The plan as of yet

Hey y’all.

This blog revolves around basically one thing:

I’m taking a year off work to explore the world of surfing!

Let me walk you through the plan as of yet.

Right around the start of July 2014, me and a mate (Eivind) will be leaving Norwegian ground as we fly east. Looks like our first stop might be Bali, well-known for its many top-notch surf spots. I can’t wait to set feet on the white-sand beaches and on the surfboard. I’ve also heard that the nightlife is pretty decent, so it ought to be the perfect place for a sick kick-off party!

After Bali, I think we might set course for Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun has always fascinated me. Such a hybrid of technology and tradition. Like the Toyota model of Lean Thinking, it seems to me that the culture of Japan has often been centered on striving for perfectionism. It’s all about focus and dedication to the task at hand, which suits well with all the various martial arts that origin from Japan. At the same time I’ve seen clips from Tokyo, the largest city in the world, which appears to be just clothed in neon signs and people are everywhere. Maybe we’ll get to stay in one of the hotels where your room is pretty much just a box, that’d be cool. It also looks like Japan holds some pretty good surf spots here and there, I’m excited to check them out.

Following Japan, there’s a fair chance that we make a stop at the Philippines. I have a co-worker from Manila, who has handed me some great suggestions on places to visit. Her two suggestions are Boracay and El Nido. She says that the former is pretty popular among tourists, while the latter is much more of a local secret. Both places are promised to be great for surfing.

Then it’s about time to head for Australia. I had the great pleasure of attending the University of Wollongong for a semester, a medium sized city right south of Sydney with all the necessities for good surfing & good times. Hopefully Glasshouse and the Harp Hotel are still open, got some awesome memories from those places (although the morning-after memories might not be equally awesome ;)). Besides Wollongong and the Sydney area, we’ll probably be travelling up the Gold Coast for a while. Also, I definitely hope to hook up with some acquaintances here and there in the Land of Oz.

Next stop is Hawaii. When venturing on a year of surfing, it’s pretty much a given destination to visit. I don’t think I ever met someone who says they didn’t like Hawaii. Enough said.

The journey continues to the American mainland, more specifically the west coast. During a crazy roadtrip through the States a couple of years back, I visited a friend who I met in Wollongong, who now lives in San Diego. Definitely be trying to see him again, he’s big on both surfing and skating. California has got so much to offer, so I reckon we might work our way up the coast, and eventually into Oregon. I regard Oregon as my second home as I went to High School in Harrisburg for a year and had the best host family I could ever ask for. I’ve already given people I know in the Beaver State a heads-up that I’m coming their way, and they seemed pretty stoked about it. Oregon also has some decent surf spots, which I look forward to getting to know better.

We might also very well travel up to Washington and the Seattle-area. I’ve also lived up there for half a year, attending Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma for a semester. High quality school. I’ve heard that surfing is pretty good both in the Strait and on the Coast, would be exciting to check it out.

My travelling companion Eivind has some relatives down in Texas he’d like to pay a visit. That’s all good to me, plus we get to go surfing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Finally, we’re considering either Costa Rica or Brazil as our last stop. I can’t see how we can go wrong with either one of those alternatives, we just need to do some research, and perhaps flip a coin or something.

So, things are kind of on the drawing board right now, and it all needs to be detailed in greater extent. Regardless, I reckon it looks like we’re going to have A LOT of fun! 🙂

KJ