By Anna Nadolna, SUPer Whale Founder
No matter how much the price of Bitcoin fluctuates, Didi Taihuttu is already a winner. He sold all of his belongings to invest in cryptocurrencies and is now travelling the world with his family. It’s a perfect Millennial story about a self-made man that taps into a number of contemporary trends: #vanlife, minimalism and digital nomadism.
For those who live and breathe the ocean, the only way is surf. But who doesn’t really relate to the type of culture that evokes our affinity with the sea, connection to nature and a free-spirited lifestyle. We’re all hardwired to react positively to water and as Wallace J. Nichols, a marine biologist, puts it, we all have a “blue mind”.
Beautiful rendering of surf life by Hanalei Reponty-Gudauskas, a surfer and founder of ABYSSE
Not being born on the coast, I’ve always been drawn to water. We were lucky enough to spend every summer at my grandparents’ house near the lake. My sister and I learnt how to swim when we were 3 years old and it was a continuous struggle for my mom to get us out of the water ever since. Everybody on the beach knew the twins and watched the spectacle, amused as my mom kept calling “Ania and Kasia out of the water!”
Shredding since 1981
My defining moment was when I sat in an empty movie theatre and watched Luc Besson’s ‘The Big Blue’ movie. At that point I knew, I will forever be a water baby. The movie left me speechless and Eric Serra’s music always brings back that indescribable feeling of longing, a mood that goes deeper than anything else. Only being in the water can recall this feeling, a sense of letting it all go and submitting yourself to the sea flow. Even when it’s rough, you go under the surface to find a peaceful space and just embrace the quietness.
Whenever I go for a paddle, I get an instant thrill of adventure, even if I just pop out for an after-work session. I love the unhurried moments of launching, standing up and the first couple of strokes, then just gliding and contemplating the surroundings. It’s like being on a micro vacation, honestly, all you need is a stretch of flat water, a local SUP spot to get that beach lifestyle feeling. No hassle, nor long travel to the coast because the stoke is right there on your doorstep.
Paraphrasing one of the #vanlife’s mottos – ‘Home is where you park it’ – ‘Thrill is where you SUP it’. I believe that this stoke-anywhere-anytime feeling is one of the reasons why people get hooked on stand up paddleboarding. SUP lifestyle seems like an accessible one, that taps perfectly into the surf culture: the aloha mindset, the zero impact shift and the attire. It is fast becoming the next active/fitness global movement with hundreds of social media pages dedicated to all things SUP popping up: SUP yoga, SUP-with-the-pup, SUP outdoors activities, you name it!
At SUPer Whale, we commend this trend, celebrating SUP inclusiveness and pure, year-round stoke on daily basis. We’re forever grateful to our growing community and awesome dudes and dudettes that have joined our SUP tribe. You guys are what keeps us going!
Stand up paddleboarding has changed my life and everything revolves around it. I choose SUP lifestyle everyday with “Aloha” in mind. It motivates me to learn more about my body and its capabilities, and to push harder. It helps me understand my surroundings better, respect it and read it when I paddle. SUP lifestyle is my way to challenge myself and instil new ideas again and again. It makes me creative and relentless. Aren’t we all in the pursuit of the next thrill?