I love the seaside

“It’s all in the love. See what’s there and not bitch about what’s missing.”
Meet Angelo Schmitt, a Sylt local, surfer, environmentalist, entrepreneur and curious human being with a tremendous amount of energy.
Trying to pin down Angelo to one thing is selling him short.

Luckily we were able to pen down at least a fraction of what he does, is, thinks and is involved in. Read the full story in our Northwest Europe edition 📖

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‘Everything moves in waves.’

I remember this session vividly, although it’s 11 years ago. Arriving just before sunset in Sidi Kaouki, deciding to go in for the remaining half hour of light or so. Managed only half a decent wave, but being out there, the distant sound of a muezzin, flamingos flying past, the soft-hued colours… the sheer magic of it 💫

(ps: I might’ve not heard the muezzin, my unreliable memory moves in messy waves, but the flamingos and colours were there for sure, as was my mediocre surf performance ☺️).
x, A.

📷 .middelkoop

North Sea events coming up!

A little heads up on what’s on where at, or near our beloved North Sea. Feel free to add your event in the comments!

* ‘Water For Peace - Beach Clean-Up’ by - March 24

* ‘Queen of the North(sea)’ - surf comp by - March/April Scheveningen

* ‘NK Longboarden’ - surf comp tour by - first stop Domburg, April.

📷 ☀️

“Never lose the power to marvel at simple things.”
Meet Victoria, a young Chilean woman who travels her home country in a classic 1985 VW Kombi T2 named Octavia. Shooting audiovisual content of the natural beauty of her homeland, she created herself a dream job. How’d she manage that?

You won't want to miss this tale of wanderlust, resilience, and the power of embracing the simple joys in life. Find a 6-page full story and some amazing shots of her journeys throughout Chile in our latest Chile edition!

And follow her bold adventures: Octavia Viajando

It’s a new moon, Chinese New Year, the start of the weekend, take your pick, there’s always fresh beginnings. Wishing you a lovely day, it’ll be different from the day before ;-)

While the most sustainable way to travel is probably to not travel at all, there are a few options making your wanderlust a tad more environmentally and ocean friendly. In her first of a series of monthly blogs for Surfrider Foundation Netherlands, our editor Alexandra Gossink shares a few tips. Sneak peek? There are a wax comb, a waterfilter and shampoo bars involved. And we’re happy to hear your tips too!

https://www.surfriderfoundation.nl/post/protect-what-you-came-to-enjoy-1

📷 Teddy Lauren🌟

Anticipation - Don’t you just love the feeling right before a salty session, changing into a damp wetsuit, never sure of the outcome, ‘it looks good now but will it still be good in half an hour’… and all that?

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Finally got round to visit this fab open air art site Fundacion Montenmedio, a little inland from the costa de la luz. It’s a large park where you wander around larger than life art works from international artists. Works that make you wonder, think, laugh or just admire, and tune in with the landscape. (And you can bring your dog 🤍)

Highly recommended when you’re in the area! Here a few snapshots, didn’t bring the camera…

(Thanks for the tip / )

Imsouane, ‘the bubble’, this tiny town, a mighty fine mixture of raggedy and hip, where fishermen and surfers mingle, with its Magic Bay AND the other beach Cathedrals where local folks and newcomers live, and make a living, in ancient houses carved out of stone, overlooking the ocean. They’re so typical for Imsouane, so connected to the salty free spirited soul of this place. Now these houses are under threat. Owners were given a 24-hour notice to leave their homes due to planned demolition (not for safety, but most likely new constructions that will tear Imsouane’s soul apart).
Urging all who came to know and love this place and its people, started a petition and gofundme to help locals fight the demolition, pay for a lawyer and rebuild/relocate.

(Sharing the link in stories)
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Hi to all, old and new followers! We’ve been a bit quiet lately… Blame winter.
As the new year slowly unfolds, we’re not necessarily picking up were we left off, - it is a new year after all and change is as welcome as the sun and fresh air - but are happy to keep sharing good vibes, seaside stories, special places and whatnot, just like we do in our books. We’ve got seaside tips galore! What would you like to see more of?

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2024 💫 and what do you wish for:

The seas to heal
Your heart to sing
Wars to end
And one more thing

Love in abundance
And connections so true
Adventure in life
And then something new

I wish it for you
You wish it for them
And if it works out

Hey.. Yippie Ya Yay!

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Much love x

Improve your vitamine D production, sleep cycle and focus, up your energy… for free! ​​​​​​​​​From tomorrow on the days get loooonger, lighter and it's Happy Joy and Health Benefits and such in the Northern Hemisphere. 😊​​​​​​​​​
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Done with the and hype? Let’s counterbalance with ! Share what you can: knowledge, talent, time, skill… Today’s a good day to smile to strangers, offer help, be extra nice, start volunteering at your local chapter, animal shelter or just keeping your beach and neighbourhood clean. Today’s as good a day as any to give more and take less. 💙

Chile. Land of the long lefts, the great outdoors, and an endless, endless coastline.

