Spain – full of surprises

In all the years travelling Europe extensively I just got to Spain briefly in the early 2000s and then last year which was a bit of an eye opener because we really had a good time up Northwest.

Well, who would´ve thought I would do Spain on and off frequently, so here´s a long overdue Spain post...   I must admit, I never really got into seeing the value of spanish surf, food, people, culture and landscape until this year and as funny as it sounds it took a spanish chica to change that J

So on this trip I got to see a few amazing sides of that country and must say I´m stoked and I´m even trying to learn some Spanish which is f...n hard work of you haven´t studied anything for the last 20something years...

So far I´ve seen a fair bit of Madrid, the Picos in Asturias, coasts of Cantabria and some really pretty places in the basque country. I´ve tried cidre, chuleton, horseriding, am addicted to Gazpacho and Jamon Iberico. Long story short, I really love the place and look forward to the swell for next week and some solid waves across the border.

More than this I just feel blessed to be able to do what I´m doing right now, to be falling in love with a girl here in Spain, to surf every day and continue chasing waves and to get new inspiration and ideas every day from the ever changing landscape and culture along that trip. Yewwwwww

a magic day in Hossegor

we all know Hossegor has epic sandbanks most of time and if the surf is 2-3ft. it gets ridiculously crowded, often with a lot of my fellow countrymen who have a love for the Les Estagnots Parking Lot. However, as the first decent swell with 16 secs. ran into Seignosse the lineup was peacefully quite with a handful of guys who know what they are doing - actually a lot more than me. I´ve surfed a couple of waves that will stick in my mind, saw some mental waves with no one on it and copped the set of the day right on the head which showed me how f...n gnarly big beachbreaks are again.

September - the golden month in France

September in France ist he golden month and so was the rest of August. Theyseem to have had a pretty consistent summer anyway but as soon as the swells got a little longer period things got really interesting. Since I touched ground in France the swells were pumping and nearly every day was a cliche french late-season beachday. Less people on the beach, a different light especially in the evenings and some real punch in the waves made me really really happy over and over again. It was great to hang out with good friends Eva & Moritz and there was a mad week of surf with my buddy Kian which just didnt stop pumping. Even now after 3 months in the Van I enjoy it every day more and more adn love the life on the road. France, it´s been an awesome time! Bye for now and see you in a bit.

50 Shades of Rain

hahaha, the streak of bad weather just kept on going as if the North wanted to show me how much water can be dumped in a certain amount of time or that it can continue for days without end. Well, talking about the weather a lot makes me sound like an old lady at the hairdressers but well, it´s been an issue to be honest. So I made a little vid clip every day of the rain and will put it togther as a sweet little short movie ´50 Shades of Rain`. On a roadtrip to the remote Northern parts of the country I got to see some of the most breathtaking landscape I´ve seen.

BUT: it still was so hard to leave that place, because remoteness, epic waves setups, some good swells and the unique vibe of people and land just draw me to that country again and again. And it will again, probably some time in October when the proper waves come back, then there´s no place like that. A quick visit to 38 degree Madrid made me heat up a little and I´m really thankful to the Britton family who are absolute legends.

I´ve been welcome with open arms and hope I can pay back the hospitality one day with a trip through Munich or some other place. Good vibes! So, back on the ferry for now and off to France where some fun autumn swells and warm temps should await J

"Summer" up North

Right after heading north from Bordeaux leaving on a 35 degree day I got into a mean thunderstorm and the temperature dropped about 15 C up in the Bretagne. The ferry-ride was sunny, totally glassy and super smooth again. I didn´t really know what to make oft hat, but my friend Raffi summed it up pretty good, up North is a bit like a femme fatale – it can give you the sweetest moments and be an absolute nightmare some other times. And so it was, there were some brilliant moments surfing an 8ft. pointbreak or a barelling beachbreak by myself for hours in the nicest sunset or you would be sitting there in 12 degrees hailing winds and torrential rain while everyone back home was sweating their asses of. Well, and there´s still worse things, being in one oft he most beautiful enviroments in the world, being able to do whatever you want every day and take some time to explore the place, play guitar, read and so on.

