Traveling has been great for my spirit and my soul,I have met so many great people who are in a wonderful mind space, please let me explain..In Bristol I met many people who dreamed of traveling and experiencing things but it never really happened as they were still like me at the time working and living but still in Bristol..

When I decided to take the risk of selling my possesions embracing my fears and jumping on a plane into the unkown, I have now met many people who had decided to follow their dreams as well. Then I realised I was not alone and this is a good feeling to know you are not alone. If you combine this with being surrounded by may people living their dreams this is a positive environment for your mental health

Well If I try and articulate myself further, it will go like this,. often it appears one has to spend long periods of time with different people most days that they would rather see less of and not enough time with people they would rather see more of, this is due to life, work and circumstances,..

Furthermore many of the people whom we meet each day are not always at their best, with regards to their mood, their health, their mental state or generally how they feel about themselves, and where they are at in relation to where they would like to be eg, doing a job they dislike, living somewhere they would rather change, in a relationship they are not fulfilled in and generally pissed off they are not following their dreams.

This discontentment keeps people living in hope of, change, or maybe winning the lottery, It keeps celebrities in their celebrity status as an ideal to aim for and it keeps us all borrowing more money and spending more of what we do not have in an attempt to live a life better than the one we have immediately around us.

From where I am sitting right now, this seems positive for a nations economy because the debt keeps people going back to work on a Monday morning, it keeps the shops in business the pubs and clubs keep collecting any excess earnings  at the end of each week as people aim to achieve a state of euphoria at the end of a generally dull, difficult, stress full and tiresome week. Well I am speaking from how I felt much of the time when I was generally caught up in the so called ” Rat Race” in the UK. The newspapers and television seems to keep everybody in a constant state of anxiety and fear with regards the Economy, also there is a seemingly never ending War in Iran and Iraq and War on global terror daily in the news.

Everybody has dreams!

Reality is the example of life that takes place immediately and remotely around us both past and present.. This example is often all we have to measure ourselves against and furthermore it is often all we have to guide our hopes and desires. Well I discovered if reality is the standard I use in my life and the example of what to aim for I will only go as far as what has already been and gone.

Now this is why dreams are so great, within my imagination all is possible, so many things can happen in my imagination.I have people who have inspired me in life, many people have dreamed of situations, circumstances and results and then gone in search of them until the results appeared. This is when dreams come true, and the possibilities are endless. Personally I found for a drea to come true, I just need to take small steps in the direction that I dream of going and the rest unfolds.

Many but not all of my dreams have come true,

In the picture below is a collage of all the things I dreamed of doing since I was a little boy aged 13, I wanted to ride my BMX in empty swimming pools like the pros in the American BMX magazines Mike Dominguez and Eddie Fiola, When I saw Tony Hawk and Christion Hosoi skateboard in early skateboard videos I dreamed of how it would feel to be able to do that too, so I took small steps in the direction of my dreams and they slowly over time came to pass,..

Then when I had turned about 35 and was financially in a position to try I was able to purchase a motocross bike and learn to jump that too.. I have discovered that it does come to pass all you have to do is dream first visualize how then head towards the dream.

Well I had always dreamed of what surfing must feel like and bought my first surfboard Oct 2008 aged 37 from Sharkbite Surf Shop Bristol. In Dec 2008 I decided to move to a place with sunshine warm water and waves, just like I had dreamed of doing and these are some pictures of some steps towards a dream come true..

This is me learning how to bottom turn! quite literally, following the dream of blue skies, warm water and great waves also had extras thrown in, life is good! this is my new friend Hannah she was in the water twice a day for about 6 hrs, and was staying at Lakey Peak with her boyfriend Eugene Tollemach (more about Eugene Later!)

This is me doing a frontside turn, It has been a very humbling experience staying at Lakeys surrounded by so many pro surfers and generally high level ability surfers. I really am not very good at surfing and have discovered surfing is not easy at all this is me working how not to drop in on a wave..

Stage 1 of learning the hard way, I have not paddled hard enough into this wave..

Step 2 I manage to get to my feet but because I paddled in to the wave too late I am caught up in the white water..Step 3, So now I am just free falling but I am still on my board, this is called an airdrop but I am not good enough to get away with this..

Vert Skateboarding helped me still stay on my board up until this point..Still standing, but I know I am about to get a wave on my headAny minute now half a ton of fast moving water is about to land on me and put me on spin cycle at the laundryHere goes, time for the washing machine..unless you have experienced this you can not imagine how much power moving water has, I broke 3 surfboards when I was at Lakey Peak..

Learning,

Well apparently experience has shown me that learning anything is always achieved through balance, countless repetition and persistence until you know what you are doing inside and out in all conditions. This is unfortunately where you have to pay the price, this is the trade off the balance point, In order to find out how to do something correctly you have to also learn al the different ways of doing something inncorrectly regardless of how much good advice you get. The result for me always seem to be Pain! Yes raw painful pain, seems to be the price I pay, it is the living proof I am alive, I have hit the floor so hard so many times in pursuit of my dreams, I have been x rayed, stitched up bruised battered and twisted up in excruciating pain on my osteopaths floor begging for relief.. But all these things pass, like rain, pain comes and goes the body heals.

The result of pain for me is

-you learn what you need to learn about diet, nutrition, flexibility and strength in order to achieve your dreams. That is health, to be strong enough to live your life,” Health is Wealth” and although I have been in pain many times most days, visited and experienced the surgeons knife I still aim to be constantly healthy so that I can live my dreams..

Hitting the Reef,’…

Just before I left Bali for Sumbawa a wave hit me then I hit the reef and this is what it looked like..There is always a price to pay..and sea water everyday after really does “rub salt into the wounds”