careers and surf

You missed a good one..outside sales. Surf between, before or after sales calls. You just need to find a good niche. Again, hard work early on means more bread and better hrs later...

 

One thing I would recommend is to live a minimalist existence. I'm totally into small houses, I mean really small 500 square foot or smaller. My first house was under 500 square feet and it was cozy and comfortable. I then bought a bigger house, not huge but bigger about 2000 sqft. I bought three new cars in as many years and bought a piece of investment land at the same time. Now I have a bunch of debt and I am putting everything into paying it all off and then I will sell my current house buy a piece of land and build a cottage of 300 Sqft and be out of debt and free to do what ever I please. Spend your money wisely when your young and don't worry about what everyone else thinks. The days of the mcmansion are finally over (thank god). Live small and light and you could be very comfortable and free working as a bartender or working really hard all summer as a landscaper and do anything you want the rest of the time. The key stay out of debt.

 

Sales rep.Been working 10 to 11 hour days lately.Off weekends which is nice but like previous post winter daylight is killing my surf time.

 

havannassand- what job did you have in the coast guard?

 

I've been active duty for 12 years. As a chief I've done a little bit of everything.

 

if you're trying to decide what kind of career to get into, some of the highest paying entry level jobs have to do with engineering or information technology or finance. on the news it said engineering and science careers have one of the lowest rates of unemployment right now. its not for everyone though, that stuff can be dry and boring. its not what i'm into

 

Completely agree, unless I cash in a sick day or find a way to slide out early, winter is hard to get a surf in on a weekday. And since the waves have been almost nonexistent the past 3 months or so its been real hard to lock down a weeeknd swell to get my fill.

My job is typically really flexible but when we are busy, there is no sliding out early, or come in late to catch a dawn patrol sesh. Honestly its the daylight "killing" time thing during the winter that makes it real difficult to grab weekday surf.

 

i went from web design and investment banking to bartending, fine dining service in my early 20s so I could surf every day. Then i went into management and run manage restaurants for a company. All the locations are by the beach. I get a really great combo of hours. few days, few night... about 5 morning a week to surf (when i dont have my daighter by my self)... I realize that maybe in the future i could get back into something else. But i love my job, its really fun. The hours are great. I stay in the water and my life is super balanced. Its not for everyone, but in the right area, the restaurant game is a gold mine. Servers at my last place in La Jolla were 60-80k a year working 4 hour night shifts, working at an incredibly slow pace. It felt like stealing. As long as your business is running well, they pay out solid bonuses on the regular to keep us moving forward. I love it and it really all came about because i was missing water time and I was dreading going to sleep at night cause i hated my job. When you stay up extra late on sunday nights, trying to avoid the inevitable monday morning blues, you should probably take a step back and figure out what you really need out of a job and out of life. Go from there.

 

The regular 9-5/40-50 hr work week is ok for now, and it puts food on the table. But what scares me is doing this for the next 20-30 years. I daydream sometimes just doing the expat thing eventually (maybe after 10 years of non-stop saving) and just completely stopping with the grind. No kids yet, so that dream can change anytime.

 

are you at little creek? i say hello to you all every morning....guess what my job is

 

Be a nurse it might be hard at first but once u get the hang of it 3-12hour day and your done for the week and that leaves u 4 days to surf all u want. Also u can pretty much get a job any were and they are always in demand especially male nurses!

 

Nah, I'm at Dam Neck Annex. Small base, not many Coast Guard there. 1 block from the beach.

 

Nice, I plan on heading over there for the summer. Do their beaches break consistantly?

I recently got hired for DOD police. luckily, my work day is from 0630-1430

 

Dam Neck can get fun, and it breaks a little stronger than mushy 1st St imo. Lots of guys who SUP, who are pretty cool and isn't too bad because you have a lot of room to spread out. SUP guys are mostly D.G.

 

Good, maybe you can get me on base when I forget my I.D. (once a year I space it). Dam Neck is a beach break just like everywhere else. Sand bars shift and I've seen some nice setups in the 7 years I've been on base while back in Virginia. There is a shower area in the fall/spring to rinse suits off in the fall b/f they cut the water off and it's uncrowded in summer compared to public beaches. A quiet and kind of secluded base to work and access to uncrowded waves during a good swell if you know where to look (a lot of people don't think about the empty area from the back gate up to the beach where you fish. IM me when you show up there and we can get a surf in if there's ever waves here again.

 

sounds good man. I will probably hit it up in a few months when the 3/2 temps come back into play and it stays lighter outside longer.

 

Retired Military so that check comes in every month.
Beachbody Coach to supplement. (Always looking for people to join my team. )

Somebody said it well earlier...live within your means. Just finishing having a house built. 750 SF, spray foam and batt insulation, new ductless HVAC. keep the bills low and the water time high. Kids are grown and out of the house makes it easier too.