Yewwwwww! Photo: Shawn Dennis//Screenshot
Who hasn’t considered dropping everything, trading in the ambitions that require a nine-to-five and all the responsibilities that come with them, and just surfing? I don’t mean calling in sick when the swell of the season is lining up and returning to cashing those paychecks when it goes flat. I mean selling everything off and buying a one-way ticket to some place in the Indian Ocean — a real romanticized Endless Summer approach to it all.
Truth is, we’ve all at least daydreamed about it. Very few actually go through with it. But it’s a dream nonetheless.
Shawn Dennis is living a version of that fantasy. He came from a small town in South Africa to Indonesia and just never left. From the looks of it, the decision to stay has paid off in an endless supply of tubes around Bali.
“Freedom of living outside of my hometown,” he explains when asked what brought him to Bali. “I think back then Bali was pretty quiet but diverse since everyone was from different walks of life. Just kinda finding solace coming and living in Indo.”
When Dennis started carving out a new life for himself it came through things like surf guide jobs here and there, forcing him to hop around to different places for work. One two-month trip turned into three years and poof. Like they say, life is what happens when you’re busy making plans.
This guy charges. There’s no need for a return flight to South Africa just yet.
