Editor’s Note: Chilo En Mexico is a short film presented by LifeProof.
I’ve been on a number of surf trips over the years, but still can’t say I’ve ever properly scored. That 100-year storm always seems to be producing waves somewhere else. I arrive the week after the waves were pumping. Or, I’ve already booked a return flight for the day before a long-period burst of southern hemi energy is supposed to produce grinding tubes. In comparison to what could have been, memories of milking waist-high, crumbling sections should produce frustration. But, oddly, they don’t.
Surf travel is as much about the experience as it is the waves. Unfamiliarity is the rule. Friends and family to share it with only add to the level of enjoyment. And the people and landscapes along the way produce a roladex of mental pictures to flip through for motivation right around the next time the travel bug bites.
The seasoned surf travelers, of which I am not, know this better than most.
Last summer, Rob Machado, his brother Justin, Tim Curran, and Kalle Carranza ventured to different parts of Mainland Mexico hoping to score. They didn’t.
Still the local notion of chilo was a tantalizing one. Stimulated by the heat, warm water, and meager wave offerings, the crew embraced the mellow vibe, worry-free lifestyle embodied by that single word. Life en chilo had commenced, and all bad vibes were washed in the sea to live with the crabs.
