“It’s not the destination, it’s the journey”.
You may have heard the saying “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey”. It’s always kind of annoyed me because the journey normally means long plane rides, delays, layovers, canceled flights, etc., and I just want to get to the destination already and skip the “journey” part. It does not have to be that way at all. I prefer to think of the journey as an adventure and wherever I end up, even if it’s not the place I had intended to go, as the destination.
My latest surf adventure was by boat with 3 girlfriends, a cooler full of beer, a comically large quiver of surfboards, and desire for right hand point breaks. We left not so bright and very early (4am) and loaded up the boat with all of our boards. We brought long boards, mid-length boards and short boards. The great thing about traveling with a boat full of women is that we are always prepared with stylish surf costumes, which explains the plethora of bikinis, leggings, rash guards, surf hats, and some surf sunglasses. Oh, and just in case, the snorkel, mask and fins. The boat ride took about an hour to reach the first place we wanted to check that none of us had surfed before. There was no one in the water and not much swell. We watched for a few moments and saw a couple waves that looked rideable. That was enough to get the stoke going and we got sunscreen on and jumped in.
The water was brilliantly blue and clear, and not long after we got to the line up, the first set of shoulder high waves rolled in. As we traded off waves, I looked around at the shoreline. Waterfalls trickling down the cliffside into an open beach cave. Not a soul around but us girls, and a feeling I hadn't felt in a while, the feeling of the unknown, surfing a new spot all alone in the Pacific with just your friends. It really didn't matter that the waves weren't perfect, because that is not what it is about. It was about the journey and sharing it with great friends enjoying each others company. The giggles came readily as we watched our friend scamper across the rocks to get a drink at the fresh water spring.
We surfed three spots that day. At one of the spots, two surfers paddled out to the boat as we were watching the waves. We took them off guard when they realized it was a boat full of surfer girls. We invited them on board and offered them a cold beer. They had been camping on the beach, obviously had not had much social contact with other humans, and were looking for some fish to buy. They invited us to lunch at their camp site and we politely declined. They looked like they had been there for a while and maybe hadn't seen many woman in a while either. Anyway, we had lunch plans already at a resort down the way.
At the next spot, we pulled out the long boards for a quick session before lunch. We hiked a few minutes walk through the jungle to a resort we knew about that serves up some tasty tacos and even tastier jalapeño margaritas. We witnessed a sweet, snuggly moment between a baby monkey and his mama on our way back to the boat. On our way home, we showed an expensive charter fishing boat that didn't seem to be having any luck how it was done by catching a yellow fin tuna on the handline and ate it for dinner that evening.
So, fellow surfer adventurers out there, pack up your bags, book a ticket, find some friends to bring along or meet some new ones on the way. There are waves breaking somewhere out there in this big old world with no one surfing them. What are you waiting for? Go start your journey and once find it don't tell anyone about your destination. Thanks for reading and feel free to share or comment. XOXO Coco
Check out this short clip of your trip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S40VAagppRw