I grew up in the era where my choices seemed slim and were laid out for me by a rather uninspiring careers advisor; get some GCSE’s, A Levels, a Degree and a job. Or become homeless.
I decided that I should probably work hard to achieve the former, so I studied, picked achievable subjects with more coursework than exams, ticked all the boxes and managed to hold off a life living in a cardboard box and slotted into society.
After a few years I felt something gnawing away at me, a yearning for something more fulfilling and realised that I had been tricked and this traditional route to adulthood wasn’t the only path to take.
With tuition fees becoming un-justifiable, degrees losing their value and entry levels jobs requiring more than just a degree, it’s all a bit confusing and simply unnecessarily hard. But the confusion has created the perfect opportunity for young people to take a bit of time out to learn more about themselves and what it is they actually want to do.
The most basic careers have become harder to obtain, but on the flip side pretty much anything is attainable and what would have once been called an alternative lifestyle is more societally accepted.
Now would be the time to spin some marketing talk into saying why our surf and snow trips are the perfect opportunity to find yourself, explore an exciting country, whilst gaining employable skills and qualifications etc, but I’m a morale man in my late thirties. A slightly confused late teen or early twenties graduate doesn’t need to hear what I have to say, so here are a few examples of different paths taken and lives created, all of which started with a Ticket to Ride Surf Instructor Course.
The author still trying to figure it all out in Sri Lanka
Josh Devaney joined Ticket to Ride South Africa back in January 2014. A young lad with modest A Levels, no real desire to go to University, but no real drive for anything else. Fast forward four months and could surf, traveled one of the most beautiful countries on the planet, was a fully qualified surf instructor and was working in our surf school in Cornwall. His first season led to the opportunity to work on our Spain surf camp, Sri Lanka followed, then before he knew it he was back in Cornwall. The cycle has repeated for a few years now and he’s currently cruising around New Zealand and can proudly say he’s living the dream.
His college mates are just graduating…
Josh ‘Leading’ a tour through Sri Lanka
George Hall was on the same trip as Josh and followed a similar lifestyle career path. A great surf instructor, with bundles of energy but after three seasons decided that a nice bit of routine is what he felt was missing from his life and has put his energy into a good old fashioned trade. A decision he could never have made without the formative years of ‘finding himself’. George now happily spends a chunk of his healthy salary on a couple of surfing holidays each year where he gets his dopamine fix.
Hard life for George in Spain
Another girl who has done a load of trips with us felt pressured to go to University from a young age and did what any 18 year old under pressure to do something would do; the opposite. she was determined to do something exceptional, something life-changing so she worked hard and saved up some money with a Gap Year in mind.
After completing Ticket to Ride South Africa in Winter 2016, she fell in love with surfing and spent the rest of the year on an epic Gap Year traveling the world with us. Her Summer was spent working at our surf school in Cornwall and now firmly hooked on surfing and traveling she decided that she needed more. Being knowledgable of all of our surf offerings she worked for us in Spain and Sri Lanka, spent some time in the head office and did a season at our Ski Lodge in Meribel, France. All of which helped build her confidence in her own abilities, encouraged her to grow as a person and led her to decide that it was time for University.
It was her choice and she was ready. She has recently graduated with a first class honours degree, has worked on many retreats around around the world and her love for surfing has given her a passion for environmental conservation, a subject she is now pursuing as a career.
It’s a big world out there!
So there’s three literal examples of how surfing adventures helped three lost young people carve out a life in which they want to live, which makes them happy and I wish them all the best.
However, it is worth noting that I still don’t know what I’m doing, but as Shakespeare said:
“All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.”
So don’t take life too seriously, obstacles come in waves which will work out in the end, just do things that make you happy and enjoy the game whilst you play. And as they say; you can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.