Ian in Bali

Vaccination & Stuff

2008-05-16T05:09:00.001-07:00

I went to the see a doctor today to get all the vaccination and medicine I need for Bali. I didn't think it would be a big deal, but guess I was wrong. He gave me a lot of stuff to read, tons of medicine and quite a few shots. That's what I came home with:

I hope he's just a reeeealy carefull doctor and it isn't quite that dangerous over there ;)

I'll be writing again soon. Take care eveyone!

So close

2008-05-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to get really excitet now! It's been so long since I've been standing on a surfboard. Now the ocean is just 5 weeks away. (and about 7'500 miles...)

Today I discovered a really nice looking longboard on ebay. I don't have the money to get it right now, but that might just be the perfect birthday present, hehe:

Anyway, as my trip gets closer I'll finally be able to post more interesting stuff. So be sure to check back soon!

Rip off!

2008-04-25T04:43:00.000-07:00

I was checking some online shops lately to order a few clothes I still need for Bali. (like rashguards, board shorts and so on) As I was looking through some european stores I realized that everything is insanely expensiv. Billabong board shorts for example cost about 130$/piece here in Switzerland. As I talked to a friend who lives in the US about that, she told me that I should check out some US stores for comparison.

I first doubted that it would make such a big difference (considering that I'd still have to pay shipment fom the US to Switzerland) But when I checked those stores I couldn't belive it! The difference in pricing is just huge! Here are some exapmles:

Billabong T-Shirt: US 20$, CH 60$ (+200%)
Rip Curl board shorts: US 45$, CH 130$ (+ 190%)
Billabong Rash Guard: US 25$, CH 65$ (+ 160%)

The companies are just completly ignoring the fact, that the $ lost so much value over the last few months. What a rip off! From now on I'll just buy all my clothes in the US and have them sent to my by a friend.

2008-04-22T02:10:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting at university in Bern right now, listening to some boring lecture about cultural geography. If this room would have any windows I could see the rain fall out of dark grey clouds. It's been pouring down for over two days now and forcast says that it'll be like this all week. How fun it is to get up in the morning...

Oh well, at least I dicovered that in about two weeks the Billabong Pro surfcontest will take place in Tahiti. Last week I've been watching the Quicksilver Pro Durban contest in South Africa. Unfortunatley they didn't get a good swell and therefore only small and unpredictible waves. Won't have that problem in Teahupoo, hehe! Live stream will be availible on www.billabongpro.com starting the 8th Mai.

Getting closer

2008-04-20T02:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, only seven weeks left untill I'm leaving for Bali! So much anticipation to finally be surfing again! I just can't wait to leave; right now I don't have anything to hold on here. My love is far away and the only thing that brightens up my mood is when I think about my trip.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about leading a simple life on the beach. I know that this is the dream of many surfers, and it is very, very hard to fulfill. But when I'm done with studying in a few years I just might try to find a way...

The Wedge

2008-04-07T03:47:00.000-07:00

Still not much news on my trip to Bali, just have to wait for those last 65 days to pass. I really can't wait to be getting on a surfboard again!!

In the meantime take a look at this freaky wave called "The Wedge". It's not always that big, but when the swell is just right the waves double up and create a monster! (Location is OC California) What impresses me most is that this is a shorebreak. When it brakes the lip of the wave basicly crashes down directly onto the beach. Quite some people already broke their backs there...

Skimming

2008-04-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

I came upon an really interesting video today. I would never have thaught that you could actually to that kinda stuff with a skimboard! Check it out:

And whoho, April finally arrived and there are exactly 72 days left untill my plane leaves for Bali! Can't wait!

PS: The song is called "Road to Zion" by Damain Marley

Just surfing

2008-03-31T10:41:00.000-07:00

I finally got my Visa application out today. I still don't understand why Indonesia wants every European to get a Visa for 60 bucks... I guess they just want to get as much money out of us rich Europeans as they can.

I stumbled upon a beautiful music video today. What could be better in life than to have a wonderful girl, surf all day long and make money by selling your music? Nothing right? Well, one guy really knows how to live. Here is Jack Johnsons "Breakdown" from the album "Inbetween Dreams". Enjoy

Teahupoo in 360°

2008-03-24T01:36:00.000-07:00

The waves in Teahupoo are surely among the most amazing water mountains our oceans can produce. If you haven't seen Laird Hamilton yet, how he drops into one of these monsters, you really missed something.

The waves in Tahiti are awesome but there has been so much coverage on them that it was time to put them into a new perspective.

Redbullsurfing.com mastered this task brilliantly. They went to Teahupoo to get some footage, but instead of a normal camera they used one of these fancy new spherical cameras that can take shots in any direction. Have you ever wanted to be able to control what the camera is looking at? Now you can do it!

We're all paddlers

2008-03-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

The weeks are passing fast now and I think I'm doing pretty well on my workout. It's important to me to get in good shape for Bali this summer. I had to learn it the hard way that surfers are actually more paddlers than surfers. Last year I went to Hossegor (France) and hadn't been surfing for a long time. It was really frustrating to have to leave the water after a few hours just because my arms were almost falling off... Shouldn't happen this year though. I'm training five to six times a week for about three months now... At first I just focus on endurance, but after a while it got boring and I started to add quite some weight lifting to my daily routine.

The most important thing that I changed though was my nutrition. I dropped most things with sugar from my food plan and replaced it with stuff that contains lots of proteins. And no more coke, no more soda - just water, lots of water. So now, about 15 weeks after I started, I gained about 8 kg of muscle mass:

Oh and I almost forgot, today I finally got my flight confirmation! I'll be flying from Zürich with Singapore Airlines on the 12 of June. It'll be a hell of a long flight, but I'm sure that every second inside the plane will be worth it.

Three months left...

2008-03-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

So here I am at home watching the rain pouring down on my balcony. Kinda weird to think that in less than three months I’ll be sitting on a surfboard in Bali ready to catch some waves. It’ll be hard passing the next weeks studying for university, writing exams and everything…

I still don’t really now why I chose Bali. When my girlfriend, (ex-girlfriend I should say by now…) left for South America in January, I felt the need to make a trip myself. A few weeks ago I stumbled upon some pictures of Bali and well, I checked out some surf camps and got myself a flight.

Thats the camp I'll be staying at:

This is actually the first blog, or travel report I’ve ever made. I don’t know how it’ll turn out but I’ll do my best to keep it as interesting as possible. The camp I’ll be staying has direct access to the Internet, so posting here regularly shouldn’t be a problem.

This blog is all about surfing and photography. So if you’re into one of these two things I’m pretty sure you’ll have some fun checking back here. I’ll also be posting some stuff about how I’m getting in shape to be ready for some intense surfing.