Should I Stay or Should I Go?

I would say I surf 1000% more now that I live on the coast. Most can't afford to live right on the beach, so there still is a drive and a commitment. I am only 10 min away, but I will be surfing if I drive down to the beach. Maybe I am just different.

 

Yeah, brah. What a cliffhanger. I got confidence in Gaff that the kicker will be a firm life lesson.

Back to the originally scheduled programming. Just wanted to second the elephant in the room.

 

Hmmm...I think we have an idea for a new pop culture t-shirt.

 

No kids? DO IT. Kids, then stay close to parents or your support system. Kids - I love them, but it can get tough.

 

What's up DP? Tell that feline of yours to start packing her bags.

I hope the trees are still beautiful in Florida. Yes, those trees.

Say "hey" to Revis for me. On your way out, of course.

 

DPSup - I was the same situation as you about 11 years ago. My girlfriend (now wife) and I were living an hour inland. I was getting in plenty of surf because when you have no kids you can disappear for 3-4 hours and the long drive is no big deal (I also split winter rentals from Sept. to May some years giving me a crash pad near the beach). But I knew I wanted to be closer to the beach, largely because I knew once kids came along I'd rarely surf unless I was closer.

What I did was this: She and I researched the hell out of the real estate market, took a lot of day trips to different towns. We found a town that had a lots of what she wanted - a good arts scene, people who spoke Spanish like her and a place she fell in love with. Your wife has to love the place you move to. It was a compromise - we're not on the beach and it's not the town that was my first choice. But it's 20 minutes from the beach and it works.

One other piece of advice - if you can stay close the family, do it. I nearly moved to CA about 15 years ago but I stayed because I had two little nephews and knew my parents were getting old. It's been worth all the waves in the world staying close to them. If you can surf dawn patrol and then get to grandma's for Sunday dinner, that's the sweet spot, my friend. I will continue to pass up job offers and promotions to keep this setup as long as I can.

 

If you come on a surfing forum and ask everyone whether you should move closer to the surf I bet I can tell you how people will answer.

Didn't you just get married? It seems to me you need to be discussing this with your wife.
Sounds obvious to me you want to move closer, otherwise why ask the question - how you work this out with your wife is what marriage is about. I know I would be asking my wife what she thought, what she wanted and how she felt about the options.

Good luck
Jim

 

J-ville has unreal foreclosures and consistent (for east coast) surf that only gets better as you travel south (as you likely already know). Just bought a 4 bedroom two car garage 230K house for 160K (there's at least at 6 more similar situations in the surrounding streets)... of course had to borrow another 8k and tax refund for renovations but on the plus I am 6 miles from Jax Pier and x2 to Poles and 20 minutes or so from North Jetty... between the three I begin or end more days than not with a surf or body surf (although consistent wave size drops June-July & Jan.- Feb. and the occasional extended flat spell the rest of the year while not epic by world standards is rippable enough to make you pretty complacent). Lived inland once made me fat and cranky...will never do it again

 

Although you're married, you still have a lot of freedom and can afford to to take some risk. You're young, have no kids, don't own a house, and not yet "trapped". Once these factors start to change, your freedom will be reduced. What are your priorities in life? Make a list. What are the trade-offs? Is surfing really the number one consideration? How important and how much do you like your current job? Do you live to work or work to live?
In the end, this is a joint decision between you and your wife.

 

Find a gig and go go go. Think nationally too. PR or Cali wouldn't suck. Nothing worthwhile is easy.

 

I live in Clearwater so I know exactly what you are feeling. With family and my career there is no chance for me to make a move. One thing about a good income is the freedom to get on a jet and surf anywhere. Nothing beats being close to a consistent break though. I lived in the Orange county (California) area in my younger years and it was great to be able to surf almost anytime.
It would be a tough choice for me if I took out the career aspect. I would probably move all the way back west...San Diego has a tremendous appeal. As for now, I am ok with driving to Cocoa whenever it is worth the trip (which seems to be almost every week). Gotta love the sunpass!

 

You can have it all some of the time.
You cant have it all all the time.

 

Or.....

You could hit the wife with divorce papers. Tell your bosses to go suck it, sell everything you own, load up the covered wagon, and head to Northern California. Then you could build a log cabin on a headland overlooking a locally fabled, mythical right point break, and become one with the earth. All of your modern worries of jobs, wives, kids(NO !!!), sub prime mortgage rates, and gas prices will all disappear into the pacific fog.

After your third 400 yard, over-head screamer, and a camoflauged grow shed with the areas top strains sitting behind your cabin, would you ever look back? Trolling the coast, with young, new-aged hippy girls in a Merry Prankster bus, downing mushroom tea as the redwoods sing softly, and the winds call your name, you'll never think of hot, buggy, Florida again. Chasing down Bigfoot, lost in a surreal existence made possible by a location with more trees than people, and a sense of adventure and discovery that has been lost on the east coast for decades.

Eating flapjacks, at a local diner, in a one-horse town, with rugged loggers on a cold, grey December morning where time seems to stand still............

Dude, Florida's got alligators, dude......alligators. Plus, if you watch the news there's a lot of stupid things going down in Florida. Man, people bust on Jersey, but y'all have got some real winners down there.

Yeah, the northern California thing is a pipe-dream for those with more guts than I......or maybe a more insane menatlity than I possess. But just getting out of the northern waters of Cullyfornia must be a accomplishment especially when surfing alone.

A wild coast, of jagged shores and unknown beasts .......Quiet sunlit days or moody, fog encased tranquility....reading Curious George books next to a cozy fireplace........late afternoon walks with your dog through enchanted forests. Jesus, this whole coast here on the east is so ......so bland, unmoving, lacking of inspiration.

See, I reckon I'm too biased aboot a move to the east coast of Florida. At this stage in my surfing life I'm looking for more than 7 yard closeouts. And I'm not talking size, I'm talking quality. So any move in my opinion - any major life change - should be for something more glorious than Sebastian Inlet or New "Burna" Beach. I mean, look at that Gorkin dude, he's retarded. Let's face it boys, the east coast of America isn't world class no matter what any Outer Banks pro says in a magazine interview......."I've been all over the world, and when it's good it's just as good as anywhere." Hogwash. Bullhonkey.