ENTRY ONE
So, let me begin.
My name is Taz Knight, I'm 18, I'm from North Devon, and I'm about to spend 6 months driving around mexico on my own.
The idea started a while ago I suppose. About 10 years ago, when mum and dad decided to pull me and my 3 sisters out of education for a year. As a family, we bought an RV and drove from San Francisco to southern Costa Rica and back up the other side to the Outer Banks. I'm not gonna spend ages telling you how sick it was, because obviously it was sick. But there is something that has been bothering me ever since I got back. It is a memory. The memory of countless barrelling right hand point breaks.
You see, Mexico was where I learned to surf. well, I have been "surfing" since I was 4… but popping up in the white water hardly counts. Mexico was where I really got hooked. which was great! It was a great place to learn to surf, but it is also a great place to get absolutely barrelled of your face! Absolutely kegged of your nut! What I mean is the waves are really really good, too good for an 8 year old boy to fully appreciate. So hear I am. It has taken 10 years, but I'm finally good enough to go to Mexico and get absolutely barrelled of my face.
But yeah, back ground aside, let me start my journal!
To say my last few months have been hectic is an understatement.
With a goal of spending the first part of my gap year chasing the best swells across Europe; I
bought a little van, put a bed in the back and vowed to pack my bags and drive as soon as I saw a swell.That, combined with a girlfriend at Cardiff uni, made for a hideous amount of driving.
I managed to fit in 4 surf trips (each over a weeks in length)
and about 6 trips to Cardiff (I did cunningly fit my Cardiff trips around my surf trips, in a way that my routs there and back always happened to pass through the city)
Although it was crazy, it was also a lot of fun and more than worth it. Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, Ireland and now I'm in america! Woohoo!
But yeah, “The Grand Plan”:
So, we have some friends near San Francisco, the plan was to fly to San Fran, buy a truck, kit it out for the desert and drive down to southern Mexico and back! Easy! I tell you what, Craigslist is amazing! You can literally get anything you want! After a bit of searching, I found a sick truck that was perfect! We emailed the seller and he said he would even pick me up at the air port with it!
Anyway, after only a days preparation I ended up on a plane to america, hoping to meet some guy called Sam…
Sam him self didn't actually pick me up, I think he was busy and got his room mate to pick me up. She drove me to their place and there it was! looking just like it did in the pictures! It ran fine! Well, it wasn’t the healthiest sounding thing I’ve ever heard but what can you expect from a 30 year old V8! It looked awesome, 1977 ford f250 pick up, just a really cool old truck, with a sick camper back on! I was bloody lucky it was worth the buy, as I didn’t have a clue what to do if it wasn’t. It being about 7pm and all…
Luckily it was fine, after I filled in all the paper work, gave hime some cash it was mine to drive away! Easy as that! I’d only been in cali for a few hours and I was already driving around! Unfortunately that was the easy bit. My first problem was getting to Half Moon Bay, my second was American roads and my third was the driving its self. Hear is why:
1. This thing is massive, way bigger than anything I’ve ever driven. heavy, loose steering, and the other cars are all massive! literally! What is it with americans and big cars! I didn’t see one normal sized car!
2. Wrong side of the road, not a massive problem but still confusing so I’m putting it in.
3. Automatic, again not a massive problem, but I’d only ever driven manuals (apart from once in Iceland) but i found my self constantly on edge, waiting for something to go wrong.
4. Night. it was dark by this point.
5. Bloody old car, just generally difficult to drive
6. I don't know, but I seriously struggled for the first hour, I stalled, got lost, almost crashed, cut people off, pulled out on people! I know I’m making a drama out of it, but I was knackered and it was my first day and it was just quite a stressful experience.
So there. Those are my reasons for getting stressed, but I'm still writing, so obviously I made it out alive, and miraculously I made it to Half Moon Bay! It was pretty simple, but I’m still surprised I found it! luckily Richared was still up and directed me to his farm where I am now! Any way, it was sort of planned chaos that start bit, I knew it was going to be mad, so I just let it happen, and it all worked out in the end!
I've
just been chilling hear for a few days, helping Richared out on the farm, getting some bits so I can start working on the truck, its going great! I'm loving it hear! I'm defiantly going to spend a few weeks getting my shit together hear. Super nice place, and Mavericks is just there! so yeah! Froth on!
