I wake up at 5am. Total darkness. I’m literally in a primitive hut in the middle of the jungle.
My shit is not tight at all so all kinds of insects get through into my crib all the time. God bless my mosquito net tho.
As I wake up I listen to the million different animals all around me already well along with their day.
Birds, insects, and whatever the fuck. I don’t know. They’re cool though.
I climb down my stairs, grab some of the best fruit I’ve ever tasted (nothing like local tropical fruit) and quickly check the surf app.
Looks good for a shitty beginner like me.
So I finish up my fruit, pack my shit and head out. Dawn outside. Beautiful.
I’m walking up a hill, towards the main road and the bus stop, when suddenly I hear the deep rumbling of a diesel engine thats done almost 700,000+ kilometers (I checked the odometer).
“Oh fuck” I think to myself. “No way I am gonna miss my ride to town and not be able to surf today.”
Before I even get to the top of the hill the bus has flown past me.
The bus schedule is kinda fucked in Costa Rica. Sometimes it 30 minutes late, sometimes it 10 minutes early. On this day it was just a couple minutes too early for me.
But whatever. I just walk to the bus stop anyway and throw out my thumb hoping someone is gonna pick me up.
And luckily, after about 5 minutes a truck pulls out of a driveway a little further up the road and stops at the bus stop. A guy sitting in the truck bed with his 3 surfboards tells me to hop in.
Sweet. I squeeze in, grab onto something and we take off.
As we’ve swerving down the jungle roads of Costa Rica’s pacific side I feel the lovely humid wind in my hair and see the sun just peaking through the trees. “How did I end up here” I think to myself.
I could be sitting at home in Denmark. Freezing weather, zero UV, almost no sunlight. But instead I’m here.
Because I just said fuck it, booked the trip and figured it out along the way.
As we are making our way towards the beach I talk a little with this other guy that got thrown in the back. 50 year old canadian dude. Super chill, just sipping his coffee before his morning surf session.
One thing I picked up from the 5-10 minute ride was that he wasn’t a fan of Trump lol.
As we get to town I tap the back window signaling to pull over. They do, I shake my new canadian friends hand saying thanks for the ride and start making my way to the surf shop where I keep my board.
I quickly put some sunscreen on my face, grab my board and start walking towards the ocean.
As a beginner/intermediate it’s always intimidating to get out there. Even the relatively small waves (4-6 feet) seem pretty scary when you’ve only been surfing for a couple months.
But that’s also what makes it so sick. Facing your fear and just fucking going out there. The feeling afterwards is amazing.
It’s like seeing a beautiful girl and actually having the balls to go up and speak to her. Even if you get rejected in front of everyone, you still feel better afterwards than if you’d come up with some bullshit excuse to not do it.
I throw my board in the water and start fucking paddling for my life trying to make it out across the break without getting absolutely pounded my a set.
Sometimes I make it without even getting my hair wet, sometimes I get pounded by 5 waves. That’s life.
I make it out across the break, sit up to catch my breath and just take in the beautiful surroundings. Totally calm morning water, with the exception of a big ass wave of energy rushing towards the shore every 15 seconds or so.
I see the sunrise just barely peaking over the jungle trees. Beautiful. Nothing like waking up and watching the sunrise. Some big ass birds with giant beaks glide effortlessly above the water.
I just think to myself “this is what life is about”. Absolutely fucking peak. Everyone in this small town is just out here right now. Everyone is just living. In the fucking moment. The only thing on everyone’s mind right now is the next fucking wave.
Meanwhile, every other “normal” person is out here “grinding”. For what? I see all these videos about some young kid saying that if his life isn’t:
wake up at 5am
zone 2 run
ai automation online business
grind
grind
grind
gym
sleep
repeat
he doesn’t want it.
What the fuck is going on. Absolute NPC’s. They aren’t even thinking about what they want deep down. They just see this hustle and grind culture, ai automation and all that shit and think it’s what life is about. No.
Life is about living.
“But I got a job” you might say.
Fair enough. We all gotta eat. But at least for a time, try to just live. That’s why I went to Costa Rica alone at 19. I was drawn to it. I just wanted to try it out, see what it was all about. The surf, eat, sun, head deep in lord of the rings book, sleep, repeat lifestyle.
And it was amazing. Book the trip bro. Get out there before you’re too old. Before you got responsibilities, kids, mortgage, all that.
But back to my day.
I surf for a couple hours. On this day I actually catch a decent amount of waves. After a few months of consistently surfing I’m really starting to get the hang of it.
And let me just tell you, it’s absolutely magical.
There’s something about just being out there. The feeling you get when you see a wave, paddle for your life, actually catch it and just float away on the energy of mother nature for a short amount of time.
The kind of connection and presence that gives you is unlike anything else. I see why people get hooked on surfing.
But after a couple hours I’m gassed. The cardio and just general strength you need for surfing is not to be underestimated.
I get to shore, grab my board and start walking back towards the surf shop feeling like a main character walking through the streets with my surfboard under my arm. Keep in mind in shit lol.
I get to the surf shop, say hello to the guys, get a quick shower to get some of the salt out of my hair and grab my shit to get going.
I walk to a nearby cafe just a couple hundred meters down the street.
“Buenos dias, quiero un espresso y un croissant almendra por favor”
I’m cooking with the spanish. Not really tho, that’s basically my entire vocabulary.
I pay for my shit with magic internet money aka freedom money aka bitcoin. Ursula von der leyen can suck my balls. No NPC matrix money around here brother.
I sit down, pull out my laptop and start acting main character again. Trying to look like I do some important work while actually just writing stuff online. Digital nomad type of lifestyle except I’m not making any money lol.
But it’s all good. The money will come sooner or later, so I don’t worry about it. I just relax, drink my espresso and eat my delicious almond croissant without a worry in the world.
After a couple hours of “work” I grab my stuff, buy a coconut for some peak hydration and get on the bus home to my jungle crib.
I eat some more food, relax a little, read my book and just enjoy this view of the jungle for the rest of the day:
That’s a typical morning living in the jungle. Unemployedmaxxing. Lifemaxxing. Whatevermaxxing.
The rest of the day I just do whatever. Bask in the sun, calisthenics, read some more, whatever. Lord of the rings is a peak trilogy btw. Read it.
But that’s it pretty much. Thanks for reading and godspeed.
— Kasper Veritas