Don't travel, its too dangerous...

Why would you want to leave the comfort of your hometown and the waves that your a local to? Travel to a lineup where no one knows you and you have no priority in? The USA is the only 'safe' country to be in especially considering these crazy times we live in...or are the times really so crazy? Maybe its just the media telling you what is and isn't safe, and what you should worry about. Over here on the other side of the world in southeast asia things aren't so crazy, even in these times that seem to be so frantic. The pace of life is slow and the people content. The waves might not be in the peak condition that one might imagine when thinking about Indonesia, but hey, this is March and my expectations aren't yet overly inflated. The wet season is still quite among us and the rains are still a daily occurance around the late afternoon.
As I type this a small rain squall is passing over us bringing with it some swirling winds and a much appreciated cool breeze to an otherwise stifling heat. It has been just under 2 weeks now since I met up with my old
friend Dash in Bali and flew out to my old stomping ground in Sumbawa to get some early season waves and get surf fit. Though the waves certainly haven't been big or 'going off' they have been really fun and we have been getting sessions
to ourselves almost everyday. For the most part the crew out here is relaxed and understanding of the slow pace of the early season making for laid back sessions without the hassling that is normally found during the peak season. The past
few morinings there has been 20 guys surfing out front, yet there is no bad vibe and everyone is being considerate of each other. There have been quite a few familair faces since my return, people who seem to come year and year again to
the same place to surf the same spots. This time of year though attracts the english and 'pommies' as this is their major holiday time, and they are currently the overwhelming majority here. On a spur of the moment decision this morning,
I decided to head down to the road to get my favorite right hander despite a lack of swell. The tide was finally high enough and the winds calm, but sets were very inconsistant. It is the type of wave where everything has to come together
for it to be good, and for it to be truly good is quite rare. In previous days the swell and the winds have been right, but the tide too low. Then when the swell and tide was right, the wind was howling onshore.
After several days of miss-matched conditions, I finally decided to go for a look knowing well enough that the swell was too small for a quality session. When I arrived this morning I found 2-3 foot waves and about 10 guys patiently waiting out the back. After getting a few small ones, I decided it was worth waiting out the back for one of the freak larger waves that were actually barreling. Nearly thirty minutes passed and 2 waves come. The first was taken by an older guy who clearly had
the right line to make it through to the inside bowl. The second one came and an English bodyboarder covered in tattoos went for it, far too deep to make the barrel section.
My knowledge of this particular spot allows me to be in the right place and know when someone is too deep, and which waves are actually good. This was a good wave and knowing the bodyboarder had no chance of making it, I dropped into a bowl and got a small barrel right through the inside. After kicking out the bodyboarder begins his rant from 30 meters away, waving finger and screaming how he was right
behind me, on my leash. I assured him that this was not the case and that he was not even close to me when I dropped in, but he seemed determined to lash out at me. He then told me to relax, that we were on vacation, and that we didn't have
to return to work! I told him that if i really did drop in on him that badly that I was sorry, but from my position, I was 100% sure that he didn't stand a chance on making the section. He then began name calling and telling me that he
could ride a surfboard better then I could!! Well then mate, WHY are you riding a lid? I'd love to see ya ride a standup! Your lucky I even gave you the benefit of the doubt, most people out here would have just dropped in the meThe fact that
he's a ball dragger! Heed your own words, we are on vacation, relax, it was just a wave!! Then he continued to rant and told me he will see me on the beach!
Some people are just mind blowing in their attitude in the water. Everyone was so
relaxed and friendly, and then there is this one guy out there who is just aggro, and who is ruining it for everyone else. The rest of the people in the water were just laughing at his lunacy. He even tried to chase me in when I got one
to the beach to hop out! I was just getting on my motorbike pulling away to see him scrambling to get to shore to let me have it! Some people are just on the wrong trip, and this guy in particular shoudln't even be traveling. Its almost as if
he is traveling just to fuck up everyone else's good time. Moral of the story, it only takes one asshole in the water to ruin an orderly and friendly lineup, make sure its not you!!

