“Consumerism just isn’t the way forward. People want it all and they want it now. We should want less and enjoy the simple pleasures all around us.”
As we sit around a picnic table, I’m treated to a fresh omelette with salad. Diving hungrily in, they tell me how easy the transition was giving up electricity and running water.”Don’t get me wrong, we still have our feet firmly planted in the “real” world. We have electricity from our leisure battery in the van if we need it, we just don’t have lights or a fridge. We get water from work or friends, we just don’t have running water from a tap. It really isn’t a hardship. We have a mobile phone and a laptop at work. It’s incredibly liberating to free yourself of the television. We sit and talk, have campfires, listen to the radio, and read more. You get time to discover who you are rather than switching off in front of the television. We’re a lot happier for it.”
Soon the conversation takes on a rather teasing tone. They ask when I’m going to get a foamie of my own, and I confess it’s not something I’ve ever considered. I just see them as boards to you learn on. When I started surfing eight years ago, I had a 6’10 my brother handed down to me. I loved that board. But looking back now, I can see how it wasn’t good for me. I thought I looked cool. I didn’t want to be a beginner, even though I was. “Surfers need to drop the ego in surfing,” I’m told. “That’s another reason I love my foamie. You have to lose that ego. It ain’t cool to ride a beat up beginner’s board, but it sure is a lot of fun.”
Intrigued by how these two manage to go away for so long, I ask about how they support themselves. “Working in seasonal jobs and living frugally but well during the summer months means we get to live our dreams in the winter. Rather than a workplace or career that tries to trap us with a few weeks off a year and the promise of a great future with more money, more status, and no thanks, we choose less responsibility, less money, and less possessions. We’re choosing to live while we’re healthy and able to enjoy life.” He pauses, considering the way they’ve chosen to live. “Consumerism just isn’t the way forward. People want it all and they want it now. We should want less and enjoy the simple pleasures all around us. As a society,” he continues, “everything is too easily available for too little, and that in turn devalues it.”
The sun bursts through the clouds and the warmth of the mid morning sun hits our faces. After some good food and conversation, I feel rather contented out here. We go for a stroll through their land following deer tracks into ancient twisted woodland alongside a stream. It feels a million miles from the way I live in my apartment block. Constantly bombarded by my neighbor’s noise, I somehow take comfort from knowing there are people around me and I wonder if I could live so detached from society. Without knowing it, we have circled back on ourselves and arrive back at our vans. I give my thanks and say my goodbyes.
The gentle soul and our conversation has impacted on me greatly. I’ve got a foamie of my own now. I ride it on small days. I still have my shortboard for when it’s pumping, but you know what? I’m enjoying my surfing more than ever.
