Live the life - hate the rat race - maximising surf time

[Ed McDead]

I've recently returned to corporate slavery after many months of travels with ma boards doing nothing much other than surfing and mountain biking.

Also done a lot of thinking and the corporate life is not for me anymore, the good swells I miss through work aren't worth the money I get paid anymore. I also discovered that I don't really have much of a work ethic and can live without too much money - I think I just buy stuff when I'm working to distract myself from the crapness of the daily grind.

Have any of you wound back your working lives to maximise your surfing time? Any suggestions for cheap living near good breaks?

I thought about moving out to Northern Spain maybe - selling up here, buying and living in a farmhouse and renting it out in the summer (while I live in ma van).

Any suggestions or experiences to share?

[Midnight Rider]

I'm with you on this one.

I'm seriously considering selling up, buying a house in Morocco (cheap), surfing for six months during the season and working as a temp back in the UK for the other six.

Just need another really crap week at work to convince myself!

Bring it on!

[Milo]

Your not alone, i`ve had it with society. All i want to do is move closer to the sea, any job will do so long as i can pay my way.
Only problem is i have been priced out off the market, i don`t want to live in any large towns on an estate. Price`s have gone mad the last few years.

I would dearly love to be able to move to some faraway location, and live the dream.

[Sar]

this is very apt for me at the moment!! Unfortunately I am definately stuck in my job for the next 3 years until my loan is paid off

I used to crave the money, and weirdly the stress (wtf?) thinking it would get me 'somewhere' in life....but it hasnt and wont....well not what I thought I wanted - big house/car, busy life etc etc.

I dont have much money because of the loan so will quite happily live without much money.....but without the soul destroying job. I am very good at my job but its not enough anymore!

Fortunately - I live most of my life in a daydream and blanking out reality to the best of my abilty .....problem is - its like I am waiting to start living life!

For those of you who can go and do it - please stop waiting...go and do it!! Seriously, please do!! You owe it to yourself (most importantly) and the rest of us dreamers!.... you help us to realise that it is possible to make life a little less complicated and a little more fun

[Luke]

Totally agree dudes. Work to live, don't live to work.

[paulS]

Couldn't agree more with this post....I escaped the rat race for 4 years living abroad, by the beach earning next to nothing, all i had was a rucksack and a crappy vespa and without doubt it was the best 4 years of my life....mainly Spain...go for it dude...can't beat the Spanish lifestyle,people,climate and attitude...

Like Sar i day dream constantly, getting back to that life is all i think about and settling is impossible...have even got out of relationships cos I know i don't wanna hang around in the country!...for some reason when your in the rat race is seems impossible to escape but when you do escape you think 'why the fck didn't i do this earlier'....

Im trying to buy a van right now and hitting the road to Spain....aiming to be there permanently for Spring 08...lifes too short...

[thaya]

totally agree... if i could i would. I got fed up living in greater london and recently moved to the beach. It makes me alot calmer to see the sea each day, but, like Sar, I'm stuck in a stressful job till my loans are all paid off (most will be in another 2 years... I can't wait)

My upcoming summer in Hawaii is a mini "going travelling" type thing for me so I can considering what life could be like once i pay off my debts and quit teaching. I'm going to investigate options for living there in the future too!

I think if you're not bound by debts or a mortgage or something, then go do it, life is far too short.

I'm fed up of being stressed, working all day and all night and pretty much most weekends too. I think it's a waste of my life and whenever I get the chance to daydream, I imagine the satisfaction of quitting teaching permanently and disappearing with a backpack and a surf board for a year or two. One day

[Hang11]

Being a full time surf bum sounds great, but trying to put a bit of perspective on it, you get older, what you want will probably change, things like having kids become important, and all of a sudden you'll find yourself stuck in a no cash having to work really hard and never surfing position.

If you want my advice (because in my late 30's now, and I get to surf loads more than most of my mates), pick a career that pays good money, lets you choose where to live, and follow that path. You get older, you end up in a senior job or working for yourself, and can call the shots about when and how you work a lot more.

Being stuck in London is shite, I did the hell commute from Brighton for a few years, after spending a good few years doing nothing but surf, travel to nice places to surf, etc etc. But almost by accident I fell into the wage slave thing, did OK, and managed to use it to move to a beautiful place on the other side of the world, have a great home by the beach, great family, great job, bit of spare cash, and be able to catch good waves before work, after work, and usually during the day if I feel the need. I also rack up 30+ days of snowboarding each year

Basically, the choice between surfing and working is geographic, not necessarily a lifestyle choice. I've got a few mates that have managed to do both nicely - currency trader working out of an office in Hossegor, web developer living in Portugal, Copywriter living in the middle of nowhere in Wales etc etc. All of them have got great lifestyles, and make good money, giving them much more choice in how to live their lives.

It feels pretty good bunking off work to surf, and knowing that you're probably getting paid an hourly rate that's better than a lot of pro's

[isaluteyou]

It all boils down to what you want outa life. Persoanally im quite happy to just make ends meet but and live just yards from the beach and surf every day. This does of course mean i have 0 cash other than what i squiral away for surfing equipment. But then thats just me. The pluss of this lifestyle are obviouse the downer is that i will never have a fancy house, car, or anything of that sort. But then again i couldnt care less

Some people can handle living on the edge others need security. Always remember life comes at you hard and circumstances can radically change. E.g if (god help me) i had children well my surfer bum lifestyle would be forever altered.

