So this is not a travel article. I am no longer able to book a flight on a whim and fly to another land offering me repreive from reality and relaxation. I have a full-time job now. Yes, I’m a bound nine-to-fiver. (well actually 8am to 4:30) I battle traffic like the best of you and come evening, I’m useless with nothing left in me but hopes, dreams and fatigue. But this is still about escapism. And freedom we strive to attain in little bundles everyday. This is about surfing.
Now I am definately not a pro-surfer. I don’t desire to be in the water come rain or shine. I don’t even surf during winter for fear of my poor toes staying numb for an hour after said surf. But that was the old me. That was before summer returned to the Southern Hempisphere and before I got a pair of booties. Plus I’ve borrowed a surfboard from a friend, so I don’t have to rent one.
After work is my chill time, but yesterday I thought I’d change my tune, take advantage of the board and take the plunge. I would go where I wouldn’t dare go before, a mid-week surf. I even skipped dancing- GASP! This meant that after the 45 minute drive home, I would run into the house and leave two minutes later, taking only a bikini, wetsuit and booties. By the time I arrived at the shore, the sun had disappeared behind the mountain and a wind had picked up. But I noticed I was amongst friends. Other work “slaves” who had done their time and were now ready to live.
If the current wasn’t so strong, I would have run into the water baywatch style, but my boyfriend and I waded in tentatively taking in the beautiful sight. It was incredible, the water wet my feet, but they stayed warm and insulated. Yay for booties, no more cold feet. I caught all kinds of waves, small ones, slightly bigger and even rode the same waves with him. With a smile on his face, looking up at the blue sky, he said something along the lines of “they can keep us enslaved for eight hours a day, but in the water we are free”. Euphoria, contentment and joy come close to describing my time in the sea. But you would have to expereince it for yourself. See you on any given evening, on any given wave, bring your happy self.
