07/04: wINDOws of Opportunity
Indonesia calls and I have answered.
I came to Indo in December with a dream job lined up for the season and my travel itinerary delayed for a year. Well, wINDOws of opportunity have opened and I think I will be spending more time here than originally planned.
In December I came to Bali to start another leg of my extended surf trip and to meet a girl. I met Samantha in Padang, Sumatra back in June when fate found us both at an unlikely bar in Padang called Fella’s. We were introduced by Ovi, a mutual friend whom I had accompanied to the bar and who Samantha had recently spent a long over sea trip with returning from outer islands to Padang. It turned out that Samantha and I were destined for the same set of outer islands in 3 days time. I was travelling light and decided abruptly on a Friday afternoon to catch a Friday ferry to one of the surf spots to try and catch an incoming swell rather than wait for the Sunday ferry as planned. Samantha decided to wait until Sunday so as not to be rushed and she would meet me out there, maybe.
We ended up finding each other again about 10 days later at another surf spot where we spent a bit of time together, getting to know each other and surfing together. As we were living with different families we seldom crossed each other in the village and mostly spent time together out in the water where I learned that she was a charger, going after 6’ HTs and 8’ Lance’s Left, testament to her water time in Hawaii.
We parted ways on the outer islands without a goodbye when Samantha’s friend who runs a boat charter offered her a free and easy ride back to Padang on his boat. After taking the public ferry back to Padang to join up with friends from home for another boat charter I got in touch with Samantha on the phone and we agreed to meet up again when I returned in 2 weeks. We met when I returned and had a sweet goodbye where I got to meet her newest friend Oli, a monkey that she had taken in from some local kids when she was out on a boat trip. Oli was beautiful, but very protective of her new Momma and she did her best to herself between myself and Samantha when we were together. We said goodbye without plan or reservation, both feeling that there was something there that was not yet finished.
After Indo, travelling through Australia, getting news of economic breakdown in the states, Indo just kept calling. The thought of being able to extend my travels for another year for just a fraction of the total cost of my planned itinerary and the opportunity to get on a surf charter boat as a guide was just too much. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So I called Marcus, the owner of the Gaia Senja Motor Vessel and partner in Banyak Islands Surf Charters with whom I had previously discussed the possibility of taking over as his guide and asked him if he was still keen to have me onboard. He was.
All plans shifted, I would spend a month in New Zealand with Mom and then head back to Indo. First to Bali for some offseason surf and a chance to see Bali for the first time, then I planned to head up to Banda Aceh, the northern reaches of Sumatra, still very uncharted in the surfing world. Then I would meet up with Marcus in Sibolga to take the boat up to the Banyaks and learn the ropes of guiding surf charters on his boat before he bailed to take a season off. I had kept in touch with Samantha via email and after connecting with Marcus I contacted her to let her know I would be coming to Indo and to find out where she would be in December. As it turned out, she was heading to Bali in November and was planning on starting a life for her and Oli there…well, isn’t that convenient…next stop, Bali.
Well, coming to Bali and spending time with Samantha it soon became apparent that plans can and will change. I delayed my trip to Banda Aceh a month by extending my 30 day visa to stay in Bali. I even started considering buying land in Bali as prices for land were very reasonable, later finding that building costs would eliminate that dream, Bali building was just a bit out of reach. Another month later and I am extending my visa again. My relationship with Samantha is blossoming and I am still enjoying Bali too much to leave, thinking I will stay here until I go the boat and enjoy Sam’s company as long as possible.
Our life in Bali was not all sweet and dreamy though. On Xmas day, after only being in Bali for 9 days, Samantha and I were taking an easy day at home and trying to take care of a sick and slow Oli. 2 days before she had eaten something that had begun to deteriorate her insides, well that’s my theory, because the morning 2 days prior she had begun crying in the kitchen for no apparent reason. We used to let her run free around the property and she always comes to us when we call, but this time she wouldn’t leave the kitchen and when Sam came to her she said she smelled something chemical on her so she showered her. We had been spending a lot of time at the beach in the next days, so we thought maybe Oli was sick and moving slow from exhaustion or something. On Xmas morning she was looking better but a few hours into the day she was slow and lazy again, not normal for this little monkey. We called the vet but she was not interested in seeing Oli on Xmas day, she said to call tomorrow. Well, Oli didn’t make it to tomorrow. That evening, with the electricity out, Oli died on our bed with a shriek so sudden and ghastly…it was death calling. I had never heard anything like it. I was shocked and Sam was crushed. How could this little monkey that had been through so much die…we were, and still are, in a confusion as to why this happened, but all things happen for a reason and may poor little Oli rest in peace. We buried her in a grave that we dug on the property of our house, covered her with stones, flowers, and fruits. While she lived she was the luckiest monkey in Indonesia.
