Amanda Barker, who keeps interjecting. Marco: That's all good. And Amanda, you know, our listeners might be. Oh, you're back. Where were you the last couple of weeks? Amanda: Shall we tell them? Marco: yes. First I should say we were going to record a podcast for Wednesday of last week, but I fell a little bit ill. I had a little bit of a fever and wasn't well enough to record. So that's why we got delayed an extra week. Amanda: Yeah. Your body has a immune response that's pretty immediate when it doesn't feel 100%. Marco: Certainly does. Amanda: But then. How are you feeling now? Marco: Better. So much better. Amanda: Yeah. So there you go. Marco: Calm and. And share with our listeners, Amanda, where we ended up going. Amanda: Ended up. Well, we had a scheduled trip. That's right. M. To Saudi Arabia. And, Which was not a place I think we saw either one of us going to. Marco: but work will take. Take you where it will take you. Amanda: Will take you where. Where it will take you. And since we were over there and, since we thought, well, we don't know when we'll next get over there, we wanted to explore a little bit of another country that we've been wanting to explore, really. The city, in another country, which is, the country being United Arab Emirates or the uae. And the city is Dubai. We really wanted to go to Dubai for a while, and, We did. Marco: Yeah, we did. And we just got back late last night. And so we're recording this today. You'll be hearing it within 20 minutes of us signing off. Amanda: Going over, it felt like. For me, anyway, I don't know how it felt for you. For me, it felt like a piece of cake going over there. Pretty much coming back, it was anything but. Just the way trips go sometimes. Marco: I'm one of those people who find it a challenge to fall asleep on planes or sitting upright. You, not so much. Amanda: I love a plane. sometimes when I'm trying to fall asleep, in fact, I imagine I'm on a plane. Marco: Oh, really? Amanda: Yeah. Marco: I didn't know that. Amanda: Or I'll imagine in my bed that I'm in a moving vehicle. Like I'm. I'm in a train. because I have this van life fantasy, as our listeners know. Right. These days, I imagine that, I actually have a thing where I imagine that we are driving to another place and we have, like, a camper caravan attached to our vehicle and that you're driving and I'm sort of sleeping in the back, which I don't even think you're supposed to do. But anyway, that's. Although, I don't know. Tour buses do it. Sure. But anyway, in a legal way, that's like my sleep. Marco: Do you see backgrounds? Like, where your camper is? Do you see the background? Amanda: You just have this, like, calm sense of you're driving. We're happy, everything's taken care of. And I'm just in the back thinking, I just want to be vertical for a few hours and get a bit of shut eye. And that seems to really calm me down. But the idea of sleeping on a train or a plane can do that as well. For me. Marco: For me. I always picture myself underwater around coral. Yeah. And, with marine life. Or sometimes I picture myself as one of the marine life there. Amanda: Really? Marco: Yeah, yeah. Amanda: like that you're a fish underground, under the water. Marco: M. Not so much a fish, but more like maybe a clam or amongst the coral or sea anemones and stuff like that. Amanda: I know that. Marco: Maybe we should get our scuba diving license Marco, I think you and I have reached an important phase in our relationship. Marco: And what might that be? Amanda: I think we need to get our scuba diving license. It's for those who have been longtime listeners for this last decade of this podcast. Can't believe it. Then you will well know and remember Nidhi, our former, co host, who's a dear friend I now occupy. But we love her very dearly. And, she has become very evolved in the last maybe five or six years, pretty much since she left the podcast. She left the podcast and became an expert diver. Marco: Yeah, she's an expert diver. I actually just messaged, her. She has this beautiful photo of herself on Instagram. And I'm like, gorgeous photo. She's like, we need to go for coffee or lunch or dinner. And I said, of course. Amanda: So I think you and I, maybe it's time we broach into diving. It's something I almost did on my first cruise ship where I worked, however many years ago. 20 years ago now. Oh, gosh, more than that. 25 years ago, I almost did it. And I thought, no, it's something I want to do with somebody. I don't want to