I have just returned from a surf trip to the outer fringes of the Norwegian coastline, somewhere in the arctic where it is cold, very cold. I found myself here with a few friends in the search of perfect waves. Although many people had surfed these waves before me I felt like an explorer, and thought to myself how far apart (both literally and metaphorically) surfing in the Arctic is to surfing in the tropical waters of Indonesia and the Maldives, yet how similar our inspiration and thirst for travel was to the early surf pioneers who traveled the far flung tropical coastlines in search of world class waves. Here I find myself worlds apart (both on surf ability, location and level of adventure) than the early surf travel legends like Gery Lopez, yet relating myself to them, their sense of adventure and the pursuit of their own piece of surfing paradise.
It strikes me that surfing is full of labels, what does it mean to be a surfer? What is surf exploration and what is the difference between surf exploration and surf travel? Its amazing that such a simple thing, sliding on water, can conjure so many questions. We constantly are trying to improve, travel, explore and discover for our own reasons. Some people chose to travel to their local beach to try surfing for the first time, some travel to far flung corners of the earth to try find new waves and others go on all inclusive luxury surf trips to find themselves and escape from the hustle and bustle of every day life.
Surfing is a matter of perception, what is a big wave depends on experience and ability, what is a hardcore surf trip depends on our own comfort zones and what is an achievement when improving your surfing is a personal goal set by yourself. That is why I am very proud of Star Surf Camps own exploration to extend of locations with carefully selected partners from around the world. Offering more options for you to experience can only be a good thing and providing more surf holidays, schools and locations with trusted local partners means we can help more people have the perfect surfing holiday!
Joe
