Im sure others out there in swaylocksville know what im talking about when you wake up one morning and suddenly you realise that everyone around you has started to get their shit together. buying the house, stable careers ect, and here i am 10 years after leaving school, 10 years of always looking for short term work so i can get out easy, got nothing to my name really other than a quiver of boards. ive always been influenced by surfing magazines which portray this way of life. im not 30 yet but im starting to get spooked about the possibilities of a poverty stricken lifetime of paying rent until the day i die and and never being able to live near the coast due to ridiculously rising house and land values ect. ive always seen working a job as a way to save enough money for my next plane ticket and surf trip. then come back and the cycle begins again. i tend to not even show much interest in working for the companies that i have. the only industry i can forsee myself having any interest in is the surf industry. which is probably not the most stable of career choices anyway. any ideas out there from guys or gals who have gone through the same stress and found a way to live the surfing life and still have one foot in the serious world??
You are so wrong, there is no great drama in security .still have your surfs , still have your adventure , only the missus and kids come to.
im not saying its wrong pandanus, im just freakin that old father time moves so quick, honestly i could quite easily let another 10 or 15 go by, but i dont think that would be very good. so if anyones got a job vacancy in any business related to suring ill take it. however as most of you guys live in america and im in oz you would need to sponsor me a green card. thankyou
im not saying its wrong, im just saying how old father time moves fast and one morning you realise that 10 years has gone by and shit needs to get together. the only way i can save my self from falling into surfing poverty is to gain employment in the surfing industry. so if you have vacancies…
Different strokes for different folks. Just dont ever let anyone tell you that the "secure life" (an ever-popular myth) is the best you can hope for. If youre intelligent, resourceful and not afraid to step up to face a few of lifes risks, an independent, single journey does offer the least distraction and hassle-- perhaps not the happiest, but oh well-- thats another story. The truth is theres enormous potential for a wide array of catastrophy in any so-called "secure" lifestyle. Far more compromise, too. Theres no end to it! Then add the “missus and kids” and all the other trappings of the material world into that mix. Then multiply it many times by all the other deviously related factors that inevitably come into play at a moments notice, and THATS the “secure life”. Sure youll get those planned vacations, weekends off and juicy perks, but dont squirm too much under all that responsibility or youll start to feel the big collar and chain fastened around your neck. One day youll wake up and realize the precious little secure life that you thought you bought has really made you into nothing more than a cheap domestic slave. Certainly not the wisest choice for a hardcore surfer with plenty of options left on the table. Surf free or die.
I’m in oz as well. There are heaps of jobs in the industry if you are prepared to start from the bottom . It depends on the path you take . I am a fulltime train driver in the coalfeilds of qld. Part time shaper ,glasser ,sander ,pr,storeman …We have sold up and are moving south to gradually retire, I’m 35. Take a punt decide what YOU want to do ask yourself if it can support your lifestyle and run with it .At the end of the day you only have to please yourself(family).
live life of surfer get job, house, wife, kids think about living life of surfer be tortured house, wife and kids are great – but it is torture walking past a quiver of dry surfboards to the lawnmower and tot riding cars – killer!
If you are only 10 years out of school you have another 10 before you have to decide…really… Also on a serious note, at age 36 I changed skies and took a 2 week temporary entry level job at the near-bottom of an industry crash, worked hard and cheap, and rode it back up. Went from bonehead to pretty much running operations in 2.5 years. Went from living hand to mouth to having credit cards and a house in about 5 years. Kicked out after 8 years. Never lost sight of the notion it could all fail or be taken away, so planned accordingly. The smart thing is to do what you are doing now. Take and active interest in career things, try out a few. But get your surfing done “today”, because you nevere know what the future will bring.
Hmmm, I meant that I personally “kicked out”, not that I got kicked out. 2 weeks ago I dropped back in for 4-6 months to help out in a crunch, only to find the place in chaos. It’s aerospace, which is at another historic industry low point, but this place is booming and hiring…going against the status quo. What was the old saying? Only dead fish swim with the stream…
Hey Mick, Worry is the result of indecision. You’ll need to decide and move on what you want to do. I’m a regular 9-5’er with a family and house to support. Surf when I can. Remember that life isn’t static, it changes from the beginning to the end. You can’t, and shouldn’t, maintain the exact same lifestyle for the whole time. If you are already thinking about planning for the future and changing to get things together for that future, good for you. I think that just means you’re a grownup with a clue as to what’s coming up. Don’t get caught up in trying to make a perfect go of it. Remember that the job will evolve & change too. So start off with a small goal (like working at the same place for over a year) and you may see that you like it some. Learning the ‘game’ in any job is a big part of liking, or at least tolerating, the work and time put in. The $ can come, but it takes effort and time. There’s no shame in looking for work near the water, close to where you can surf before or after work… maybe at lunch too. The marine industry might be a candidate. Since your ‘here’ on Sways you may be interested in building or creating with your hands…? Build boats. Maybe a starter job in a boat-yard. That is a big industry where there is $ as you move on in it. I’m in publishing, which runs in cycles. Some parts of the year are nuts with a lot of over-time. Others are dead with a lot of time to kill. It doesn’t involve big $ but if you are reasonably intelligent and responsible in this industry you can hold a job that will take care of you and your family. One of my best perks is that the house we recently moved to has a shed/workshop for me to shape & tinker with boards and carpentry. It’s like a little vacation for me to go in there and create things. Who knows…Maybe you could work for Tracks, or one of the other Au. surf mags… They would certainly be sympathetic to a nasal drain in the office now and then. Whatever you do I’d say you should throw yourself into it and don’t worry about ‘what you might be missing’, that’s just counter-productive in every way. Concentrate on doing what you’re doing well, and surf when you can. It’s your life, no one elses, so don’t let others judgements bother you, usually the ones making the most ‘comments’ about what you are doing, or what you missed, are the ones who are worth the least attention. Just some thoughts. Hope that helps and might give you some ideas. Sorry for the long post… Best, Eric J
I think it is the sun cancer, or people perceiveing you as being a d_ck, because lots of surfers do have an attitude…