do it alone. I want to do it with a loved one. I really thought this would be a wonderful thing to share with my partner someday. Marco: Sure. Amanda: and that was 25 years ago, way before we met. So I didn't do it. And you and I, we have snorkeled quite extensively at this point. Marco: And we're fortunate, like you said, because we can always ask Nidhi if she can't teach us how to scuba dive at this point. She's probably an instructor. I haven't checked in on that in a while. She can certainly direct us to where we can get our. Amanda: And she goes and she dives. She dives like she and her, best friend, they will go and. And to the same location sometimes just for the dive. So she's become really, really. It's a big part of her life, for sure. And I think that's wonderful. Marco: And if you want to hear about that, we have episodes where Nidhi talks about her diving. Amanda: But. Marco: Okay, so you want to venture into scuba diving. Amanda: I do. And so I think you and I might. You know, I know that swimming isn't your. You don't have the same level of ease or experience that I do, but I think with scuba diving, we could get you there. Marco: I do think that I'm a splash and tear kind of person in the water. Amanda: I think it could help your swimming. Marco: I think so too. Amanda: But we could start in a pool and do it in a very controlled environment. Malima went to the world's deepest swimming pool in Dubai Speaking of pools, we're going to jump right in. Ah, pardon the, expression, the pun. I went to the world's deepest swimming pool in Dubai. Marco: I had never heard of this in the world. Right. Not just in Dubai. Amanda: Yeah, I said, the world's deepest swimming pool. Marco: Yeah, yeah. Which. Which is in Dubai. Amanda: Which is in Dubai. Marco: So Amanda turns to me and says, you know what I'd really like to do? And I said, what? And she's like, I'd like to go to the world's deepest pool. And I said, okay, when do you want to do that? And she's like, oh, it's here in Dubai. And I said, I've never heard of this, so tell us how you discovered it. Amanda: So it's interesting because when I mentioned it, you know, we live in a world, as we all know, where we all have different algorith. And I think we've all been in that world. You know, we have different interests. Like, I'm sure Niddy's personalized algorithm has a lot to do with diving and underwater exploration and that level of travel mine does as well, although not really diving, but certainly I. And I'm not a person who's much on social media, so I can only imagine for people who are. But, I have seen these videos of this pool where you. Looks like a normal pool and then you look and it's almost like a mall. Looks like a mall underwater. Marco: Right? Amanda: Or that was my sense from these videos. and anyone who is interested when you wake up or later on, it's simply called Deep Dive Dubai. So it's a very easy name to remember if you haven't seen these videos. But I was actually surprised the few people I've told that I've done that knew about this pool. Marco: And these videos have people who are diving in this deep pool. And they'll be in little vignettes, if you will. Underwater. Marco: In like there might be a parking meter with a. Amanda: They're. They're playing pool in the pool. Marco: They're doing chess. Amanda: Yeah. There's a shopping cart, there's a Ducati motorcycle. Because it is Dubai underwater that you can get on and pretend to ride. all of that for me was sure, whatever. But just the idea of this pool looking like a typical pool at a, at a hotel really, or a Y, you know, just. We've talked a lot about how I love pools. It looks like a normal pool and then you get in and then it is 96ft deep. Marco: Yeah. Amanda: no more than that. It's 60 meters, which I think is 196ft. Marco: That sounds more like it. Amanda: Yeah. And I only know because somebody asked me yesterday, so you can obviously dive in the pool because it is that far down. But both financially and honestly, time wise, our time in Dubai was limited. So and one thing about Dubai that we really learned is unless you're there for an extended time, which people are. At one point, years ago, I thought about moving there to live. and I didn't ultimately, go for it. But you really. There's so much there. It's an expansive city. Marco: It's very vast in a way that I didn't expect. Same meaning that everything just goes on forever. Like it's a very expansive, vast city where not everything is right next