Good career for a surfer?

“Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.”

― Minor Myers

Just do good, illuminite. This world needs it.

 

My buddy is a lineman and makes bank. He moved to Laguna and is headed to Hawaii asap. I think its only a 3 year apprenticeship program.

 

there's this super rich kid near me whos dad is a lineman.

i may have or may have not keyed his pretty little subaru wrx

 

Being into photgraphy, videography, promotion, and production could never hurt if your considering the commercial path. And if you are don't be a damn marketing whiz.. that shizz requires a psych degree and an evil soul..

Hospitality, outdoor ed (kayak guide, ropes guide, adventure excursion, etc.), or teaching english could land you at a surfing destination without necessarily being a part of the surf Industry.

Or you could open up a sh*ddy surf shop with your daddy's money and live your life drinkin pabst and 'running'
some slutty surf break in your town.

my 2 cents

 

Can't believe I can't say sh!tty but i can say slutty.. 'merica

 

everybody poops yet sh!t is a forbidden word.. and some slut eats 5 hotdogs every time she rides the coney island poney ride and thats just fine inetnert?

 

i work in the maritime industry. shipping out or working on tugs will give you lots of time and cash to travel, but when you are gone, you are gone. i know some linemen...barely work and make a ton of cash. def a racket for the more senior guy. they make $ off the the young guys doing the job, while they are at home.

 

56 in a few months, if u get an answer please, please let me in on it. Work when you r appreciated, love only when its returned, surf whenever possible, if you have kids always, always take care of them, they come before surfing. be nice to doggies, that's all i know.

PS. old cars and old boards are cool.

 

my uncle moved to California like 30 years ago and is a fireman and life guard. always loved surfing growing up so his plan was to go to cali for a couple years, get a few jobs, get a little house in southern cali and surf as much as possible. 30 years later he's doing the same thing... recently retired, got that fat fireman's pension and is still surfing. he always tells me i should do what he did, will honestly probs give it a try once i graduate from school

 

Two points:
1) do not choose your career to enable you to surf. No matter which career you choose, you will find plenty of time. Just enjoy the time you do surf. Choose your career according to what you would enjoy doing for work--it will make you happier. There are a lot of physicians making lots of money who are miserable in their lives, who went in to medicine to be rich.
2) You are way too young to choose a career at this point. 90% of college grads do not end up in the career for which they went to college. There is a severe disconnect between college and available employment.

I always found it to be true that you are embarking on a journey when you go off to seek an education. Have fun and keep an open mind.

 

Do what I didn't, marry a rich girl.

I made the mistake of taking Mick Jagger's advice,

Marrying money
is a full time job.
I don't need the aggravation,
I'm a lazy slob.

 

Limo driver.

 

Barry makes a good point about being to young to choose a career.

Here's my story. I'm 25, when I graduated high school I had no idea what I wanted to do, but knew I wanted to surf. I was really intrested in marine biology and was thinking of doing something like that but being young and stupid I decided against it. At the time I couldn't think of many realistic jobs I'd get. So I went to college for criminal justice, which was a terrible idea. I was thinking I could be a corrections officer, make bank and retire early.....

After graduating I took the tests and stuff but realized I do not want to be a corrections officer, Iv done way to many drugs to be a corrections officer, and I'd have no time to surf or for my family. Now I'm back in school for HVAC. I got one semester left so I'm not in the field yet but I'm really enjoying working with my hands and I find the physics behind HVAC pretty interesting.

Now my main goal is to get into commercial refrigeration, possibly starting my own company depending on how things go. The way I see it, I won't be able to surf any time I want, but I'll be able to fit surfs in to my schedule before/after work just like now. Weekends. I won't be kept out of the water. And if I'm my own boss that would work a little better.

Not saying HVAC is what you should do, but really think about your future realistically. Pick something that you'd be enjoy doing for a long time. Something that won't take over your life. As long as I have family and surfing, and enough money to put food on the table, I'll be as happy as a pig in doodie.

My mistake was only thinking about money out of high school. It's important but there needs to be a balance. There's nothing wrong with going to a trade school, I wish some one told me that in high school. I wouldn't of wasted time and money on a degree I'll never use

 

You're only in HS? Based on your posts, you have an older soul so good on ya for thinking of what's down the road, now.

Work for yourself. Whatever you end up doing, work for yourself.

Freedom in America is economic freedom. If you ain't got it, you'll have someone dictating your moves for all of your days. You'll hear people say, oh, don't be money conscious. BS: those are the proles who will probably be working until they drop.

So, work for yourself.

That includes when you work for a corp or work for someone else & here's how you do that: pay yourself first. Always. No exceptions. Always take the 401k & max that out. Always take bonuses & sock them away as untouchable savings. Understand the tangible miracle of compound interest & work it to its fullest.

The obvious 'work for yourself' scenario is owning your own biz. The pros: great money if you know what you're doing, you can expense the he!! out of nearly everything & when the swell is pumping, you can usually be jumping. You'll work dawg hours but it won't fly unless you put the time & sweat into it.
The cons: employees. "He!! is people."

Control your overhead. This is critical. It's a scaled item, meaning I've known guys who made a couple million a year, and spent 3 million a year = broke.

Purchase a copy of 'The Millionaire Next Door' and live it.

I like the lineman gig idea; if you can find something like that, that could be the slight exception to going off on your own.

I spent several years after collitch on The Street, in NY & Malibu: traded FX, precious metals & everything else. Dumped it to start my own biz. Ran around with a toolbox. So much better than being in an office. Then started hiring people as our operation grew. Knock on wood, it's worked out ok so far.

Buena suerte!

 

self-employed.
own hours.
YOU decide if you're surfin or workin.

 

You should pick whatever line of work Emass is in, sounds like he gets to surf & travel all the time

 

Go to culinary school, find a job at a restaurant at a good break that only serves dinner. Date the waitresses, then open your own restaurant at a great break off the beaten track.

 

yeah.
for the county.
ole glen ain't faring well these days.

 

How about Web Developer or Web Designer? You can work for yourself from anywhere with internet. And the Internet is only growing ...

Software developers are obviously making bank right now, it can be a very privileged position.. I wonder how long this VC app bubble will last though.

Whatever you do, keep in mind that an education will not necessarily secure you any type of career or job, unless you study something with concrete, desired skills. There's a lot of humanities PhD's out there scrapping for sh*tty positions.