The final surreal days

So this is it! The last night I have to spend in Bondi beach till next summer! Tomorrow is the last day of work for the next 8 months. For the next 8 months I will be on holiday surfing in Indonesia catching some of the best waves the world has to offer. I am going to finally completely submerge myself in the place for the longest stint yet! Today wasn't real. I still don't believe its actually going to happen. The feeling of just going to the airport and checking in...waiting to get on the place thats going to take me to Bali! Its completely intoxicating just thinking about! Everything seems exciting and I'm almost becoming nervous about it until I get actually arrive there. The excitement is almost uncontainable! It feels like a dream, and any moment I'm going to wake up and still have a month of work left! It has been a groundhog day that has lasted near 4 months now. Except for this evening I went for one last paddle at Tamarama and had the best session out there in the whole 4 months I was just here. I paddled out expecting nothing at all and good waves just seemed to come right to me. One real late airdrop on this 4 foot slab, just making the critical drop, and instantly inside a thick tube lasting only a split second...but a barrel nontheless where none was expected! Then 5 minutes later another, this one longer and much cleaner! Funny that my last session out there should be by far the best surf I've had in a long time, as if to spite me saying: hey, look what your leaving!! Or maybe just a small sample of what is to come in the near future awaiting me in Indonesian paradise! I just hope that I can keep my wits about me and NOT become jaded over there. I don't want to get spoiled again and have too high of expectations for a surf. I start telling myself its not worth going out there if I'm not going to get barreled or if I theres too many people. The shit I have been surfing in Sydney and with heavy crowds is something I need to ingrain into my permant memory for the next 8 months in Indonesia. My motivation needs to stay just as consistant as it is when I first arrive for the length of the trip! I have a feeling its going to be really hard to fall asleep tonight as thoughts of Indo race through my mind! One more day of work tomorrow followed by the drive to manly, and then some beverages of celebration!!

