CABO TRiP FEATURED IN FOAM
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 05:40PM here is the article i wrote that FOAM magazine featured online and a few photos from my trip:
“Where is everyone?”
Pushing a few sweaty wisps of hair out of my eyes, I kicked off my shoes and clutched the iron railing in front of me in disbelief. My feet, rejoicing to be free of their confining straps, gripped the stone floor under me and tingled at the coolness of it. My arms, aching from the bulky surfboard bags I had manipulated up 3 three flights of stairs and into our living room, were relaxing into a comfortable rest on the railing over looking the ocean. The heat that had momentarily taken my breath away was forgotten, as were all the other minute details of my arrival on the balcony of our condo as I looked down onto the waves making their way towards the shore below. They were rolling towards me in a way that felt like an indifferent yawn, giant green faces that pushed and bumped their way to the steep beach yards away from where I stood. I had not expected them to be so big. The soft evening light playing on their faces gave them an inviting and deceivingly gentle personality. The sun that was slowly dipping itself into the mountains behind me was mostly gone, and there didn’t seem to be enough of it left to produce heat of the intensity that I was feeling.
“I don’t know…” my dad replied, trailing off. Tearing my eyes from the surf, I looked over at him and watched the planes of his face dissolving into the expression of disbelief. I smiled. From the looks of it, our trip was going to be a successful one.
My dad and I were in Cabo for a weeklong surf trip. My dad had come as a photographer for my surf sessions and I had brought my camera along as well to capture my own moments from the trip. This was our third trip together, as we had discovered the merits of taking trips where it was simply the two of us, surfer and photographer. We always came back with more than our fair share of images, and the fact that it was only the two of us meant that we were running on our own time schedule with our own priorities. We could collaborate on shots as freely and spontaneously as we needed. Excitement, anticipation, and impatience all found their way through my senses as I thought about the days ahead and the promise of many wetsuit free surfs in the 85 degree water.
And we weren’t disappointed in the least. Every day at sunrise, I sipped my coffee and let my brain awake and stretch from a long night’s sleep. Every day, I would sit on the beachfront patio and watch the waves lazily spin their way over urchin-encrusted boulders onto the beach strewn with dead puffer fish and bits of shell. Every day, I would think that we were more than lucky to be getting such good waves, again. It almost didn’t seem fair. The eternal question of the trip, that became almost redundant thanks to its overuse, was, “Where is everyone?” Certainly there were a couple people out, maybe 5 or 6, but considering the quality and consistency of the waves, it was absurd to think that no one else either knew or cared about the caliber of waves presenting themselves to us day after day. I had been to Cabo several times before, and to see so few heads bobbing in the lineup made me equal parts elated and confused. I tried to think of possible reasons for this: perhaps the global economic crisis had thrust surfers so far into frugality that they were no longer able to take even a quick and relatively cheap trip? Were reports of the H1N1 “swine flu” global pandemic, that had originated in Mexico, causing even the most dedicated surf vagabond to rethink their yearly surf escapes? Whatever the various reasons and explanations for the uncrowded lineups, it was by no means a disappointment. We filled the hours of each day that came with as much surfing, as much photo-taking, as much adventuring, as we could. We filled our days with so much that in fact, by the time we left, we were at the physical stage that is so far past tired that it hovers on complete immobility. We could barely move for all of the surfing and sun that our bodies had endured over the past week.
Draping myself on one of the benches in the airport awaiting our plane to arrive and whisk us back to California, I let the air conditioning soothe my burnt arms and legs as my mind replayed the week’s events. We had experienced a Cabo that few would be fortunate enough to experience. I couldn’t help but think again about the lack of crowds, the emptiness of the lineups, and the reasons behind it all. I had guesses but no answers definite enough to be statements of fact. What I did know, what I did come away with, was the thought that now is the time to be stepping out, traveling, seeing, doing. In a time when our pile of problems seems to be significantly larger than our pile of solutions, we have the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the rest of the world’s insecurities and experience life like never before. News reports, twitter feeds, and nightly broadcasts may be telling us all the negatives to look out for and protect ourselves from, but I say there is a whole lot of good to be seen and experienced for the ones willing to go. Get out there, experience all life has to offer, and turn off your tv. Do it.
Reader Comments (1)
hi schuyler! grandma and grandpa told me to check out your blog/site and it is sooooo cooool! lovin' it, girl! I wish I could surf as well as you can. miss you form thanksgiving and hope you are enjoying shaving that couple inches off of your haircut! it looks great, by the way! <|:>) ---( man with hat smiling)
love you!
luisa