Last month after a few weeks without waves I decided that I needed to find a surf school to ensure that I'm not basically kneeboarding for the rest of my life. I read up on a few and found one in particular in Costa Rica that looks pretty good and is quite cheap. (The schools in California are three times the price. Meh. Keep 'em.) Nothing fancy, but that's ok. I think it might even be the same school that the author attended in that book I won from Patagonia. Well, once I started really looking into it, the insecurities crept up and I decided that I just can't. I can't do it. I can't travel that far, alone, and look that silly and be terrible and wipe out 1,000 times and have people wonder, What is she doing? Why did she even come here?
You know what I think now? I think I wasn't desperate enough before. I hadn't gone long enough without wax in my hair and salt water up my nose. I had the luxury of thinking I would be surfing soon enough, maybe on Christmas. No? Oh, ok. Probably on New Year's. No? How about the following week? 15' waves you say? Oh.
So I guess I'll keep tossing pennies into the jar and keep focusing on a time, hopefully relatively soon, that I'll have the good fortune to be able to have 2 or 3 practice sessions a day on beginner-sized waves and wipe out 1,000 times and make a complete fool of myself. Damn. I should be so lucky.
*With-draw-al, noun. Discontinuation of the use of an addictive substance.
I really hope you can go. I think it will be epic for you. You can totally do this! Fuck the fear, sisterfriend. FUCK IT.
ReplyDeleteOkay, Ms. LSL, sit down and pay attention.
ReplyDeleteCosta Rica isn't any further than Tokyo and it's definitely closer than Europe. I don't remember you doing your last trip to Hawaii as part of a tour group, Ms. Ican'tgoalone. Let me just check how that one went.... Oh right, July 15 2009 "I'm back from vacation and I had an amazing time... I surfed five of the seven days".... Hmm... do you READ your own blog? You CAN do it - you've done it before. And you're so much more experienced now than you were in July.
Oh, and those people you're worried about seeing you wipe out... they'll be at Surf School, too. I'm guessing they'll also have hurdles they're concentrating on getting over.
Do it. Lay down some memories. Go!
* shitty weather in January off the coast of Oregon.. how surprising!
** I will be needing the same kick-up-the-arse at some point, so feel free to return the favour.
*** I just returned "arse" and "favour" to the British spelling. If I can't get a Green Card then you guys can struggle with our arcane spelling.
Happy New Year :)
Basically, what Greg said. OMG. You travelled all over freekin europe, as I recall, by yourself? talking to strangers on trains, as I recall? oh...and surf SCHOOL....um...there's a reason that they call it SCHOOL....did you think surfers were born knowing how to do it? duh....I'm positively GOB SMACKED at your sudden lack of gumption....
ReplyDelete