I've got my mind on vacation and vacation on my mind!

For the past year I have been planning two big trips. The first was to J-bay for the Billabong Pro surf competition and the second was to see my family. As PCVs we are allowed 2 vacation days per month, we cannot travel our first or last 3 months of service and under our old CD, we could use up all of our vacation days (if we so choose) after our first year. Aware of these conditions early on, I carefully planned out my vacations. I took a week for Christmas 2010 in Mozambique and then gave myself a week for J-bay and a little under a month with my parents leaving me with about 8 days to take the GRE and maybe one last surf trip in S.A. I had asked my parents to plan a trip roughly past my 1 year mark- which would give me something to work towards and my only requirement was that we had to be near the ocean for part of it. In the end, the winning destination was Italy! I decided that I would meet them there and I’d stop in Germany before hand. It worked out perfectly. I did 6 days in Berlin then met my parents, aunty and uncle in Florence where we took a train down to Cinque Terre, the 5 breath-taking towns on the Oceanside. I spent 6 days there where we hiked, played in the ocean, ate amazing seafood and even attempted to surf (but sadly all the surfboards were rented out). While my family stayed there, I went to Rome to see the jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring architecture and artifacts that I grew up studying about. It was mind blowing. I stayed for 3 days then met my family up in Venice for 4 days. From Venice we went to Florence for another 4 days and I went back to Berlin for a day then Paris for another day, and finally ended the trip in Jo’burg. It was an absolutely incredible, breath-takingly beautiful and wonderfully rejuvenating trip. The best part (well besides the amazing seafood) was getting to see my family again. Perhaps next year they will come to Africa? ;)

J-Bay

Growing up with a dad constantly watching surf movies and documentaries and who subscribed to Surfers Journal and Longboarding magazines, I quickly became familiar with surfers, surf styles, and most importantly- surf spots. My love for traveling started as a child and grew with age. As a kid I’d start packing months before our annual outer island trip to Oahu to visit family. I’d look forward to boarding the plane, sitting by a window and getting that delicious POG juice served on Aloha Airlines. In the 9th grade I was fortunate enough to go on a surf trip to Indo and my love for exploring exotic places sprung. I was hooked. But it wasn’t until college where I studied abroad twice that I realized travelling is easy and affordable, if done right. While studying abroad in Spain, some friends and I made it out to the Billabong Pro Mundaka 08’. The day before we got there Kelly Slater won his 10th world title. As upsetting as it was to miss him surf, we were able to catch CJ Hobgood win the tournament. It was a memorable trip and the following semester back in L.A., I found myself buying Surfer magazines, National Geographics, and travel magazines to plan out my next adventure, which to be sure always involved surfing.

So, coming to Africa I knew I had to go down to the famous world class waves that I’ve seen time and time again featured in documentaries and magazines; the ever inspiring Jeffrey’s Bay . Thus in my first 3 months at site I began planning my trip to watch the Billabong Pro J-Bay 11’. The competition was planned from July 16-26 and I decided to go down for the first week. But, as fate would have it, I got incredibly sick 3 days before my trip. I couldn’t keep anything in my system and my body was in shock. I stayed in the hospital until the day I left for S.A. Though I really was in no condition to be traveling, I couldn’t bear to lose money on the pre-purchased tickets. So on July 15th my friend and I went to Jo’burg then to Port Elizabeth and ended in J-bay. It was exactly what I needed and within the first day of arriving there, I started feeling better. The ocean was my remedy. It was absolutely amazing. We stayed at Island Vibe Backpackers located right on the ocean front. The hostel and staff was everything I could’ve asked for and more. The waves were small but I got in almost every day and we ate sushi daily! Unfortunately, the first night there my friend was mugged. Luckily they just stole her stuff and didn’t harm her. On our return to Swaziland, our Safety and Security Officer (nicknamed the Ninja) had been following the criminal activity at J-bay following our incident. He notified us that a business man was murdered there a couple weeks after we returned. This is just another realization and lesson to us all that even in the” safest places” we deem perfectly fine, we always need to stay cautious and take precautions in everything. In the words of the ninja, “Stay Vigilent!”

Kelly Slater, who was supposed to be the main event and attraction at the Quiksilver signing, was a NO SHOW to the competition. This makes the 4th-5th competition that I have missed him at. Maybe one day I will be lucky enough to witness him surf? Ha! Yeah right. I have the worst luck. Regardless, I will be at the tournament next year ready to cheer them on, and ready to brave the cold water without a wetsuit. Here’s to the Billabong Pro J-bay 2012!