Anyway its all a mental attitude many of my friends have real jobs and real resposabilities but yet they arent caught up in the yuppie world.

[buckthis]

hang, i got to agree with you, there are things in life that are more important than surfing, so position yourself so that you can make good money and surf!

[boco rio]

I said screw the corperate world several years ago. I'd worked for (2) large construction firms in the past and got sick of the game you have to play. My solution was starting my own construction company after getting my contractors license. Since then, I've never looked back.

Now I can have my cake and eat it too. I take a day or two off whenever the surf gets decent and my business goes on as usual. It was a leap of faith and after three years it's working. When I was young I lived at the beach and surfed full-time and worked part-time. It was a special time and I look forward to retirement, so I can do that again.

[RUSS-D]

I said screw the corperate world several years ago. I'd worked for (2) large construction firms in the past and got sick of the game you have to play. My solution was starting my own construction company after getting my contractors license. Since then, I've never looked back.

Now I can have my cake and eat it too. I take a day or two off whenever the surf gets decent and my business goes on as usual. It was a leap of faith and after three years it's working. When I was young I lived at the beach and surfed full-time and worked part-time. It was a special time and I look forward to retirement, so I can do that again.

Did about the same thing. I own a cabinet co. and I can go hit the Surf, anytime I want, when it's good. I have good employees and they run my buisness for me. I do a lot when I am there, but have the freedom to haul a$$ when I want to.

[boco rio]

Yeah, lucky for me my business is in Florida and not Hawaii because I'd be out surfing all the time.

[aaron d]

can i just say i printed off all your messages to keep, so when things go wrong in the future for me and i need a little inspiration it might come in useful, im only 19 and in college, and always dream of breaking loose in the future, living in a place that has wind and waves, and no traffic, but does anybody out there think that the hippie-poor-but-happy-man surf dream can fullfill somebody for an entire life? or maybe somebody has actually done it?
as has been said, perhaps some sort of reasonable balance is appropriate, go wild for a few years, but can you do that forever and still be happy?

[northswell]

Me! Well used to be a Design Engineer. Surfed for thirteen years now and got fed up of the daily commute. I had good employers who used to let me take time off at short notice if it was going off, but that wasn't enough.

Opened a surf shop just over a year ago, things are a little tough at the mo but we're getting there.

Plus side, gone surfing sign in the shop window when its really on.

Down side i earn less bread than i used to.

[surf patrol]

Excellent perspective Hang11

[Jonah_Fro]

Can't remember who said it, but the truest thing I ever heard in this regard was:

'No-one ever laid on their death bed and said "I wish I'd spent more time at work"'

However, life is a balance. I don't for a minute, enjoy my job, but it's a necessity to allow me to do the things I want. I would love to retrain as a fitness instructor, but there's no way I can make enough money doing that to support my family. So for the time being, I'm stuck, but I won't be forever.

If the opportunity to live your dream is a real one, and even if it's hard, do it.

[Jimi]

I guess I'm pretty lucky... Live in Sydney near the beach, and have a job where I'm able to be at the beach every afternoon after work during summer (daylight savings time). Winter is a pain, but I still get weekends.

I think most people living in Sydney get plenty of time to hit the beach on weekdays.

[geez]

Modern society has got it all wrong, living to work, not working to live, kids bunged in a nursery age 3, picked up by a nanny whilst the parents earn their livings... and save for that special 2wk holiday.

Well me and the misses are just about to rent are house out, were new to surfing but we love it, Im a snowboard instructor here and we've decided to go and do the winter season in bulgaria, then when the snows gone mid april, we're going to pick up are camper head to Biaritz and work are way through the footprint "Surfing Europe" guide which has just been released Jun07. (beginners beaches only lol)in France, Spain and Portugal until it gets cold and the snow falls again. Im lucky that I have a partner that shares the same interests, and gets stoked at the mention of Snowboarding or surfing. I wanted to do this years ago but never had the balls when i was younger!! So my advice is...Right down a list of what you, earn, own and enjoy about your work, then right a list of all the things you'd be happier doing. The answer will speak for itself. Go for it, and never grow old thinking, "I wish i did that trip, took that year out etc" So you may have to sell ya nice car and stuff, so what you'll get another when you come back, if you ever come back!! unless your paid an obscenly huge amount of money, England will still be here when you come back, and so will employement.
Im 33yrs old and Abbys 28, never thought w'd walk away from good jobs etc, but if we dont do it now, we'll reget it forever. I imagine most of you guys n girls and way younger and less tied!
Good luck.

[Ed McDead]

Thanks for the posts.

Just for background I'm 41 and work in ... ahem... corporate finance (sorry). So I know what having money means and the how easy it makes some aspects of life -m although there comes apoint when I'm just buying more expensive versions of the same things . I'm ceratinaly not anti-money or people who want to build a sucessful career, that's what I've been doing for almost twenty years.

At the moment the money isn't worth the lack of balance in my life. Working all hours and all days is too much of a grind. Taking off 9 months and surfing the best that mainland europe has to offer just re-inforced the point.

So I'm saving up all my money and planning the great escape. If get my farm I promise to do a special rate for surfers.