Europe Arrival by Nathan Rivalland

I sit here writing this on my trundle bed in the sleepy surf town of Ericeira in Portugal, listening to a bunch of Basque friends speak complete non-sense that I can’t understand.

 

20 years old taking on Europe for the first time. Crazy.

It’s funny how time flies by, you look back on previous times and find it hard to believe, the amazing things you can do at such a young age. Being in Portugal, living it up on my merry travelling ways like an adventurous 20-year-old would.

 

It’s funny how you become so independent and so sufficient from your parents so quickly. Sometimes you feel disinterested in separating from your comfort zone where you are tirelessly longing for the care of loved ones, however by breaking from it, you feel euphoria, as you seek adventure out of your comfort zone for the great of good.

 

This is a short excerpt from day 1 of my trip, once I arrived in San Sebastián in Spain.

 

After over a day of travelling on planes x buses and all sorts of transports I arrived at San Sebastián in the Basque Country of Spain. Rolling in at 10:40pm it was as beautiful as I’d imagined even in the darkness of night. Huge buildings with amazing architecture, white street lights flashing onto them creating beautiful illuminations of light, glowing across the city for us all to see.

I knew it was going to be an amazing experience, and one that would be super different to what I’m used to.

 

Unfathomable was the morning sun as I sat out at Mundaka the following day with my Basque friends. Sheer bliss bouncing off the sun rays in the morning chills, with my boots, vest and 4’3 wetsuit giving me the warmth that I so desperately needed in the European winter waves. One after another wave barrelled endlessly down the line, surfers beaming energy as they shot out from the tube. I edged into a few, it was an energy rush that’s for sure, stoked to even be sharing the same water as all the local shredders.

Hot Chocolate soothed my throat as I sat watching the surfs beauty from the nearby cafe upon finishing my surf and as you do, I demolished a pintxo to finish the morning off.

 

That day went on, as I climbed cliffs to get to remote surf locations, almost dislocating my knee cap as I stumbled across slippery rock walls and in the meantime, trying my best to speak Spanish in communicating with my new Basque friends, which was pretty difficult with no prior knowledge.

I ate a hell of a lot of food. Amazing.

 

The typical day in the Basque Country and there would be plenty more to come.