This is certainly the dream life. But if you think about it, what’s the real difference from how you’re doing it now? Photo: Waterways Travel/Kandui Villas
It’s been a little over three years since I began to enjoy the life of a professional surfer. The ten years of surfing prior to that felt like a completely different life. Maybe it was because I was trying to be a professional, instead of just accepting that my life was already as good, if not better than one. It’s all about perception, mate. You can look up to corporately sponsored surfers as the ideal of what surfing should be, but first, take a good look at the life you live as a surfer. Is it that much different than that of a pro? Let’s check some boxes and compare our lives to theirs. You can buy into what the business of surfing sells as good surfing or you can let go of all of that and realize you’re probably already killing it. The bonus here is you don’t need validation from a bunch of strangers in suits.
It appears that professional surfers regularly score empty, perfect waves. Just look at Mick’s right hand “discovery” (and the controversy it stirred up). The truth is there are still plenty of perfect, empty waves in plenty of places. But that’s not the perception. Even here in the maelstrom of the Southern California surf world, there’s a deserted sandbar or fickle point set up with your name on it, given the right swell direction, the right tide, and enough research under your belt. The thing that Rip Curl got right and what they should be applauded for, regardless of the difference between reality and marketing, is their desire to promote the idea of exploration. The Search doesn’t have to be something that takes 37 hours of oneway travel with a barreling wave wave waiting at the end of the journey. If you’re out at a boily shelf with a spitting left on an overhead day with literally just your friends and some lazy seals, does it really matter if you’re in California or Indo? High quality surf and low crowd numbers aren’t just for professionals, they’re available in mass quantities for anyone willing to do the dirty work and veer away from the spot-of-the-day crowds. Sometimes, it really is as simple as those old Bruce Brown movies, loading up the car for the day and drive a few hours either north or south along Highway 1.
You might realize that you’ve been living the life of a pro surfer all along when you take a look around the lineup from time to time. It’s pretty normal, especially in California, to share waves with some world-class surfers. These everyday heroes will put their heads down and charge big barrels when the time comes. You know who I’m talking about. I’ve learned that these surfers will push you to chase waves and see things that average humans can’t relate to. They’ll show you that the most fantastic rides develop in split second decisions while dropping in on waves that you probably shouldn’t have even looked at. They usually have enormous smiles on their faces and will be hooting you in –not burning you— if you’re committed to a bomb (even when the odds of making it are minimal). These are the true professionals. They often exhibit patience and encouragement, knowing they’ll get theirs soon enough, whether you’re paddling back out or getting gnashed on the inside. It’s beautiful to see people stoked on other humans going for it.
These are the exact vibes that are sold to us when watching edits and films from exotic locations. A handful of professional surfers on a boat trip, hollering in excitement as they pull up to an empty reef pass with perfect head high waves. They’ll soon hop in the water and cheer each other into bombing tubes, everybody gladly waiting their turn as they trade off waves. The only difference between this charmed life and yours simply goes back to that one word: perception. Do you paddle around with the look of a red ass on your face? Or do you smile and make connections with people, giving them the extra motivation to let you have waves to yourself? Good vibes are real and they originate in you. You can’t just wait to have them showered upon your being. You have to send them out into the universe wholeheartedly and without expectation of reciprocity before they come back your way. Now you’re living just like those lucky dudes who get paid to surf places the rest of say we’d kill to go to.
In my life as a pro, I’ve had the chance to link up with dozens of world-class photographers. My garage is lined with “cover shots” from all over the world. All it usually takes is going up to the camera man on the beach and introducing yourself during the walk from the water to your car after a surf. I’ve even written my email out in wet sand and had the guy take a picture of it when I didn’t have pen or paper. It’s that easy. So through the years I’ve ended up with framed shots of myself ranging from drawing lines at desolate Baja points, to water shots of tube rides in northern Malibu or top turn blow ups from Tico photogs at Playa Avellanas. Photos are important to surfers given the transitory nature of wave riding. You only get one chance at each wave, each tube, each turn. If you can freeze time in a photo, you can have a constant reminder of some magical far flung place you visited, or of a day when the swell was overhead and the wind was offshore.
We all have to work. That’s just how it is. If I’ve learned anything from working it’s that doing something you love as a job can actually ruin your love for that thing. Enjoyment comes from wanting to do something, not having to do it. Even surfing has potential to be ruined for those who cut a paycheck for it. Think of how often you’ve sat at home in an emotional trough from work life, decided to look at international flights for fun, and ended up with a non-refundable ticket across the equator, burning a year’s worth of vacation time in the matter of 20 minutes. It’s supposed to be a catharsis from the cutthroat world of everyday life; something that makes you better and happier afterwards. So don’t let surfing ruin surfing for you. It was never meant to be taken as seriously as it is these days.
