all right
i am
going on a little adventure the fight
leaves pretty soon so
no time to waste
[Music]
okay let me explain what i'm doing here
i wanted to learn how to surf for a long
time but i've never lived on the coast
and so i never knew where to start or
how
this is just like anything in life i
think you just have to start somewhere
and what better time to do it than the
holidays
[Music]
tomorrow is a big day i'm very excited
look at the excitement on that face
[Music]
bro
oh my goodness i need to wash my face
the way the cookie crumbled this year it
became a little tricky to spend the
holidays with my family where am i
[Music]
who am i i had the amazing good fortune
to see them earlier this year and so the
gift i decided to give myself was to
head to the coast
wow
wow let me introduce you to donovan my
surf instructor this dude is a man of
the ocean i never once saw him wearing
shoes
this is him pulling money at the bank
without shoes here are some of his words
of wisdom
absolutely
[Music]
foreign
[Music]
can i just be candidly here for a second
i feel like i'm starting to live a life
i was scared to live when i was younger
there are a million excuses to not go
somewhere you've never been before alone
surfing is a little bit like solo travel
you get out there and you have no idea
what you're going to get
but there's a thrill from that unknown
and instead of squashing it we can learn
to relish in it there's a passage from
the alchemist that captures this idea
perfectly
tell your heart the fear of suffering is
worse than the suffering itself
and that no heart has ever suffered when
it goes in search of its dreams
because every second of the search is a
seconds encounter with god and with
eternity
let me ask you this how are you supposed
to know what you like and don't like
without trying
wow
all right day one sounds super
fun
recommended
breakfast for all three of us cost ten
dollars
unreal
and it was fantastic
the sea is calling
[Music]
progress is being made it's like a good
kind of fatigue every part of my body
hurts
you know doing this alone gave me a lot
of time to think about the crazy year i
just had
all of the shifts in how i see myself
and what i do and what i care about
experimenting with new things
learning about love
okay
so donovan and the other guys invited me
to play some soccer with them so that's
what we're gonna do
[Music]
i spent christmas with donovan and the
other guys that run the surf account
i've never spent christmas with people i
only met days before but it was a unique
and lovely experience and we all got
wasted and talked about life and surfing
until it got late
for my final day surfing i wanted to put
everything that i learned to the
donovan test me to a hidden beach in
chicago
and the only way to get to that hidden
beach is to take a boat across a lake
first we had breakfast at the boat
driver's home
the whole time i'm thinking where the
hell am i this is insane
such a cool experience
[Music]
is
[Music]
okay so where did i end up after about a
week of surf classes
well
i'm still not very good
it kind of feels like the second you
think you've figured it out
nature will put you in your place
[Music]
still i can stand up which is a surprise
to me and a very big win
perhaps the thing that i most loved was
that when i'm riding the waves i'm not
thinking
[Music]
it's like the waves pull you into the
present
[Music]
you know taking this trip alone made me
realize something
i think life is about making decisions
it's not possible to have it all that's
a lie that we try to sell to ourselves
the truth is with every choice that we
make we say no to a million other
possibilities that was a thought that
used to depress me i wanted to
experience it all
but here's the thing i didn't understand
before
with every decision comes an opportunity
and it's the chance to commit yourself
fully to something to give yourself over
completely to the thing that you've
chosen
and if you do it with enough
determination and patience
until your arms and legs hurt and you're
out of breath
a funny thing happens
you start living
[Music]
you lose yourself
this was a week that i spent living
it's like the waves were trying to tell
me something
don't try to figure it all out just do
your best today and that will be good
enough
[Music]
okay so i wanted to finish this video
with a few final thoughts as this year
is coming to a close this honestly has
to be one of my favorite videos that
i've made this year and may very well be
the blueprint for a lot of future videos
as i would really like to
do more kind of cinematic vlogs out in
the world so i'd love to hear your
thoughts on if you like this or if you
liked any recent video in particular and
why i've been trying a lot of
experiments lately you know the one
where i invited strangers to eat with me
in the best restaurant in the world was
also really fun and so i really just
want to say a big big thank you for all
of your support through all of these
experiments i feel like i don't say that
often enough my apologies if you were
super confused after my last video where
i parodied myself and didn't give any
warning then also my deepest gratitude
for the continued support on no backup
plan which is about to cross 100 000
subscribers and for streaming all the
original music tom fox and i have been
releasing this video isn't sponsored and
the adsense i'll make from it will
probably not even cover the cost of the
trip which is totally okay this was a
gift to myself for the end of the year
however if you are interested in
supporting my work the best way that is
free to do that is to leave a like and a
comment on this video and then the next
best thing which is a huge financial
support for me is checking out one of
the classes that i've released over the
last couple of years i've put a lot of
work into creating six different classes
since the pandemic started i'll leave a
link down in the description below to a
page on my website that shows all six
there are deep dives into the things
that i've dedicated years of my life to
getting proficient at so there is
definitely no class on surfing that's
for sure the most recent one that i just
released that i'm really really proud of
which is visual storytelling essentially
a breakdown of how i make these videos
and how i have created a career doing
this all these classes are my best way
of answering the questions that i get
from you guys so often like how do i go
about language learning how do i go
about capturing stories in the world and
editing them into the pieces that i
share with you and i can't do it in a
short youtube video the only way i can
do it is by taking hours of time to sort
of offer the full picture of everything
that i know about these topics so if
you're interested in checking them out
there's always that added benefit that
it supports me and helps me continuing
the work that i do so a big thank you if
you do end up checking them out
finally if you ever do take a trip to
puerto rido to
learn how to surf i highly recommend
checking out the pacific surf academy
they're not paying me to say this i
actually paid for my classes with them
okay and i do that so that there's just
no weirdness no obligation to say
anything i am honestly just saying this
because i had an amazing experience with
them and i think they deserve the
business okay having said all that
listen
this year is going to be big okay for
all of us let's stick to the basics
let's not over complicate things say
things one day at a time i think we're
all going to be okay i want to wish you
all an amazing new year thank you once
again for all the support it has totally
changed my life and with that i will see
you all very very soon
you