Pace of life, decision making, motivation, freedom and wealth

Compared to most people in developed countries today, the traveling life I live is relatively simple. The pace of life in a metropolitan area such as Sydney is so drastically different to the pace of life in towns found not far south of Sydney. There is a frustration that builds in air in these cities that seems to make people anxious and high strung. By having a short temperment you never have enough time in the day and are rushing around, crowding and meshing with too many people in the same place. Congestion. Traffic. Hostility. It spreads among people so easily, and before you even know it you started the day off on the wrong foot. Simplicity is the key, but boredom is the cost for the generation of today. In these small beach towns there is only one post office, one supermarket, one gas station, etc. You can go to the beach and walk along for hours and not see another living person the entire day. It is so much more fulfilling and genuine when life is this simplistic. The pace of life here is slow and very laid back. In these towns everyone knows literally everyone else who lives there, as the same people are seen again and again on a daily basis. Matter of fact you are on a first name basic with everyone in town. In this place the one's daily tasks and errands require so little effort to achieve. There is no traffic, no lines in the stores, and pleanty of parking spots. Things become so easy and pleasureable but until you've experienced the opposite, you don't understand or appreciate this simplicity. Why would you want to have to work so hard, and go through so much to get what you want in life? Maybe because most people don't know what it is they want out of life. In the city working as a parent and making payments on a home and car in the fast paced world is really intense. It is a full time, non-stop affair. Wake up, have a run, shower, take the kids to school, go to work, feed the kids, pay the bills, and drive in traffic and line up with the rest of them. Aren't we all after the same thing? The people who live the fast paced life of the city make hundreds of decisions every day at a whim, you get used to being in the fast pace and become part of the flow. You don't have time to think, you don't have time to relax, or to do anything for that matter. It seems like money can't be saved because your taste keeps growing for richer things.. On the other extreme, when you live in a small town with a slower pace, you make less money and drink cheaper wine and non-fancy cheese that people in Sydney might enjoy. You live a lower means because you make less money then you would living in Sydney. You exchange money made and your consumption level with having more time in your day. Don't people these days always seem to chasing time, and losing control of it? Time is money. We never have enough time. But what if you did? Would you know what to do with it? Would you be ok alone with nothing but your thoughts? In the small town, what used to be a very small decision to you living in the city becomes a large one. In fact, decision making as a whole becomes difficult to do if that town is very small and the pace very slow. I have more time then most people would know what to do with. Things slow down and become so simple, you eat when your hungry and sleep when your tired. There is no hard-wired agenda that must be followed. You can do anything and go anywhere on a whim. But in this simplicity, I find myself struggling to make decisions and stressing out about where to travel to next, and i worry about making the right decision so as the get the best surf possible on any given day. This also relates to general motivation that you experience in life considering your circumstances. Do you ever find that when you are in a routine of doing a number of given things on a regular basis that it is almost effortless? Its all part of a routine and you almost don't even notice the actions as they are hard wired into your day and life. When you are living at this kind of pace its easy to fall into and develop a rhythm to it. You stop thinking so much about things and merely go through the motions. On the opposite end of the spectrum if you are lazy and used to sitting around 'bored' on the couch, the easier it becomes to do less. You ae no longer proactive, no longer motivated. You become more lazy and tired the less you do, its a self-fulfilling circle. People get familiar with doing nothing and a pattern develops of sitting around and becoming a sort of couch potato. Enter now television, media, internet, the news, video games. These things numb the mind, taking proper and healthy thought into a whole different realm. This realm tells you what you need to have and what 'society' says is important. It tells you not what to think, but what to think ABOUT. You need to have this product or act like that to be happy, just look at these people on your TV! If you have this Iphone, or that pair of jeans, and look like this girl who is starving herself to be thin, YOU will be happy too! Most people can't put their finger on what makes THEM happy because they follow the masses and what modern day media says is happiness. Consume. Get a better computer, a flashier car, a nicer watch, these will make you accepted. Now you fit in with the next guy, with society. Who are you impressing and why? This is exactly what the government wants to achieve in the name of future progress. Think less for yourself, be occupied with what they say, and consume more and more. Let the day slip by and don't veer too far from the flow of 'progress'. One of the most profound things I have discovered over the years of travel is that simplicity is freedom. Don't be attached to material objects and you can do anything and go anywhere with ease. You can do whatever you set your mind to. People are enslaved by material posesions. The more posesions you have, the less free you really are. Freedom and money are polar opposites. The more things you have, the more they can weigh you down and control your life. It becomes an obsession to masses of people, always getting more toys and things that they don't have time to enjoy. Furthermore, the more grand your posesions, the less appreciation you seem to have of them. Someone owning a mansion overlooking the beach in a metropolitan area experiences a lower value to life. The work to get you there and the person you become to get there is not the same person that you began with. If you want to be rich, you must give up your freedom. Being truly free has nothing to do with having a big house and fancy car and popular with other wealthy people. Being free means have a wealth of life, not material wealth. Being free in your headspace means being free of this desire of material posesions. The person who is camping on the beach in front of that same mansion on the beach is the one truly living their life to the fullest. Closer to nature, in the environment and among life and free thought. If you take that mansion and the comforts that he/she was accustomed to, the person would be in agony. You might even call it a form of torture in a strange way. You quickly develop a comfort for a high standard of living, the fine wines, food, and accomodation that it makes you spoiled. You can't have less and still be happy. Your appreciation for things goes down unless its at the standard you are familiar with. You develop a need for this lifestyle. Until you have had nothing, you have no concept of what is truly important to you. If you have nothing in life to begin with, you have no idea what it would be like to be living as a wealthy person. Ignorance is bliss. In this simple view of the world, family is so important, and relationships with people are very strong. Instead of watching tv and eating take out food, you cook your own food that is not only much healthier for you, but a time to be together as a family and live. The quality of life for these people is so high, yet they don't realise it either! These people long for the city, for the excitement of the hustle and bustle modern world. For technology, to be in style. They are tired of their repetitive lifestyle and embrace that change. We always want what we don't have. If you are poor, you are happy but desire riches. If you are wealthy you have the ends but can't find the happiness. When surfing in these remote places people are so happy in the water, smiling, joking, and full of life. Even back home I find that people are too serious in the water, and more shockingly not happy doing what they once loved. It too has become part of the commercialisation of the modern day. You must have that big name brand board, able to do an air reverse, and have that logo or sponsor on your board. What ever happened to just having fun and enjoying yourself? All you need is a place free of the many obstacles out there in the modern world that distract you from the simple life you once had. Distracted from truth that is right under your nose, but cannot see. Not many people have the ability or financial freedom to explore the world and find out the truth for themselves, or do have the ability but not the desire. It's amazing what you will find about life if you go out there and experience it, and see different places and cultures over the world, and come to your own conclusions. Have something to compare your life to. Finding what makes you happy, realising it, and going after if with enthusiasm and dedication. If your not giving your all, your giving up. Chase your passion. Make your own decisions. This is living. Such is life. I'm living my life the way I want, are you?

