A Surfing Love Story
How did you get into surfing?
A fairly common question I get when meeting new people and the honest answer is, I don’t really remember. There wasn’t this one moment that I remember being introduced to surfing. I don’t remember my first wave. Looking back, I suppose that’s because my love for surfing formed and evolved over time.
My first memories of riding waves are on boogie board while on a family vacation to Florida. I was about 9. That was the first time I felt like a fish, spending every second I could playing in the ocean with a boogie board being my constant companion. I left that trip with a raw stomach, my first board rash. I also had my first wipe out this trip when my dad pushed me into a wave, probably the biggest of the day. I bailed, we still laugh about it to this day.
That’s when I remembered falling in love with the water, but when did surfing come into the equation?
At some point, maybe around high school, my dad came home with a Ron Jon foam top. Naturally, I assumed he was crazy- where were we going to use that, we live on a lake? Can you even surf on Lake Michigan? Turns out the answer is yes, you can (and turns out I’m now the one answering these questions for other curious souls).
Even then I didn’t dive into surfing much.
My next board memories are trying to paddle board in the Florida Keys. We rented a few SUPs and loved them! The following Christmas my parents got us a few SUPs of our own (it’s in our blood, we like something and we invest in it). After a couple summers of paddling around a glassy lake my dad, sister and I started to try and catch little waves on the paddle board. This was right after I had dropped out of college. This was the first time I remember really feeling a bit of love for surfing. (I guess it’s important to note here, there were a few other occasions where I found myself on a surf board, but I this is the first time I remember really loving surfing.)
I took that love and ran with it
Trying to figure out what my next step in life was, post drop out, I found myself booking a surf outreach volunteer trip. 4 weeks in South Africa spent learning to surf and spending time in the water. From there the obsession really grew and I bought my own board in South Africa and flew it home with me.
My South African souvenir.
I guess the rest is history. The love for surfing that just keeps growing has not only helped guide me around the world but it also helped me to find a reason to not totally despise Wisconsin winters.
My favorite place to surf, right at home on Lake Michigan.
So I guess I don’t quite remember my surfing start because it was a slow evolution for me. From boogie boards, to paddle boards, to South African waves, to lake surfs and surf trips. That’s the tale of my surfing love affair.
Surfing has helped me to evolve as a person as well, but that’s a whole other story. In short, it’s helped me become a water lover, a water protector and a surfer with a grom like excitement.