to each other. Like say in a Manhattan. Amanda: Yes. Or I mean Boston is the quintessential smaller city where you can kind of really walk to everything if you wanted Marco: to Faneuil hall to, you know, the Quincy Market. Amanda: Quincy Market, which is all right there, you know, even to the aquarium, those types of things in Boston. for me, an expansive city, an example of such would be like Los Angeles. Right. Where you drive from point A to point B. But Los Angeles is a little different in that it's, you know, you had Hollywood and then a series of neighborhoods which became part of that greater Los Angeles area. Right. And so now they're all sort of connected by freeways, but they still have their Own, sort of. Each neighborhood, I think, has its own identity, like, you know, Venice or Malibu or. Marco: I think Los Angeles was more downtown. And then it started to swallow up things like Hollywood. Amanda: And there is a downtown la. We always forget that because we don't spend a lot of time there. Marco: But there is, and Nima took me there. And I love downtown la. Amanda: Oh, yeah. Marco: I can't wait to go back. Amanda: Really? Marco: Yeah, it was really neat. I won't talk much about it on this episode. Amanda: I didn't expect to be because I'm thinking of when we went to the flower markets in downtown la. That was a part of LA that I was. I don't know that I would say, oh, I was in love with it. Marco: No, I thought it was really cool because it felt like its own unique place and it didn't have that sort of artificial veneer to it. Amanda: So maybe you and I will do an LA version of this. Ah, ah, podcast. Dubai is not a walkable city, that's for sure but back to Dubai. Back to Dubai. So Dubai is not like that simply because it wasn't. And again, I don't really know, but it doesn't feel like it was a one place. And then it grew. It feels like it was planned to be like, this city is going to be massive. So let's spread it all out. Marco: It's not a walkable city, that's for sure. Amanda: Oh my goodness. For so many reasons, it's not a walkable city. I mean, there are pockets that. The thing is, it's warm. Marco: It's warm. Amanda: It's more than warm. Marco: They told us it's nice that you're here now while it's warm and not hot and not hot. And we both. Amanda: And at 42 degrees, we're like, okay, that's Celsius. So, yeah, it's, it's, it's a heat that I don't know if I've ever really experienced a level of that heat. If I'm being truly honest. Marco: I think it might be part of why I fell ill was how hot it was. Amanda: I think so. Okay. Marco: But anyways, regardless of that. Amanda: But the thing is about Dubai is that it really has, you know, it wants to be the city of the future. I mean, you drive in and it's like Blade Runner or some AI fantasy. Like it's just everything, you know, if you like the Chrysler Building in Manhattan, well, there's two side by side. Marco: It looks like it or whatever. Amanda: Yeah. So it has, the world's biggest mall, or almost the world's biggest mall Marco: now the world's tallest tower. Amanda: And the world's deepest swimming pool. And that's what, of course, piqued my interest. Amanda: We love Dubai. It's an incredible city. I feel like every time we go somewhere, Amanda Marco: So I should say that we love Dubai. that's one thing that I want to mention. Amanda: Oh, it's incredible. It's an incredible city. Marco: I feel like every time we go somewhere, Amanda, we love the place we go to, and this is no exception. Amanda: I think if you approach a place with an open heart, there's a lot to love. Right? Marco: Yeah. Amanda: it's easy. You know, people have preconceived. I had preconceived notions about certain countries, and then I went to them and that, you know, it comes down to the same things everywhere. The people. Marco: Yeah, it does. Amanda: I mean, it comes down to the people. So, and the people were lovely in Dubai, certainly. Marco: So to get to the deep diving, Dubai is far. Amanda: So we stayed in a place called the Palm Jumeirah. And I haven't looked up what Jumeirah means. I think it's gotta mean beach. Marco: I'll look it up one day. Amanda: Because there's a Jumeirah. Jumeirah. I don't even know if I'm saying it right. we definitely need to go back and learn more. we're not experts in Dubai, that's for sure. After one, you know, extended long weekend there. But, I think we were there four days. But that said the very little that we did know. We knew that the Palm was this, you