Pre-conceived notions and the concept of Time

Its crazy how we perceive Time and how our concept of it can change at different times in our life, for good or worse, but we have no control of it, or do we? Its funny that when you are doing something that you perceive as fun and entertaining, that time seems to slip away too quickly. When I am in Indonesia surfing for the majority of the day and relaxing, I can literally turn around and weeks have elapsed in the blink of a moment, followed by months. In these times I am eternally happy and contented. The fatigue after coming in from a surf that lasted from the first break of dawn until 12 noon, one full of amazing waves, is better than the best drug that money could buy. That feeling of being numb and senseless, and utterly exhausted after a long morning in the salt water is the pinnacle of contentment. In a place so beautiful and with people so happy and friendly, its hard not to be at peace and living in the moment. Under these circumstances time is something that truly gets away from us too quickly. These blissful moments shared in the ocean act as a fountain of eternal youth. Why is it that these times often go by us too quickly instead of lasting forever? Instead you want to put the brakes on these moments and live them in slow motion. You get so comfortable with surfing such perfect waves that one day seems to mesh into another. When I am in Sydney time seems to be running slower then it ever has in my life (except for my last 2 months on the prawn trawler). I am living in a sort of paradise on the beach, but not the one realized in my mind, not the right beach or the right place. If I could only do this work in a different place I tell myself. But it never seems that work can be in paradise and you could have both at the same time, in the same place. Instead I feel that I am locked into a routine in a place that is wearing away at me one day by painful day. I realized that my perception of time became much slower in the last two weeks since my work has become less frequent. I began to think more about my unhappiness in my current situation and yearned to leave for realized Indonesian paradise. I think it all boils down to my notion that work must be done and isn't pleasurable, no matter what or where it might be. Work. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. You have to work to make money. You have to have money to do what you want in life. The path I take is different than what most people would say is normal. Instead of working and living a 'normal' life, I have periods of extreme contentedness, and exreme frustration. I choose to put my head down and grit through a 3 or 4 month stint of 7 day weeks to take 6 or 8 months off. It is what I now call my reality, my path. Most people who travel say they hate going home at the end of the trip, but secretly their biggest reward is returning home to tell the story their experiences. I mean, isn't great when you go home again and see old friends and go out to the bar and tell your story? I go home and its amazing to see old friends, family, and familiar places, but I'm not there long enough to fall back into my usual routine back in San Diego. I leave before I fall back in the comfort of going back on auto-pilot in my life. That's how I use to feel when I was in California to a large entent, like I was merely a zombie on auto-pilot going through the motions. In small doses I tell myself I could live back home again. I am sure from previous experiences over the years though that after a month I would grow restless once again. After it has been this long, back home no longer has the same feeling it once did, my life now is traveling. The happiness I feel when I am traveling is like being home. If being home is being happy, isn't being happy like being home? Home is wherever you are happy, and I seem to have homes all over the world, like a couch I can crash on all over the world! Baldo has found the universal 'couch' to sleep on and it has taken on a wave of new strength in recent years! If your couch can help me to live my dream out to its fullest, then why not join the cause? If I can find a way to be in eternal bliss in all the different aspects of my life (including work) that seems to get better and better with ages, then I will truly be in paradise! I guess sometime I have to pinch myself and remember that there are people back home working alot worse jobs doing a hell of lot less with their lives. To each is his own, and rather than return home with a story and reminesce about the good days of traveling, I am living it out and finding new ways to make it my full time reality.