Marcus comes to Bali before heading up to prep the boat for the season, and we dream, deal, and then dreams die. Marcus is trying to sort out a side project but as will happen in Indo, business moves very slowly. We try and formulate a plan to have both Sam and I on the boat, we agree on it, we eat dinner together and celebrate it. Marcus calls the next day and reveals that it is just not possible. A myriad of issues exist and the long and short is that he needs to run the boat himself this season. I am out.
I can still stay in Indo. I have a really nice camera and can shoot pics and sell them in the remote locations of the Mentawais to travelling surfers and boat charter surfers. I can live cheap. Not all is lost. I connect with an old friend, Chris “Scuzz” Scurrah who runs Sumatran Surfariis out of Padang and he gives me a spot on one of his boats , the Budyadahri, with Yu, a Japanese surf guide who was the first guide in the Mentawias for me some 5 years ago. Me and Yu have great time, I shoot some really nice pics, get some great waves, and make a little cash from the surfers who buy my pics at the end of the trip.
Sam is going back to Brazil in May for 3 months to see her family, she has not seen Mom and Sister, nor Pops in over 2 years. I plan to take her to Nias and another outer island favorite of mine, Asu for a month before she goes, then I will look for more work on boats as a photographer, spend my time living cheap in the meantime, and wait for her to come back.
At this point the earlseyes mission of travelling the world on a set itinerary, capturing video footage of “what the world does for fun,” is somewhat derailed, or can I say delayed or rerouted… I am still taking video footage where ever I travel, capturing as much of what the world is doing for fun as I can. But I have decided to return home to San Francisco in December to spend 2 months with my family, introduce them to Samantha, before I set out again, probably back to Indo.
We are headed to Medan Sumatra tomorrow where we will meet my longtime friend John Potocny. I have known John since I was 5 and this is his second time coming to meet me on my journey. He will be the first of my friends to meet Samantha. We will spend 3 weeks together before he has to return to Hawaii. I am amped to have him along again.
Many people told me before I left that I would meet a girl along my travels that would change everything… I met Sam and everything has changed…such is life.
I came to Indo in December with a dream job lined up for the season and my travel itinerary delayed for a year. Well, wINDOws of opportunity have opened and I think I will be spending more time here than originally planned.
In December I came to Bali to start another leg of my extended surf trip and to meet a girl. I met Samantha in Padang, Sumatra back in June when fate found us both at an unlikely bar in Padang called Fella’s. We were introduced by Ovi, a mutual friend whom I had accompanied to the bar and who Samantha had recently spent a long over sea trip with returning from outer islands to Padang. It turned out that Samantha and I were destined for the same set of outer islands in 3 days time. I was travelling light and decided abruptly on a Friday afternoon to catch a Friday ferry to one of the surf spots to try and catch an incoming swell rather than wait for the Sunday ferry as planned. Samantha decided to wait until Sunday so as not to be rushed and she would meet me out there, maybe.
We ended up finding each other again about 10 days later at another surf spot where we spent a bit of time together, getting to know each other and surfing together. As we were living with different families we seldom crossed each other in the village and mostly spent time together out in the water where I learned that she was a charger, going after 6’ HTs and 8’ Lance’s Left, testament to her water time in Hawaii.
We parted ways on the outer islands without a goodbye when Samantha’s friend who runs a boat charter offered her a free and easy ride back to Padang on his boat. After taking the public ferry back to Padang to join up with friends from home for another boat charter I got in touch with Samantha on the phone and we agreed to meet up again when I returned in 2 weeks. We met when I returned and had a sweet goodbye where I got to meet her newest friend Oli, a monkey that she had taken in from some local kids when she was out on a boat trip. Oli was beautiful, but very protective of her new Momma and she did her best to herself between myself and Samantha when we were together. We said goodbye without plan or reservation, both feeling that there was something there that was not yet finished.
After Indo, travelling through Australia, getting news of economic breakdown in the states, Indo just kept calling. The thought of being able to extend my travels for another year for just a fraction of the total cost of my planned itinerary and the opportunity to get on a surf charter boat as a guide was just too much. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So I called Marcus, the owner of the Gaia Senja Motor Vessel and partner in Banyak Islands Surf Charters with whom I had previously discussed the possibility of taking over as his guide and asked him if he was still keen to have me onboard. He was.