Pre-order the Surf & Travel guide to Chile and you’ll get a Seaside beanie for free! (Just add your fav colour in the notes at check-out).

📷 .gracia10 /

Guess who’s off to the printers… 💙

Bon appétit! Surfrider Foundation Europe and Surfrider Foundation Netherlands are making it a lot easier to choose your new fav eatery with their Ocean Friendly Restaurants program. Together, we've made a short selection of sustainable friendly-as-can-be seaside restaurants. Find out why, who, where, and what you can do to encourage more places to become ocean friendly...

https://ilovetheseaside.com/surfrider-x-i-love-the-seaside-in-search-of-ocean-friendly-restaurants/

Is there a word for not just accepting, but embracing change? Temperature dropped dramatically at our latitude 🥶 but we’ve got it covered. Literally! Check out our mighty fine selection of Seaside hats…

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Autumn GIVE AWAY! 🛹
Cruise, dance, carve; we’ve teamed up with and here’s why that’s pretty splendazzling…
You can win a Slide Surf Skate + 2 Seaside books of choice + 1 Seaside thermosflask of choice. Nuff to brighten up any flat day!
How? Give us both some love and hit the follow buttons, tag your bestie(s) and let us know why you are the bestest person to win.

The winner will be announced exactly a week from now. Go!

Last weekend’s Expression Session.

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Some days, you’d wish never to end…

ps. Wishing this trip to never end 🤍

📸 .middelkoop

m o r o c c o 💔

In the aftermath of Friday night’s earthquake, and the situation being devastating for so many, local initiatives are set up to help as much as they can.
A few things we learned you can help with locally if you are around and in a safe place, or have a trip planned, as a tourist, as a surfer, are by donating blood, clothes, shoes, food, help with transport. We’ve tagged a few local initiatives you can reach out to.
Please let us know if there are more initiatives out there that we can give a shout-out to.

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This beauty of a 📸 made by Lisa & Patrick Social Traveling very justly made the cover of our latest Northwest Europe edition.
We met Lisa and Patrick years ago in Morocco and have been following their adventures ever since. Photographers and fulltime vanlifers, they travel and create stories, give talks, often combined with aiding to a social project like Barnabas Children Centre in Kenia.

Currently in Alaska, it’s a delight to see where their ‘new’ old yellow van is taking them. 💛

Lisa & Patrick, hope to meet up again somewhere in the near future!

Sunday cruising, chasing leprechauns and picking berries.

How’s your weekend so far? 🍀

📷 .gossink

Update - We’ve chosen a winner. If it was not you, please try next time, we’ve regular Giveaways. Thanks so much for participating! 💙

! ! ! WIN WIN WIN ! ! !

Save the date: 8-9-10 September Surfana Festival celebrates their 9th edition. Ocean, music, outdoor, food and art enthusiasts gather to surf, dance, go crazy, eat, and connect.

offers two tickets, for you and a friend. And we throw in 2 Seaside books of your choice!

How to win? You know the love drill: tag your buddies to join the party, love us all, and we love you, no matter what 💙

Quick quick, 1 September we announce the winner 🏆

📷 .freiburger / / Anne Dijkstra /

These are not black and white. Like life, it’s more nuanced when you look closely. (And, it’s Irish summer… 😆)

📷 .gossink

Adventure is one step away from old habits.
Let’s go?

📷 Jeffrey Vonk Photos

Coasteering's one of the purest ways of literally exploring the coastline, not missing one little detail. Swimming, climbing, jumping off cliffs, pulling yourself up on steep rocks: it’s the closest you’ll get to the place where the ocean shapes the land. On one of our trips to Wales we met up with , the founding father of coasteering. ​​​​​​​​​Following Andy’s lead, we climbed along the cliffs near his hometown of St. Davids, jumped into the depths below (after he assured us it was okay), and swam from rock to rock, timing the waves and using them to climb back up again.

There wasn't a photographer around a the time, so to illustrate the sheer joy, here's one taken by for , the outdoor company Andy founded. They offer a gazillion different adventures and are focused on sustainability and social awareness, and guiding other companies to be able to do the same.

Best part of the job! Few years ago while doing research for the GB & Ireland edition we met up with PJ and his son James. PJ, short for Peter Jones, is somewhat of a legend: former international competitor and champ who surfed with the likes of Gerry Lopez and names you read about in books. The days when 6,4 single fins weren’t retro hip, but the best available. PJ - in his early seventies now - is fit as can be and paddles out almost every day at his local break. Drop by their shop and he may talk surf history and share stories, alongside some life lessons…

It was great meeting you both again and hearing even more stories!

📷 .gossink

Every place has a story to tell, every person we meet a reason for starting anew, houses are rebuild, ruins get fixed, gardens grown and lives change. .pt is an off the grid eco friendly stay, founded by 4 friends with big dreams for a more sustainable way of living. While we visited it already looked like more than a dream come true, but it’s an ongoing process with highs and lows, wins and struggles and that’s all part of the beautiful process. Find them a little inland (quite a bumpy drive!) from Aljezur, Portugal. Wouldn’t you just love to unwind in a place like this?

📷 .pt / .gossink