My sister came around for a week which was real fun and probably one oft he very few trips we´ve done since we were kids.

Now off for a short visit to Munich before hitting the road again up here with the boys next Saturday.

On the road

So this it, am on the road now since about 3 weeks. After organizing everything back in Munich it felt so weird at first properly being on this trip. I made it as fast as I could to France because there was a good clean swell running. Since then Surf hasn´t been great but fun french summer surf. It does take some time to get used to having no schedule but it sure is amazing to have every day at your own will.

So far I had a fun time up in Cap Ferret at my good friend Eva´s place as well as 3 nice days down Hossegor way and visited legends Phippsy and my german friends Mel & Bernie. What´s amazing is being able to listen to your body and mind at what you really wanna do: if you´re tired you have a rest, if you wanna fool around on your BMX, have a surf, read a book on the beach, play guitar, you name it... It sure feels good to put some energy into stuff for yourself; learn a language, play guitar, be creative with things you like.

It will be quite a contrast coming to Ireland beginning of July coming from 30 degree french summer days. Here´s to enjoy life while you have the chance, I don´t look back for a second right now :-)

another trip to Portugal

it´s no wonder I always end up in this country, it´s always good times with good waves, some amazing people, great food and a little bit of nightlife as well. this time it´s been 3 weeks with on / off good days of surf, visits from some good friends and must say I really managed to chill out and get ready for the upcoming adventures.

new life

the blog´s been asleep for a while now for two reasons: a. there wasn´t happening much in my life regarding travelling or anything else newsworthy I wanted to post and  b. since a couple of weeks there has been some major change going on in my life which needed some proper sorting out...

so here it is, my new life: quit the job I had for ages at Planet Sports, rented out my place in town, sold a lot of things that I always took along the journey but never really needed. You start to realise it if you miss anything you got rid of and with most of it it´s rather been a blessing. Of course leaving the company was a big step and I´d have to say I´d never imagined the amount of experience, knowledge, confidence gained and fun times I had throughout the span of 8,5 years but it was time to move on. Since that day there´s been heaps of things going on: I moved in with the mad prof Andy Fox for a little bit, had the honor of being the best man for my longtime friend Dave (this legend got me into surfing), bought a proper campervan and mainly put time into organizing a longer trip with that beast coming up soon. Life just feels really "alive" again when you get the chance to organize things for yourself, sort out your life and spend time with things that have value to you and not necessarily to other people - this is a gift everyone should make to themselves every once in a while, sometimes we tend to forget that all this is OUR life and by no means is it set like it currently is, you can change it in a second. Which basically meant for me seeing a lot of people, getting some toys, visiting museums, learning to fly a drone, etc...   So, long story short, there´s gonna be more stories to tell in the near future about this upcoming trip and the good times ahead. In the meantime it felt right to zip off for a quick trip to Portugal even though the forecast didn´t look too flash, but man did good old Nazare surprise....

Liguria delivering

It´s been nearly a year and there it was, a pretty unusual pattern with swell for 5 or more days straight and favorable weather conditions in that most beautiful corner of the liguarian coast. 3 days of firing waves, marathon paddles and walks around the bay, beatings that were no bit short of Nazare´s power with that size, beautiful weather, good food and some great company...    it´s a fickle place to get good or many waves when it´s big (first day) but once you´re on it things get intense, especially near the inside section :-)

Return to the Island

After pumping Xmas time in Nazare it was time to get back to the Island which has really turned into a second home for me over the years. Countless trips, the best memories and the amazing hospitality of my friends there will always keep me coming back. To be honest this wasn´t a winter for the place but even getting skunked there has to be better than the funnest days at home. It gave me a chance to snorkel along the notorious spots to check the bottom contour and find out why these waves hold any size you´re willing to handle. At the end of the trip there was a good swell and it seemed that slowly the good patterns are kicking in again. It´s not exactly the place you would expect the biggest fireworks in the world but for some reason these guys decided to blow the place to bits every year and put on a proper show for cruise-ships, old german tourists and the whole population of the island. Even at 2 ft. the place taught some lessons and showed that it´s really fickle and demands a lot of patience and commitment once the place gets firing.