know, beach area, that it's manufactured to look like, you know, it's all filled in land that looks like a palm leaf, sort of with the stem in the middle, almost like a monstera leaf. A stem in the middle and then, fronds, and they're called the fronds. So if you want to go to Frond three, for example, there's. And it looks like all condos on the fronds, and then there's a crescent that circles it, and that's all resorts. and that's where we stayed. Marco: So I typed in, what does Jumeria mean? And Jumeirah Emirati is a coastal residential area of Dubai. Amanda: Okay. Marco: And it comprises low private dwellings and hotel developments. It is both expensive and large detached property. So it has both, as well as more modest townhomes in a variety of architectural styles. Amanda: So there's Jumeirah and then there's the Palm Jumeirah. Anyway, we were on the Palm, the crescent part of the palm that circles the fronds, to be exact. at quite a, to be honest, modest hotel that I Loved. It was, very beautiful. It wasn't the biggest, I'm sure. I mean, Dubai is almost known for its excess. Right. So, but we aren't, so. Which I just wanted something that I could go swimming on. A beach that, you know, for us, wouldn't break the bank. and it was perfect. It had a beautiful pool. It was half full, for two of the days we were there, and then the other two were weekend days. So that makes more sense that there were more people there. the beach was lovely. Really lovely, warm. The warmest water I've ever swam in. Ever, I think. And, in terms of a beach and then a beautiful, cool pool, and, it was really perfect. And it overlooked, the Gulf, and it was just beautiful. So we stayed there. But everything in Dubai is an hour from Dubai, you know, So I have Marco: another interpretation of what it means. Amanda. Amanda: Okay. Marco: The word jumeria is said to be loosely derived from the word jumer, which is said to mean hot burning charcoal, which describes the hot sand in the area. Amanda: And it was. And it was. Marco: It certainly was. Marco: We went to Dubai for a few days to relax and explore Amanda: Marco, talk about. Well, should I talk more about the pool? I don't know that there's more to say. Marco: I think we need to get to the diving area. But I will say this. Amanda: Yeah. Marco: Walking to the pool without my slippers on. Amanda: My slippers. He says slippers like an old nona. And when you say slippers, what you Marco: mean is my Birkenstocks. Amanda: My. Most people wouldn't call their sandals slippers or their Birkenstocks slippers. But because you wear them in the house, that's what you call them. Just so we're clear, listen, the thing Marco: that I put on my feet, he Amanda: has a pair of Birkenstocks that are like water Birkenstocks. They're like, I don't know, silicone or plastic or whatever they're made from. Marco: And they're bright red, so I won't Amanda: lose them in the sand. Yeah, they're great that way. They're lightweight. They're Birkenstock, but they're nice lightweight. Marco: But I put my hand on the edge of the, marble pool to get in, and I almost burnt my hand. Amanda: I made a mistake and wanted to go get, my beach hat, I think. So if you can imagine a fairly typical resort, you know, you walk out and again, it's more of a boutique hotel. So it's 112 pools, right? And one little beach area versus, like, you know, the five pool expansive thing. But honestly, after a week of what we knew would be intense work. We just wanted to unwind for a few days and check out whatever we had time to check out in the city. Which is exactly what we did. But anyway, you open it up and there's sort of like a waiting pool, a swim up bar, and then a adult infinity pool. And then you know, that looks onto the beach and there's lots of lounge chairs on the beach. And so we were in the pool and I realized, I think it was my hat. I went to get or maybe sunscreen, I don't remember. And so my flip flops, were on the side of the pool edge. They were for everybody. Right. but I thought, oh, I'm just running out of my beach chair. So I got out of the pool. I knew the sand would be hot because I had already made that mistake of not leaving the sandals by the water, but leaving them at the beach chair. but I thought by the pool it would be okay. No, it was like I felt it on my feet after in a way that I was like, has this left a mark on my feet? I mean that heat is insane. Marco: It is. Amanda: It's really insane. Marco: So we drove from our hotel. I'm just