Life by Rio Millington

Surfing has changed my life. Surfing has shown me what it means to live.

I started surfing when I was 13. My dad showed me a video of Sri Lanka one night and said, “You’re either coming here with me for two months or going to boarding school, your call”. So there I was, a kooky little girl at the airport with a 7ft gun which i hurriedly picked up of Trademe the week before the trip, having absolutely no clue which way was up on a surfboard.

Luckily i progressed a bit from there.

I remember the first time I got that feeling that only a surfer knows, when i caught my first glassy wave and rode it for what felt like miles. Pure stoke, I was frothing.

That has been whats fuelled all the early morning wake ups ever since, the wet wettie struggle during a stormy surf at home, ditching school and the wrath of my dean, the 70 hours of sleepless travel with insane local busses and Jetstar dinging all your boards.

Just pure stoke. You can live off that.

Surfing takes you places. It takes you to far away beaches that you struggle to pronounce the names off, so remote and hard to get to, that only the daring few have ventured too. It takes you to culture rich countries with the colours, aromas, and sounds of Asia being an experience of their own. It takes you back to your family batch, the one that you spent every summer at as a barefoot wanderlust kid splashing around in the white water. Surfing inspires you to explore all corners of the earth in search of the perfect wave.

Today, many surf trips later and a whole new world discovered, I am grateful. Grateful for the adventurous spirit my parents installed in me allowing for these experiences, grateful for the extraordinary people i’ve met along the way, grateful for the ocean and its beautiful ways.

Here are just a few of those memorable moments..