Live, Love, Lore – My Surfing Origin Story

My surfing origin story began 6 years to the EXACT MONTH (how crazy is that?) before I ever picked up a surfboard. Seems like some timelines have to marinate for a while before they’re meant to be. 

Some people discover new places through guidebooks. I found the place (and the sport!) that changed my life forever through Bumble. 

Back in 2020, I was freshly single and on a family vacation in Mexico. I’d just broken up with my Australian surfer boyfriend, so I decided to download Bumble, because, por qué no?

I wasn’t interested in surfing (yet), despite having dated many an Aussie surfer boy, slapping shaka stickers on my water bottles, wearing puka shell necklaces growing up, and one of my favorite perfumes being called “Surfer Girl” which dispensed from a surfboard-shaped bottle. Was the Universe hinting at something here? 

Little did I know that what I was about to find on Bumble would lead me to fall in love with … not a man, no. But surfing. Six years later. 

I ended up matching some guy on Bumble and must have set the distance for an ungodly large amount, because of all the things I remember, I remember that his location said “Puerto Escondido”.

I knew two things. One, I had no idea where that was, or even what it was, just that it was not close to Huatulco (where I was staying with my family).

And two, that I liked the name. It had a nice ring to it.

Also, I couldn’t even tell you this man’s name. I have no clue. But I do remember he was in Puerto haha. 

Well, fast forward to six years from the MONTH that I first heard about Puerto Escondido. My family and I were on another vacation in Mexico, and I found myself taking a bus from Huatulco to Puerto Escondido, blissfully unaware of how my life was about to change. 

And, in the course of the next 4 weeks that I spent in Puerto Escondido, I proceeded to fall head over heels in love. First, with the town. Then, with surfing. 

I knew I was in deep trouble when I had initially only planned to spend one week in Puerto. Then all of a sudden that one week became two… and then three… and after almost four weeks in, I figured I should probably go back to the States for a bit and get a new phone. We’ll get to that part soon.

Because the moment I caught my first wave, I felt my brain chemistry shift. Yeah yeah yeah, you’ve heard people say that before, but really. Something changed in me. And it’s like I felt this deep, satisfying “click” of a puzzle piece put in place, somewhere deep in my soul.

For the first time in gods know how long, I was completely present. I had to be; surfing requires that. And I felt completely, utterly alive. 

To be clear, I also got held under on the paddle out to my very first wave ever and then proceeded to have an anxiety attack on my board. My cute little 21 year old surf instructor was not prepared to translate a therapy session into English, bless his heart. But it’s okay, because 20 minutes later, I was up surfing my very first wave and it’s been love ever since.

An eventful introduction to a new hobby, honestly. 

However, BACK TO THE PHONE SAGA.

My phone… and my purse … and everything in it … got stolen at a Full Moon Party during Semana Santa – WHOOPS. And if you’re wondering if my Dad pulled a Liam Neeson and almost helicoptered me out of Oaxaca at 5 am on a Saturday morning, yes, yes he did. 

Anyway, I did end up getting my purse back, and most everything in it … minus my phone (The thief left my phone case though. idk why, I really feel like the cherry Kate Spade case would have helped the resale value that he was going for). 

So I ventured into the town center in an attempt to buy a temporary phone and file a police report. If you’re ever looking for a fun (?) activity to do in Mexico that you won’t find in any other travel guide or travel blog, try doing this with limited Spanish, no translation app, and no Google Maps. 

I drew street maps on the back of pieces of cardboard and carried a piece of paper that had a Spanish translation of, “I need help filing a police report”. I still have that piece of paper hahaha. 

(Please know that this is all sarcasm. It was not very fun at all and was actually pretty hard and exhausting. If you’re new to my writing style, this is a good intro piece.)

I eventually bought an insane excuse for a phone that did the bare minimum it could to qualify as one. 

It was so bad and non-functional to the point that I would just get too annoyed at it to even take it out with me. It couldn’t text my friends and every picture it took looked like I had purposefully slapped a retro filter on it. Kinda cool, in a way. But also very annoying. So, I opted to just not really use it.

Except … ironically … I did download another dating app out of habit. Which led to a surfer boy or two and I thought NOT AGAIN, COWBOY. A dating app already got me to Puerto Escondido once – and we’re already here haha.

So, I was quite literally living a phone-free life in Mexico. I had come to Puerto Escondido for one week and was now staying for almost four, with a barely functioning phone.

Because apparently leaving to replace it sounded worse than missing a surf lesson. How’s that for falling head over heels for something?

Eventually, I felt like it was time to rejoin the land of working phones/21st century (my parents were very happy I was finally doing this), so I left my surfy dream-like barefoot little life in Puerto Escondido and hopped on a plane to Dallas.

Then, almost immediately, I booked a flight out of the country. To where, do you ask? Nicaragua.  To do what, you ask?  To keep surfing.

Psst: If you’re curious about where to stay in Puerto Escondido, check out this next post!

Psst psst: If you, too, want to fall in love with surfing and/or learn Spanish at the same time, check out Oasis Surf and Spanish School. This is where the love affair started. And to be fair, this is also where I decided I should probably learn more Spanish since this love isn’t going anywhere soon.

CIAO, xo – Andrea