When I was in Bali, I took surf lessons for 3 days. The experience was surreal.
It wasn’t the most comfortable thing to do. To blink open my eyes at 6 am in the bed and imagine throwing myself into the cold harsh waves of the sea. 3 days isn’t hard. But neither is not going back to bed.
Once you’re in the sea, it’s just exhilarating. It’s quite impossible to explain. Maybe not everything that can be bodily felt can be expressed in words.
Anyway, turns out the harder part for me was getting back into the sea after a riding a wave. Paddling against the waves really really exerts your body.
Even crazier is when an incoming wave is too fucking big that you have to let go of your board and just go head down into the water. Of course the wave doesn’t simply pass you. It tugs you with your leash and drags you under for a few seconds. Remember, this isn’t swimming or scuba where you have your goggles on. So you simply have to trust that once the tugging is done, you’ll surface and breathe fine.
These seconds, these few seconds are pure unadulterated adrenaline rush.
I realized later that surfing requires a fair amount of confidence. I would happily encourage anyone to try diving whether or not they’ve ever been in the water. But surfing, especially in big waves, requires that you be really comfortable in the water.
The last day of surfing was bittersweet. I knew that it’d be way too long before I’ll experience again. I have never lived in coastal cities to get these chances often. Ya, whatever.
But those 3 days, those few hours. Damn they were good.