PERFECT DAY 

HANG LOOSE BUT DON'T EVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN

A friend who lives in northern California with two children is a traveler just like me.  I won’t tell you her name for her own privacy.  She taught me a lesson to think fast and never hesitate outside the boarders. She is in her late 30’s, stands 5’11, blond hair, with an athletic build. She was a surfer her in her younger days and still has the desire to paddle out on her long board and catch a few waves in between traveling and raising her children.  Years ago she took a trip to somewhere in Central America for unknown reasons other than just to explore and fill that desire to see a new place. She traveled with a friend of hers who joined along on the adventure. They were two girls in Central America enjoying the beautiful world in itself.  Every beautiful destination has its dark side that you must never let your guard down to. They decided one evening to take a cab to the destination they were seeking out. The cab pulled up and diver was a heavy set male who spoke little English.  My friend sat in the front seat and her friend sat in the back.  As the cab was driving toward the destination the driver made small talk the best way that he could. As they were driving along they noticed that the cab driver was taking a very different route to get to the destination they were seeking. As he was driving past the small, two floor apartments that lined the main streets he started to take back alleyways.  The cab driver pulls off onto a dead end alley. At this point my friend had a worse feeling than they had when they were questioning the cab driver about directions. The cab driver, in broken English, began to order the two girls to give up all the money they had in my friends backpack. The cab driver began to raise his voice and ordered them to start giving him everything up to their personal belongings.  My friend in the front, in her form of Spanish, stated to the driver to not hurt them and she has the money in the bag. The driver ordered her to take the money out of the bag. As she went to reach into the bag, to make it seem she was getting out the money, she was able to instantly feel the switch blade she carried for any situation you would need a knife.  Without hesitation she pulls the knife out. Her friend in the backseat pulled on the cab drivers head at the exact same time.  As she placed the knife to the cab drivers throat she caused a small slice and it began to bleed a little. She then orders the cab driver to drive out of the back ally and into the main streets or she will cut his throat. The cab driver, in fear for his life, does what she orders. With knife remaining on the drivers’ throat, he pulls cab to the main streets. Both girls exit the cab and the driver speeds off down the road and out of view.

 I was able to meet both her and her friend on my last visit to northern California and we shared stories of traveling and surfing as the kids played around the patio.  She still travels everywhere to this day. The world is a beautiful place but it is still a world filled with all different kinds of people, some good, and some bad.  Where ever you want to go just always be ready for any kind of situation. It’s a big world and there is so much to see and do. Everything is an adventure. 

Live the Search

There is two types of ways to become educated about life and the world. The first way, and the most common, you sit in a classroom and listen to some bias opinion being told to you. You can look at photos and get a good sense of the idea of that particular location. I will never knock the educational system way of learning about the world. I give credit to ones who can sit in a room for 7 hours a day and listen to someone tell stories about amazing places and the history of it all and never get the desire after the first few hours to find the nearest airport and board a plane to that exact location. For us, it’s a different planet. We have no boarders. The world is our playground. Choose a location that seems amazing and head out on the wildest adventures of our lives.  Stepping out of your comfort zone to go and stand on the earth in some far off island that some have only read about in books. Sure its dangerous but it’s worth it. The survival, the adventure, the friends, the stories, the sites, the photos, the maps, the gps, getting lost, and finding paradise. As you travel you begin to see you are not alone. You meet and entire world of people who travel just like you. These people have the same addiction to unknown and chase it down. If you are social enough these people become your friends. It becomes a crew and you stick together and help each other survive and go on adventures together. This is who we are. It’s what we do. It’s hard to understand it all until you are actually living it but when you do its an addiction. It becomes who you are…Always searching for the next adventure. 

Trust me, it's paradise. This is where the hungry come to feed. For mine is a generation that circles the globe and searches for something we haven't tried before. So never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite and never outstay the welcome. Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience. And if it hurts, you know what? It's probably worth it.- The Beach

                                  <3 Sally Fitzgibbons <3

VOLCOM STONE AND HAWAII spot on

"Volcom is a surf brand from Newport Beach, California, but has a fierce reputation on the North Shore(Oahu). The fiercest. Kai Otton, an Australian professional who hates Stab (magazine) because they published topless photos of his ex-girlfriend, and hare me by extension, was surfing out at Pipeline once and was dropped in on by someone causing him to smash his face,badly, on the reef. I asked him if he had gotten into a fight, when I saw him, and he glared at me and then said he had gotten burned by someone at Pipe. I asked if he punched the offender and he glared at me again and said "No. He had a Volcom sticker on the nose." (the surfboard).. Kai does not ride for Volcom. He rides for Insight, which is hipster Australian, not fierce. Volcom is fierce. Physically intimidating."- Chas Smith (Welcome To Paradise Now Go To Hell)

Miss Oahu

I miss walking down Ke Nui Rd drinking a cup of coffee I got from Ted's Bakery. I would be mesmerized passing by Rocky Point. I could go right past Kammieland until it drops off at Sunset Beach or make a left and walk a little ways down to Pipeline. The side of the road loaded with cars and people waxing up surfboards. Every now and then someone with a broken board and a shaken up expression walks by. The air is warm and the ocean breeze kicking up the smell of Plumeria on the path. The days the surf was big you could hear it crashing on the reef sounding like thunder or a faint base drum in the distance. Walk up any path off Ke Nui up to the beaches and watch the best surfers in the world taking on some of the biggest waves you will ever see. The sand is thick and stretches for miles. Looking out at the ocean the sun is positioned to the left at all times and eventually sets behind a mountain range. You can tell where pipeline is due to the amount of cameras on the beach. Everyone trying to get that epic shot. You can hear the crew at Volcom house standing out on the porches getting stoked as bigger sets roll onto the reef. To the right of the Volcom houses is Jamie O'Brien's house aka The Red Bull compound. The Pipeline is his playground. You can always see him out there on good days. Everyone is just all over. Pro's, Legends, photographers, journalist,locals, tourist, etc, etc. It's like a dream land. Feels like a dream land. Can't wait for next winter.