The 2-Month-Milestone

Wanderers will agree with me, there is something called a “2-month milestone”. It hit me while being in Australia. I go through different phases while travelling to different places but I only feel really at “home” after 2 months. First I feel super excited with loads of energy and a drive to explore, However after a month, shit hits the fan. Or at least for me. I felt lost, not sure what I was doing “down under”, why I left the island of the gods for something so new and different.

And then after a couple of weeks I hit that 2 month milestone and things started rolling again. I know people, I know where to eat and for me quite important, I kind of know where to surf. Realizing that there is this 2 month milestone was somewhat of an epiphany. My feelings towards Australia were actually not that strange, it is just the acclimatization period that needed to be digested before I could really say that I felt at home (wherever that may be you are wandering off to). And while hitting that milestone I realized, geez I am going back to my other home, Bali, in 2 weeks already. Life as a wanderer sure is one awesome adventure.

Tuesday Tunes – Pantera

There are numerous ways to get stoked to surf and one of my favourite pre-surf routines is listen to music. One tune that tops my playlist is Pantera from Kartell. It is such a mellow almost deep house song that you can just not not be stoked to get salty. Have a listen and I hope you enjoy it.

That New Surfspot

It’s 4:45 am in the morning and my alarm goes off. I grab my stuff (wetsuit, board and towel), start my car and head off to Frances Town. I really want to surf today as I am pretty busy during the week so it better be working. With heaps of anticipation, I arrive and unfortunately not welcomed by peeling lefts and rights…it is flat. I will have to head off to Mainbreak then.

20 minutes later I arrive. There are waves and there are about 15 locals out already (note that it is only 5:30). I watch and watch and watch. I feel anxious and doubt. “Am I really going in now? “, “The waves are not that great?” is going through my mind. This insecurity creeps up on me and I question whether I actually belong here. And the thought that keeps holding me back is what other people might think. And then I manage to switch all these twisted thoughts off and start putting my wetsuit on. I can do this, I managed 6 ft Uluwatu so this is a piece of cake, right. I paddle out, am greeted by some 60+ surfers and start getting into it. When I get my first wave all is ok. It is really that newness of a surfspot you have never surfed. The people you do not know. But being back in the ocean feels great and even though it was not my best session ever, getting salty cleared all the doubts away and I am ready for the rest of the day and surf this spot again (and again and again).

Progress By Watching

The best way to get better at surfing is by just doing it. Practice definitely preaches if it comes down to trying to master this sport as the learning curve is long and not steep. Besides actually practicing though there is one thing that I continuously do as well. Watching surfing: in the line up, from the beach and then of course surf movies. Most important when you watch surfing is that you know what you want to look at. It is not going to help you if you simple just watch. You want to observe and analyse. Do you want to improve your stance, your take off, your bottom turn or your cut back? Wherever you are on the progression ladder of surfing, make sure that you know where you get stuck or what you want to improve.

Watching surf movies is a great way to learn as you can pause the frame and replay it again and again. There are numerous movies out there that I have seen but 99,99% are all men surfing. Incredibly inspiring but not aspiring as the guys can just physically do stuff that girls can not. That is just nature. So watching girls movies would be best, isn’t it that there are almost no girl surf movies out there (except for over-romanticized Hollywood-ones like Blue Crush). And then Lakey Peterson came out with her flick “From Zero to 100”. If there is one movie that should be on your computer, it should be this one. I watch it almost every week and makes me stoked to get back out there the next day and practice more. It is inspiring and aspiring to observe her and her skills in the water and even though I know that I will never surf like her, just watching and analysing, makes me push my limits further.

Go get it is what I would say and have an epic surf after. Here is the iTunes and Netflix-link.

 

Tuesday Tunes – You Say It Too

Let the Tuesday begin!! The Generationals’s “You Say It Too”, is there to help you get out of bed, go surfing (or head to work) and cruise through the day.

Enjoy!!

 

This Incredible Life

It’s 6 am in the morning and I wake up to check the surf. When I arrive at the look-out and see these waves rolling in, I smile and think “I am one freakin’ lucky girl”. All things are really coming together on this island and it just makes me grin from ear to ear.

To be honest, I do not even know where to start if it comes down to how much I really belong here at this point in my life. Work-wise things are rolling and if it all works out it will be awesome and completely up my alley. From a surf perspective, I keep progressing, proper cut-backs and bottom turns are getting better and better and I surf bigger waves than I could dream of in the past. And next to these 2, I meet all these insanely inspiring, funny, kind, wanderlust people that make my stay in Bali complete. The road is not easy all the time and I do get confronted with insecurities that surface once in a while, but life over here just makes digesting them easier. Yep, I live a freakin’ incredible life and I am more than proud that I have myself to thank for it.

Finding Balance

While living in paradise for a couple of months now, I am slowly and gradually shifting my focus towards a more balanced life. To be honest, I do not find it particularly easy. There are almost always waves to surf, nice people to meet for breakfast, lunch or dinner, cruise around or just do other stuff, which is a challenge to resist. But if I really want to stay here I need to get that balance in .

Actually, I came to realize that it is not so different from living back home. It is just the other way around. Where at home we had to find a balance to get more personal time in, over here I have to search for the balance to work a bit and resist the temptation of surfing all day every day. In the end, I know that I will be absolutely fine. I have set an intention to do so and even though I love surfing, I will need to work to ensure my presence in this paradise. I can surf every day, even with a job, so nothing bad with getting some work done on the island of the gods.

Saturday Chronicles with Helen

Helen has an amazing blog that actually is shortlisted for the Cosmo Blog Award. You can check out how to vote over here. Follow Helen’s blog and her other wandering adventures via social media via the links below:

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Pre-Silence Predictions – Last Day (5)

Already our last day in the retreat and actually we think that we do not want to leave. We have embraced the silence and love the fact that our mind and body are more balanced. We will meditate and practice yoga in the morning and have breakfast with the other people in the retreat of whom we don’t even know their names. Probably we will head of around mid-day with mixed feelings, because life back home will be different. Our best friend and roomie left and we actually plan to get some more structure in our life in Bali.

During the silent retreat, we want to look into our intention of our stay in Bali, set our intention and focus on it. Next to that we most definitely will be lost in thoughts while driving back home to Uluwatu because of this truly amazing experience.

 

Pre-Silence Predictions – Day 4

After 3 days of silence, we expect that our mind is starting to become more at ease with being silent. We probably can align our thoughts better as we have been meditating and practicing yoga and of course we have used our diary to write down our thoughts.

Not talking will probably feel more natural and we will follow our instincts and let go of thoughts that we do not want to align with. We will start the day as usual with meditation and yoga and join the day program which ever one is offered. We will write a lot and just absorb the beautiful scenery that is so immensely different from Uluwatu.

One thing we are almost certain we probably will miss is surfing.