Blogs are personal. Blogs are spontaneous. Blogs can be many things. They can be a way to let off steam, vent, or express frustration. They can also be the opposite. They can be a celebration, a way to express happiness and satisfaction.<\/p>\n
For my first one ever, I think it\u2019s best to start on lighthearted note, and talk about passion. Well, in this case \u2018obsession\u2019 might be a better word. Actually, let\u2019s just cut right to the chase, and call it what it is: an addiction.<\/p>\n
I am quite literally addicted to surfing. I’m not quite sure when exactly it happened, but like all addictions, it probably started slowly.<\/p>\n
The story begins in Australia, when I was a hapless neophyte studying abroad at the University of Melbourne. As many will tell you, Melbourne is not a stereotypical Australian city. The beaches are far away, and St. Kilda has waves about on-par with my hometown of Vancouver. That is to say, none. Once you get beyond the urban sprawl though, the coasts surrounding Melbourne have some world-class waves. This is where I first started surfing. I’m not sure if I liked it or not. I personally hate the cold, and the one thing I can definitely remember about that surf is that it was COLD. I mean can\u2019t-feel-your-hands-or-feet-when-you-get-out-of-the-water cold (interestingly, this loss of feeling in my extremities would turn out to be a common theme in my surfing)! Looking back at pictures of that day, I was smiling, but I’m not sure why. I was borderline hypothermic, I’m positive I didn\u2019t catch a single wave, and our bus got a flat tire on the way to the beach.<\/p>\n
Regardless of why I liked it, I definitely did like it. I know that I spent the rest of my year abroad in Melbourne leaving the city as much as I could for the beach, desperately bumming rides or borrowing cars.<\/p>\n
Then, I returned to Canada. A full year without surfing. No big deal. Then, I moved to Japan, and more specifically Hamamatsu. Hamamatsu has waves, but they\u2019re not very consistent. I would go the whole winter, and most of spring without touching the water. So, surfing is still a pastime, and has yet to reach its eventual status of full-blown addiction.<\/p>\n
After Japan came Taiwan. Thanks mostly to the climate, I was able to surf consistently during the 2 years I lived there. I doubt that I ever went more than 1 week without surfing while I lived there, aside from trips to locations with no waves (they were rare!).<\/p>\n
It must have been around this time that my addiction started, as nearly all the warning signs started popping up. I can clearly remember my girlfriend at the time remarking, \u2018I really hope there are waves tomorrow. You need to go surfing. You are the WORST when you don\u2019t surf.\u2019<\/p>\n
I couldn’t help but laugh. She was absolutely right. If I couldn’t, I was absolutely miserable, and became a pain to be around! When the waves were good though, I was like a different person! Suddenly, the air tasted sweeter, and everything was great.<\/p>\n
Is there anything you can\u2019t live without? What is your passion? Has it reached the same level that my surfing has? Does it affect your entire life? I know one thing for sure; I wouldn\u2019t change anything, no matter what!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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