Will reckons it all began in a caravan in North Cornwall whilst he and Linley were working as surf instructors one Summer, but Linley would say the idea was formed during their own Gap Year.
However Ticket to Ride first took shape mentally, the mission became clear and simple: build an itinerary that captured the freedom and excitement of travel and surfing in adventurous locations.
More Than Just a Trip
“Get out. See the world. Travel. Try something new. Challenge yourself. Give something back.”
This became a kind-of mantra and essentially the heartbeat of Ticket to Ride. It wasn’t just about chasing waves, it was about immersing in new cultures, connecting with local communities and leaving places better than you found them.
From those first days traveling the Garden Route of South Africa to todays operations all across the World, the original ethos still holds strong and the same trip that started it all still runs and remains one of the most popular adventures on the calendar.
The Sri Lankan Chapter
Over the past decade, Sri Lanka has become one of Ticket to Ride’s biggest success stories. Opening up a ‘bricks and mortar’ Surf House run by an incredible team offering the best surf coaching in the country, combined with epic road trips to palm-fringed point breaks.
“It’s about the travel and the road trip about going to different places and finding your rhythm along the way.”
Looking Ahead
As Ticket to Ride looks to the future, the road still stretches wide open. There’s talk of new European routes and Will wants a surf school in the UK that his sons can work at but Linley still has something a bit more adventurous in mind:
“We’ve never surfed South America – that’s still on the bucket list. Anything with a point break tends to work for us.”
Twenty years on, the spirit remains the same: keep exploring, keep learning, and keep living the adventure.
Watch 20 Years Clip