Losing the Plot

Just when I am so close, the plot seems to go out the window. One day is blurring into the next, but not in a good way. Boredom and anxiousness have taken control and the time seems to be at a standstill, yet going forward at the same dreary time. I am finding new and creative ways to pass the time, but still the day ends the same as the last. I am so close to the end now, just 11 days left, yet it seems like an eternity in front of me. Funny that it could be so mental with so little time left, but I suppose I have been waiting a long time, and putting my life on hold for a long time. I keep imagining the things I will do, and the experiences I will have when I arrive back in Indonesia, and it brings a smile to my face, yet a frown that I am still here in lonely Sydney. It has been 10 days of dodgy weather of which I have worked about 2 1/2 days in total. My system here is extreme, but as long as I am making money and saving for the future then the effort is worth it. When I am just trying to pass days without working it becomes very trying. Without struggle there would be no joy in life I suppose. Without sadness you cannot have happiness. The extreme of my life here in Sydney is about to changed with extreme joy and elation when I do get back to Bali. At this stage, even the things i use to dislike about bali are becoming good memories. The motorbikes starting and stopping in front of your room, and stench in some of the alleyways of kuta, and even the traffic! What I would do to be stuck in traffic on a motorbike somewhere on Bali right now! Even a failed mission to the East side due to bad winds and no waves would bring a smile to my face. The feeling is loud and clear that my time in Sydney is up, there isn't any question about whether I should stay longer or not. I suppose its all trial and error, and now for next year I know exactly when to arrive and when to leave in terms of getting the most consistent work and spending the least amount of possible time in Sydney. With time comes experience, and I seem to have a lot of experience here in Sydney. I saw today the first legitimate looking SW swell forming in the Indian ocean, a real long period groundswell, and its meant to arrive just in time for me to arrive in Denpasar! The time has come to sell my van, pack up my stuff, and leave Australia until next summer. The next summer will present new challenges and tasks for me to deal with, including finding a new campervan and a new home base as my friend Liam has decided to move out of Sydney. I just hope I can keep this rhythm going, and keep living the dream, and if all goes well, I make the dream my full time reality by living in Indonesia full time. Till that happens I'll be here complaining about my struggles and strifes on my way to the top!

