At some point in your surfing life, you are going to get an itch. It’s going to bug you until you figure it out. You’ll dream of wide-open roads and waves you’ve never surfed, different cultures, weird food and all kinds of funky stuff. This is your mind’s subtle way of telling you that it’s about time you got yourself out of your safety zone and got out on the road.
If surfers had only ever surfed their home beaches surfing would never have evolved. It’s a natural thing; you get your neck of the woods sussed then you want to explore up and down the coast a little. These little coast runs are fun and vital practice in the expedition mentality you need to be a good surf traveller. So, it happens, you’re sat in the pub with your mates, running over the day’s waves and lying about your barrel when someone comes up with ‘the idea’- ‘Hey why don’t we do a proper surf trip? Like an overseas one? It’d be such fun!’ You agree in principle but then get the fear, language barriers, not knowing where to go or where to paddle out, the stress of airports, expense.
But fear not grasshopper, a Jedi fears not these things. Making a proper overseas trip to a whole other country is nowhere near as complicated or as costly as it used to be. It’s so cheap that you’ll be wondering why you haven’t already surfed half of the European coastline. So where to begin?
Well, first up choose a spot. Get inspired by our guide and have a browse. Do you fancy Moroccan points? Portuguese beach break fun? Or somewhere further afield like Bali or Sri Lanka? Depends on the time of year of course but any escape from the cold of the UK in winter is a good idea. So destination selected. Make sure your boards and wetties, if needed, are good to go. A spare board or two is a good call. Not got a quiver? Consider a second shortboard similar to your regular board, in case you snap your favourite, and a bigger, thicker board for when it gets a bit grunty. A good board bag is next. A low profile three board bag is ideal (one with built-in roof straps is double sweet). If you’re taking more boards, and know you’ll be doing some lugging, then a wheeled bag is a good call.
So you’ve got the equipment, we’ll assume at this stage you have a passport and all the docs and now can move onto the travel arrangements. Once upon a time, you’d traipse off to Thomas Cook and then have a heart attack when they dropped a price on you.
These days we are all travel agents. The interweb has changed the way things work, and the budget airlines have caught the ball and run with it. Have a squizz at all the budget carriers and find the best deal. The rental car next, if required, the deals through the budget airlines websites are generally cheap but check some independent ones as well. Accommodation used to be your last headache, but with all these lovely surf camps that are in all the good surf zones, it’s just a question of picking the one that is the perfect fit for you.
So you’ve got the flight, car, surf camp and gear. All you’ve got to do now is get to the airport on time and make your flight. Checking in first is always a good idea if travelling with boards. Also make sure boards are cool with whoever you’re flying with, check the guide on carvemag.com for this year’s airline policies.
So off you go. Go ahead, go shred. It’s only going to be good for your surfing and good for you and your mates. Not to mention your vitamin D levels. We all need to fly less, but one winter sun escape is pretty much essential to keep you sane.