going to take us to Dubai. Amanda: Diving deep dive Dubai. Marco: Deep dive to Dubai. And we drove for about 40 minutes, maybe a bit more. Amanda: I chose a 4 o' clock time. So let's be clear. I snorkeled the pool. Marco: Yes. Amanda: I, it was full transparency here. I'll speak in Canadian dollars because that's what we think in normally. I think it was like 700 or so to, to do the diving scuba. Yeah. And you can do an explore scuba which if you've ever gone on vacation wanted to do one of those things. They'll have like a beginner. Okay. You don't have your certificate, will take you down kind of scuba. I've done one of those once in Curacao actually. Highly recommended. Great experience. But I also knew from that experience that that would be fairly time consuming and I wasn't sure it's something I'd want to do with you. You weren't feeling up to it. And also financially there's quite a cost there. So I thought I'd rather spend the morning by the pool by the ocean and swimming as I love to. And then we'll leave at around 2ish and I'll get there for 4 and then I'll just snorkel that pool for an hour, see what I see and just get to experience it in Whatever level snorkeling will allow. Marco: Sure. Amanda: Which, by the way, was like 150 Canadian dollars. So much more reasonable. Marco: And this is 20, 24, dollars. Amanda: Right, exactly. So don't quote me 10 years from now when you listen to this and say, you gave me a bum steer, as we call it in this house. Marco: Yeah, so. And so, And I like to use it because we watch a show where they reference the year, so you don't get the. Amanda: Yeah. British shows. Yeah. So in any event, we drove. We got into the car at like 2:30. Great, we'll get there for 3:30. My snorkeling time is 4. Amanda drove throughout Dubai, and she's an excellent Dubai driver And, I drove throughout Dubai, by Marco: the way, Amanda drove the entire time in Dubai, and she's an excellent Dubai driver, which isn't easy. Amanda: No, it's not easy. Marco: I'm very grateful for your skills behind the wheel and for all the driving you did. Amanda: I am grateful that gas is fairly inexpensive in the uae and also that the air conditioning worked. It would have been a very different trip if we had none. Marco: So we pull into this beautiful sort of driveway to Deep Dive Dubai. Amanda: And it truly is in the middle of the desert, as are many things. And, we weren't sure because there's a big sports complex, which is interesting, too. But anyway, really in the. It feels like the end of the earth where you're going, but you see this tiny little sign, deep Dive Dubai. So you just keep going. And I was the only one at 4 o'. Clock. Marco: It was great. Amanda: I had the pool pretty much to myself, which was great. they do have wonderful instructors there. And, mine was lovely. I can't remember his name. I wish I could. but he was lovely. And, he actually, because there was no one else there, he was helping someone who just worked with them, who wanted to get better at swimming. What a pool to learn to swim in. And, I was like, let me in. They make you wear a wetsuit. That's just one of the regulation things. They give you a nice snorkel. And I was like. He could tell. I was like, just get me in this pool. I just want to explore. Marco: And they wanted to manage to wear flippers. Amanda: Yeah. And fins. Marco: Fins, Sorry. Amanda: Yeah, well, they're called flippers, too. but fins, flippers. I hate them. I don't like them. And I said, I will try. He goes, believe me, you're gonna love it with them. And I said, I don't think so, but I will trust you on this. And I did two passes and went okay, they're coming off. I tried. Marco: And what was lovely is on my end so not in the water. They have these big sort of aquarium style cutouts so you can see what's going on in the water. And because Amanda didn't wear her fins or her flippers, I could see exactly. She was in the water the entire time because everyone else had their flip flops. Amanda: I will post pictures of that now. I thought I was going quite deep down and I was. I was going about 8ft down to get photos where Mirko was dutifully, sweetly waiting with the phone to take some photos. But you can see just from the depth of that pool, it barely looks like I was under the surface. And I will say that was on Monday. Marco: Monday. Amanda: Yes, that was on Monday. And my head is still, like reeling. Reeling from the water pressure. The pressure in that pool is no joke. So I will say