Overwhelming Excitement and Frustration

So here I am, down to the home stretch, the last 2 and 1/2 weeks, the last 18 days of work and isolation in Sydney before going back to Indonesia, and its so close its nearly killing me. I told myself 4-5 days ago that I can do this, but now its all changed. I just worked something like 2 weeks straight, and it was starting to get to me. I had a day off due to bad weather to break the stint of non stop work which was revitalizing to the mind and particularly the body. The day off went by quickly and I felt re-energized by it, ready once again to work flat out until my departure at the end of the month. Suddenly this enthusiam came to a screetching halt after a second day off due to foul weather and what looks like a possible week of no work due to the chagne in weather conditons. My current working and living situation in Sydney is very extreme. I don't have many friends here and due to my all encompassing attempts to save money, it keeps me from going out and meeting new people and enjoying myself. Instead of going out after work and having a beer and socializing with people, I am eating my own prepared food from work, taking a shower, and heading off to bed by 9 PM to get up and work the next day. When work is cancelled due to the weather for multiple days, this can become increasingly challenging. I am at a the point where I am so close to leaving I can taste it, yet now I am am not working and waiting around for good enough weather to make money. I find that more time on my hands means more time to think about my impending trip, thus making it even harder to endure the time. I have every right to be excited about the trip that I am about to go on. I have recently been pondering where I will go, and who I will see, and the waves I will surf, and seeing familiar faces along the path. It is so exciting, yet so frustrating that I am in this place where I dont want to be and dont know anyone, in isolation. Yet this is something that I must endure in order to get where I want to be, a necessary means to achieve my goal that most people would only dream of. I know that I should be patient, but this is something that grinds away at me. When I am this isolated from waves, friends, and life, it becomes so much harder. In order to save the money I need for my trip and save a little for future security, I must put my head down and perservere through the hard times. All I can do is think of the good time that will be coming in the near future, and this is what gets me through, yet at the same time acts a means of mental torture. I have actually been considering changing my airplace ticket and leaving 2 weeks early to end my self inflicted torture, yet when I examine the logistics of this, its seems crazy. I have already accomplished so much, and have saved so much. The end is so near, and for me to pull the pin and leave now would mean a few thousand dollars less of savings, let alone an additional thousand dollars spent being in Indonesia ahead of schedule, not to mention the $300 dollars extra spent to change my airline reservation. So once again I had a day off work, but today I spent it on the beach, reading, relaxing, and contemplating my options. I need to find a way to enjoy or accept both sides of my current situation. I need to find a way to enjoy not only the good life in Indonesia, but also the life I live in Australia working and saving. In reality I only have a little over 2 weels left to go, and I would obviously prefer to work and make money during this time, but if thats not possible, then I need to enjoy my days off and be grateful that I'm one more day closer to being back in paradise...

Internet phones scare me

So I have been saying this for awhile now, and it came up again today during a stupidly hot day at work with a coworker. These internet phones and Iphones and phones that provide similar services are crazy. I think it takes an outsider like me who havs been disconnected from the revolution that has taken place to truly notice how crazy it is. These phones are just WAY too convenient. They do too many things. Even I find myself saying, wow, it does that too?? There are all sorts of applications that do anything from tell you what song the phone can hear in the background to ordering pizza online and have it delivered to your GPS location that phone transmits, and a hell of alot more, not to mention constantly being connected to the internet AT ALL TIMES. Seriously, What the fuck?! They are so handy, but do we REALLY need these things? If i lived in the states, or in a fiirst world country, I would be considered an outsider, or someone living in the dark ages if I didnt have one oif these things. I just dont like the idea of having my coordinates transmitted in cyberspace at all times! Now everyone has one of these phones and they can be tracked by GPS wherever they go! How great! Is there anything these phones can't do? The photos they take are actually pretty legitmate, its a phone, MP3 player, Internet, GPS, you can get directions in real time to anywhere, etc, etc, the list goes on and on. Its only a matter of time the way technology is going that these things are the way of the future, or it apprears they already are. I am more then happy with my spaceage phone that costs $50 and has no color, and simply does text message and phone calls, no camera, no faxing, no music. People are getting too attached to technology, and this is just way too connected for my comfort. I like to be in contact with people to an extent, but this is just rediculous. If you were to lose one of these phones you would be devestated. Just something to think about in a world where people dont question anything anymore, or contemplate where all of this is going. Call me a weirdo or a conspiracy theory freak, but something is seriously wrong with these things. Its just so convenient and so handy that you can't NOT have one, and thats exactly what worries me! Thoughts, comments or argurements anyone?