Innehållsförteckning för #355 Travel från Surfing Life

At first glance, travel seems obvious and tangible. We plan a trip, pour over maps and guides, then eagerly decide on how we prioritise our bucket list to match our allocated funds. Flights and accommodation are booked, bags packed, and off we go. Is it that simple and one-dimensional? According to the dictionary, travel means “to go from one place to another”1. Often, we forget the intangible places we visit: stories printed on pages allow our minds to travel and become open to ideas, places, people and cultures. Adventures unfold. People are met; they become so familiar that a connection forms, which has an ability to change who we are and how we think. Daydreaming or blue mindfulness (when we gaze into the sea and let our minds wander) form…

Travel has always played a big part in surfing. Whether it’s a bike ride over a headland to a back beach that handles the wind or a trip to another continent, the possibility of a better surf experience (than one at home) has been a constant enticement for surfers as far back as The Duke. And for as long as there’s been surfers giving in to the urge to travel, there’s been idiots lugging cameras around to document them doing it. Think it’s awkward lugging a 20 kg four-board coffin across the world? Try transporting 40 to 50 kilograms of sensitive electronics and fragile glass. My obsession with surfing started while I was going to school in Brisbane. The disadvantages of being a surfer in a landlocked city are pretty…

The road. Those two words conjure boundless horizons for surfers with a vivid imagination and an appetite for adventure. Questions begin to form as anticipation for an escape builds. How far should we go? How willing are we to rough it? Do we want to camp beneath the stars and roll out a swag in a time-honoured Aussie tradition, or glamp in comfort and savour a hot shower by the van? Whether it’s an indulgent long weekender or a cheeky night by the beach to score first-light solitude, the options are wide open in our great southern land. Considering over 70% of Australia’s population spend their time in capital cities, the allure of adventure and abundant escapism has never been stronger … but is it a lost art? Living in…

Looking in your crystal ball, when do you see us getting out of these travel restrictions? The old crystal ball hasn’t been right too often this year with so many changes. However, based on the recent announcements of a COVID vaccine being approved in the UK, the US to soon follow, and the CEO of Qantas stating that he expects travel to resume in July 2021, the optimism hasn’t been this high for a while. Personally, I’m going to say we will finally get our Pacific/ANZ travel bubble happening by the end of March 2021, but travel to Europe, US, and other countries with huge COVID numbers, won’t be until the end of 2021. Do you think we will see a return to the good old days of travel? Hmmm,…

“If we didn’t come back in when we did … my brother could have been dead,” says Shaun Harrington—one half of the Hazza twins—and our minds race back to the beginning … were there vital signs we missed? Borders are closed, flights are grounded, people are in isolation, and there won’t be on a surf charter anytime soon. These were sentiments we disagreed with, and we weren’t going to have it. Surely, there would be a way to get on a surf charter during this time. Surely, we can’t be held down this hard by the “man” or the “virus”. Surely, in this massive waverich country of ours, we’d find somewhere to escape to—surely? We immediately jumped on the phone to our friends at World Surfaris and pleaded our case:…

Secrets … everyone has them. They vary from pretending to like a mate’s new partner, closely guarding that “family skeleton”, or something so extreme that Stephen King would base a novel on it. And some secrets depend on each individual, like whether to share or guard a surf break. To name or not to name—is that the real question? But remember, once two people know something, it’s no longer a secret; basically, wanting to share is human nature. Decades ago, we’d been invited to surf some spots on the edge of the Nullarbor Plains. Our base was going to be a small coastal town, and for months, we’d been in touch with a second generation local surfer, planning the best time to score the right conditions. The way the bush…

West Oz. It conjures a stirring for unadulterated adventure. And for most, stereotypical images spring to mind: sparse desert environments dotted with piles of red and white cans crushed expertly by calloused foreheads. A landscape dominated by the firelit silhouettes of testosterone-fuelled, red dirt dwellers gorging on freshly killed fish speared from the bay. A perceived modern day Mad Max society revolving around demonic waves howling onto shallow subtropical reef. Perceived, because these days it’s as likely to be oestrogen-fuelled adventurers enjoying the simple life—and demonic waves. After witnessing Bronte Macaulay during her dusty few months in “isolation”, turning and sending it on legitimate mutants no one, regardless of gender, was even looking at. Or to see some of the only residents in those northern parts, the Durant girls, heading…

WINNER OF THE 2021 SURFING LIFE TRAVEL WRITING COMPETITION Bali comes a close second to Hawai’i as the place that has forged and moulded what surfing has been. And what it is to us fortunate enough to sup from its bosom and feel its radiant energies … its therapy. I had the full spiritual experience walking down the winding track of the Uluwatu cliffs, and attaching my leg-rope in the low-tide cave. Standing there, feeling the accumulated history of that place and its contribution to the fibre and culture of surfing: escapism, travel, exploration, rebellion, performance, and experience. It was Morning of the Earth meets The Search and everything in between. Then, I paddled out across the vast reef to find my place in that grand surf-scape. Looking back across…

WINNER OF THE 2021 SURFING LIFE POETRY COMPETITION When holiday season rolls around,No Tahiti or Bali for me.I head to the best spot in the world,And the best part is, it’s free. When vacation time arrives,And I have had all I can take.No overseas trips for me,I’m off to my local break. No passport required,No need to go too far.No worry about a visa,I don’t even need a car. One glance from the balcony,To see the waves breaking hard.No place would I rather be,Heaven, in my backyard. No spending the year’s savings,On that endless wave chase.It’s right outside my door, And Snapper is the place. No beach hut or hotel,No surfing safari.Four weeks of paradise,The perfect holiday for me.…