that. Marco: Was it cold in the water? Amanda: Yeah, it was. Marco: Okay. Amanda: Only because. It was. Only because I had been swimming in, you know, a warm bathtub. Marco: Right. Amanda: In, the palm jum area. Marco: Right. Amanda: But it was probably the same temperature, maybe a little cooler than the pool at the hotel. Sure. Just to give you that perspective. Marco: And of course, they're not heating that pool. It is so large, listeners. When I looked down from where I could see my viewing area to the bottom, it felt very deep. Amanda: And even within the divers, there's some dives where you only go to one. There's, there's stories. Right. It's like, it's like a building underwater. Right. So you can go all the way down to the further stories. but a lot of people just do the first few stories. For me, he showed me, you're not allowed to go further down than this, no matter how much you want to show off, which was fine. Marco: And every story, or every level, let's say, has a different sort of vignet to it too. And at the very bottom, they even have challenges if you're a, scuba diver who wants to try it where you can sort of take apart a, like a complex sort of thing. Amanda: They have like an escape room. There was a guy there who was checking off things. He had like a. He had a pad and he was swimming around me, under and around and checking off little things. So it was like in a, you know, find, like a treasure hunt underwater. Very cool place. How was the snorkeling, Amanda? Did you enjoy it Marco: How was the snorkeling, Amanda? Did you enjoy it? Was it worth it? Amanda: I did. For me, it was. It was the experience I wanted and expected, I think. yeah, it was the experience I wanted. I was conscious of the fact that you weren't with me. I was conscious of the fact that I didn't want to push myself further than I was comfortable going, and that's what I wanted out of it that day. Now I will say I would love to go back and do a dive after I've done some other diving. I don't think that is where I want to do my first real dive. Okay. If that makes sense. Marco: You know, Amanda's a very strong swimmer, so I think heeding her advice, which is don't do more than you feel comfortable with when you're somewhere, is great advice. Amanda: I think me in my 20s, I would have been like, yeah, I'll spend the 700. but me today, I just want it. That's a cool thing I want to experience. And I've learned you do end up going back to places sometimes. So I like leaving something to come back to. So that's a thing I'll come back to in Dubai for sure. I love that. Amanda shares her deep Dive Dubai experience with us Marco: Okay, so, Amanda, before we wrap up, I just want to ask you, what was this particular snorkeling experience like compared to snorkeling in seas, oceans, and lakes like you've done in the past? Amanda: For me, only a few times have I snorkeled. It's been a while since I've snorkeled, and I can't see the bottom or I can see the bottom, and it's an extreme length down. But it does play with your perception, because a pool, you have an expectation. With a pool now, you know what you're doing. But when you walk into a pool and then you know you're looking 12 stories, you're at the top of a building, it does play with your own personal perception of what things should be. that said, it isn't much different. It's still a pool. You can swim. It still has ledges that you can stand on. There's just the deep end is a whole lot deeper. Marco: There you go. Well, Amanda, thank you for sharing your deep Dive Dubai experience and letting people know both the prices and what it feels like. And, thank you, listeners, for being patient with us as we, A, recover, but also B, return to you, your homes, your ears, your devices, and we'll Amanda: tell you more about. That's one little aspect about this trip. You'll probably hear more about it in the next podcast. Marco: If you have any questions or if you have any show ideas, please let us know on our social media. You can find our social media the Insomnia project or Listen and Sleep for the various platforms until next time. We hope you were able to in fact, rest, listen and sleep.
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AuthorMarco Timpano is an actor, storyteller, and the voice behind The Insomnia Project, a calming sleep podcast that helps listeners quiet their thoughts and drift off through soft, meandering conversations. Archives
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