So it has been about 6 weeks since I have been in the water and I can really feel it, not physically, but more kind of mentally. It is hard to explain, but as the saying goes, only a surfer knows the feeling.
When I am not near the coast surfing for a prolonged period of time I start to get tetchy, sometimes depressed or claustrophobic and have to go and hit the gym or pool to get a fix of physical exertion. Surfing can be such a consuming experience, both physically, mentally and spiritually and when you feel and associate those feelings with an activity that you don’t do that often it always results in wanting more.
The longer I am away from the sea the more tension builds up in my system, and no amount of gym work, swimming or chasing girls totally gets rid of that. Fortunately I am off to The Gower in little over a week for a weekend session, lets hope the swell coincides with the trip. Me, BJC and Mark will hit it up and hopefully enjoy some of the first autumn swells of the season, it will be a little on the chilly side, but nothing a bit of neoprene and a warm cuppa won’t solve!
But I know this won’t be enough in the long run. Surfing is like an addiction, you get drawn into its appeal: the lifestyle, the travel, the escape, the challenge. The more you do it, the bigger the dose you need to get the same effect. I guess you could compare it in a way to smoking, the more you smoke, the more you need to get that nicotine fix. Although for me, surfing is a totally positive experience, there are no bad side effects from getting fully imersed in the sport/art, well apart from a beating to the bank balance.
I have 2 weeks holiday left before Christmas, and this will obviously be spent surfing, the question I guess is where. Then there is also the question of the long term plan, I am not sure how much longer I can live inland, being away from the coast and the sport that I love so much. It is great to go on trips both abroad and back home, but I don’t really have the opportunity to integrate surfing into my daily routine, which is what I feel like I need to do. I admit I have been pretty dedicated over the past 4 years, but I feel that over the next year I need to step it up a gear and make a move closer to where I feel most happiest: the ocean.
What this space…