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There’s your usual surf road trip and then there’s a ‘real’ surf road trip! If you want to make the most of everything that crosses your path then there is only one way to do it… and that’s to leave the car at home and walk! Travelling at a slower pace you can be sure you’ll see more places, meet more people and experience the country and surf to a whole new level. And if you’re going to carry all the equipment for your journey then you might as well make sure it’s the equipment you really want to use… and surf on!
And that’s exactly what Thomas Oschwald has just done! Thomas has just finished walking/running/skating the 4000 kilometre journey from his home in Switzerland to the west coast of Portugal. Covering 50-75km each day and pulling behind him a trailer with all his gear including a tent, paddle and his Fanatic Stubby (hard board)! It took Thomas 3 months to reach his final goal Cabo de Roca in Portugal, stopping off for afew surfs along the way.
Why did Thomas choose to walk 4000km with his SUP? you might well ask, when he could have chosen a much easier and quicker option! Well Thomas explains why…
“No, I do not want to chain my life to social norms. I want to take full advantage of my potential and find out what I am capable of. I want to experience my limits and get to know the unknown and the unknown in me. Not just in my life, but again and again. For me that is the meaning of my existence and the answer to the why.”
“Why does our action rarely match our true thoughts? Why do desires flash like flashes of light and go out again? Why do we not make more of our opportunities? Is it fear, a reason or just laziness?”
“Some see things and ask why? But I dream of things that do not exist and ask why not?”
The thing we really like about Thomas’s whole expedition is the fact he is doing it with a ‘Real Board’ not an iSUP which is the board of choice for most adventurers. We get so used to seeing people take iSUPs on micro adventures because they’re easy to transport. But if you want to make the most out of the good waves like Thomas did, then you’re just going to have to work out a way of carrying a longer bigger object! If you put in the hard work, when you turn up to an empty beach with perfect waves there’s one thing for sure… you’ll be glad you put the effort in and brought your hard surf SUP!
“A journey, a dream or an adventure should never lose the uncertainty and always keep the chance to do something seemingly impossible.”
“Life is an adventure. Live, feel, love, laugh, cry, win, lose, stumble, but keep getting up and moving on.”
Well done Thomas. You have certainly inspired us to walk off the beaten track with our chosen SUP. We now just need to find the time to do it!
Visit Thomas Oschwald’s website for more photos and details www.mikroexpedition.ch
Images by Thomas Oschwald