All plans shifted, I would spend a month in New Zealand with Mom and then head back to Indo. First to Bali for some offseason surf and a chance to see Bali for the first time, then I planned to head up to Banda Aceh, the northern reaches of Sumatra, still very uncharted in the surfing world. Then I would meet up with Marcus in Sibolga to take the boat up to the Banyaks and learn the ropes of guiding surf charters on his boat before he bailed to take a season off. I had kept in touch with Samantha via email and after connecting with Marcus I contacted her to let her know I would be coming to Indo and to find out where she would be in December. As it turned out, she was heading to Bali in November and was planning on starting a life for her and Oli there…well, isn’t that convenient…next stop, Bali.
Well, coming to Bali and spending time with Samantha it soon became apparent that plans can and will change. I delayed my trip to Banda Aceh a month by extending my 30 day visa to stay in Bali. I even started considering buying land in Bali as prices for land were very reasonable, later finding that building costs would eliminate that dream, Bali building was just a bit out of reach. Another month later and I am extending my visa again. My relationship with Samantha is blossoming and I am still enjoying Bali too much to leave, thinking I will stay here until I go the boat and enjoy Sam’s company as long as possible.
Our life in Bali was not all sweet and dreamy though. On Xmas day, after only being in Bali for 9 days, Samantha and I were taking an easy day at home and trying to take care of a sick and slow Oli. 2 days before she had eaten something that had begun to deteriorate her insides, well that’s my theory, because the morning 2 days prior she had begun crying in the kitchen for no apparent reason. We used to let her run free around the property and she always comes to us when we call, but this time she wouldn’t leave the kitchen and when Sam came to her she said she smelled something chemical on her so she showered her. We had been spending a lot of time at the beach in the next days, so we thought maybe Oli was sick and moving slow from exhaustion or something. On Xmas morning she was looking better but a few hours into the day she was slow and lazy again, not normal for this little monkey. We called the vet but she was not interested in seeing Oli on Xmas day, she said to call tomorrow. Well, Oli didn’t make it to tomorrow. That evening, with the electricity out, Oli died on our bed with a shriek so sudden and ghastly…it was death calling. I had never heard anything like it. I was shocked and Sam was crushed. How could this little monkey that had been through so much die…we were, and still are, in a confusion as to why this happened, but all things happen for a reason and may poor little Oli rest in peace. We buried her in a grave that we dug on the property of our house, covered her with stones, flowers, and fruits. While she lived she was the luckiest monkey in Indonesia.
Marcus comes to Bali before heading up to prep the boat for the season, and we dream, deal, and then dreams die. Marcus is trying to sort out a side project but as will happen in Indo, business moves very slowly. We try and formulate a plan to have both Sam and I on the boat, we agree on it, we eat dinner together and celebrate it. Marcus calls the next day and reveals that it is just not possible. A myriad of issues exist and the long and short is that he needs to run the boat himself this season. I am out.
I can still stay in Indo. I have a really nice camera and can shoot pics and sell them in the remote locations of the Mentawais to travelling surfers and boat charter surfers. I can live cheap. Not all is lost. I connect with an old friend, Chris “Scuzz” Scurrah who runs Sumatran Surfariis out of Padang and he gives me a spot on one of his boats , the Budyadahri, with Yu, a Japanese surf guide who was the first guide in the Mentawias for me some 5 years ago. Me and Yu have great time, I shoot some really nice pics, get some great waves, and make a little cash from the surfers who buy my pics at the end of the trip.
Sam is going back to Brazil in May for 3 months to see her family, she has not seen Mom and Sister, nor Pops in over 2 years. I plan to take her to Nias and another outer island favorite of mine, Asu for a month before she goes, then I will look for more work on boats as a photographer, spend my time living cheap in the meantime, and wait for her to come back.
At this point the earlseyes mission of travelling the world on a set itinerary, capturing video footage of “what the world does for fun,” is somewhat derailed, or can I say delayed or rerouted… I am still taking video footage where ever I travel, capturing as much of what the world is doing for fun as I can. But I have decided to return home to San Francisco in December to spend 2 months with my family, introduce them to Samantha, before I set out again, probably back to Indo.
We are headed to Medan Sumatra tomorrow where we will meet my longtime friend John Potocny. I have known John since I was 5 and this is his second time coming to meet me on my journey. He will be the first of my friends to meet Samantha. We will spend 3 weeks together before he has to return to Hawaii. I am amped to have him along again.
Many people told me before I left that I would meet a girl along my travels that would change everything… I met Sam and everything has changed…such is life.
