One year ago I decided to take a year out, I wanted to do a gap year surfing, meet new people, enjoy the sea, get fit. I had no idea what I got myself into because I had never surfed before, but the whole scene just looked so cool! Beach boys in speedos, tanned bodies, barbecues at night, I wanted to be part of that!
I head of on my gap year surfing to Carrapateira. Carrapateira is small town with 20 houses and great fish restaurants in the most western part of Europe. Faro is just a few hour flight from my home town Amsterdam, but a different world! Relaxation, great secluded beaches and the best surfing waves to start your gap year surfing.
In one word Wow! Because I heard September was the best time to do surfing in Portugal I started my Gap Year surfing in September in Portugal. And the coastline of Portugal is wow. Especially Carrapateira. The beaches are all secluded, not easy to get too, but the jeep from the surf camp picked us up at the accommodation and dropped us of at the surf camp every day! The moment I saw the beach I knew I had made the perfect choice!
I was planning on three weeks in Portugal to start of my gap year surfing and this was the perfect time to get really in to it. I was riding the waves like crazy and decided that I wanted more! This amazing life style I did not want to give up for a while. I also loved the barbecues in the evening and how all surfers tell each other about the perfect wave! So cool.
I heard of a great gap year surfing programme in Ecuador where you would surf and have Spanish lessons 5 days a week. So I would take my Ecuador gap year surfing to another level and also learn how to speak Spanish. The Spanish lessons were given in the open air at the beach so after a Spanish lesson I could grab my board and dive straight in to the sea where my Surf instructor was waiting for me.
Loving the freedom and having learned two new skills I was ready to hit Australia, I heard about a surf instructor course that was given in two surf camps between Sydney and Byron Bay. And I had found out this surfing Life style was something that suited me, so I was ready to take it one step further and maybe learn to earn money with teaching others how to surf on their gap year surfing.
Because I had already some surfing from my time in Portugal and Ecuador experience I could do the surf instructor course in Australia in 2 months time. I had two months to become a surf instructor during my gap year surfing. This was the way to earn money with surfing and change my life for good, or at least for a while. It was hard work and the instructors pushed me a lot, but it was o worth it! After two months I was a qualified surf instructor and I had never been so proud of myself.
This amazing surfing gap year trip all over the world turned out to be perfect! I met great people, I am in great shape, a have gained more than one new skill, I benefit every day from my gap year surfing, I still enjoy beach time and feel free every day! Also I do know what I want to be when I grow up, a sport teacher, this is why I applied for a new study to become a sport instructor. This kind of trip I van highly recommend to anyone that loves sports and the sea and the beach!