Watch Out Pro-Tour, Here comes Stevie!

Watch out Kelly Slater, here comes Sprinter Life star and upcoming pro surfer STEVIE! After ripping the recent swell in Uvita Costa Rica, husband and manager TREE was forced to whisk her away at high speeds as hungry sponsors chased them north to Playa Hermosa. And yes, those are webbed hot pink paddle surfing gloves. You better recognize sucka!

While STEVIE dominated the line-up, sponsors from Red Bull, Quicksilver, and Coke lavished gifts on Sprinter Life Diva KIKI in hopes of influencing the Sprinter Life management team...

Unfortunately for the sponsors, contest surfing is not STEVIE's main focus at this point in her career. What is? Eradicating bad behavior from the line-up. Does your surf break suffer from thuggy localism? For a small fee Sprinter Life surfing star STEVIE will come in and clean out the riff-raff. Featuring a Kung-Fu wave riding style, STEVIE will have rude mouthy drop-in surfers running to the beach in fear.

Yes, this is what your break could look like after STEVIE cleans up the line-up. Say good-bye to crowds forever! Contact TREE at SPRINTER LIFE for pricing and availability. Warm water only. Certain restrictions apply. Cloudy days excluded. Void where prohibited.
-Sprinter Life Management

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Rat poison, a dying dog... and life goes on.

A lot of people talk about caring, but more often than not, it's just lip service. Caring is more than just a word or a passive feeling. Real caring requires action. One of the things I find most attractive  about Stevie is that she really cares, deep in her heart. You'll pick up on it in almost every conversation you have with her, from politics to the environment, but you'll also see it. 100% of the time, without fail, Stevie shows up. 

During our last couple days in Pavones a dying dog managed to hobble its way to the van and collapse. Why he chose our van I don't know. Maybe he felt Stevie's energy. The dog had a broken leg and he looked awful. He couldn't drink, his tongue was covered in dirt, he smelled, and he was covered with flies and ticks. I'm pretty sure he had been poisoned. This is a common practice in Mexico and Central America. People don't like dogs so they wrap rat poison in raw meat and feed it to the strays. It's actually a horrible slow death for the animal. 

I am a caring person, so naturally I thought about moving him to a quiet place away from my van so he could die in peace. But that would require touching him. I was in the midst of devising a plan to move him which didn't require actual contact when Stevie showed up and proceeded to give me a lesson in real caring. After trying to feed him water with a bowl, she realized he couldn't swallow, so she started pumping water down his throat with a plastic syringe. This required putting her hands in his mouth, which was pretty nasty. She sat by his side and stroked his head. His tail wagged. She continued to nurse him through the day. By evening he had crawled into a bush by the fence. Stevie continued to water and pet and talk to him as if there was hope. I knew there wasn't. The locals asked why she would bother giving him water if he was just going to die. Stevie's reply, "because he is suffering." He died a day later. I think that his last hours on earth were easier and more peaceful because of Stevie's compassion. His wagging tail in the final hours of life was proof of that -TREE 

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If Not Sprinter Life, Then Who are we?

It's true, our Sprinter van is officially for sale! We've decided that the Sprinter is not the best vehicle for our around the world road trip.  We love the Sprinter, but we didn't design it for what we now intend to do, which is to spend the next 5-6 years driving around the world through remote areas and harsh conditions. Africa, Russia, Australia, and Asia are not the place for my beloved Sprinter. So, if you're interested in buying a great van in South America, email us.


When I was a kid I loved getting the secret message decoder prize in the Cracker Jacks box. Little did I know how valuable that childhood decoder skill would become. Why? Because unlike all you chump husbands out there who didn't eat Cracker Jacks, I know what the hell my wife is really saying most of the time. When I pondered the question whether we could still be Sprinter Life without a Sprinter van, Stevie answered it eloquently. She said, "Oh honey, don't worry. We'll always be Sprinter Life because you're always SPRINTING from one thing to the next." Cracker Jack decoded translation = "STOP RUSHING ME ALL THE TIME." Believe me, this super hero ability will eventually win me a Husband of the Year award.

Anyway, our plan is to continue to the tip of South America in the Sprinter and then hopefully sell it to a party interested in reversing the Pan American Highway from the south to the North. That gives me approximately 1 year to procure our next home. I have absolutely no idea how we are going to afford it, but I rarely let pesky details like that get in the way. Old Chris said it well...

"You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore"
Christopher Columbus

I like to think of pesky details as "the shore." So, here is where we're at with he new rig so far. If you have any suggestions or advice, we'd love to hear from you. Just drop us a comment or email.

Option #1 - GlobalX Unimog
We like this vehicle a lot. It is built on a Mercedes chassis which is bomber and is serviceable around the world. It has a lot of living space. This is a vehicle we can see ourselves in for 5 or 6 years, no problem. The down sides are it's really heavy and quite expensive, even used. It also won't fit in a container which means it's hard and expensive to ship. GlobalX is great to work with though so we are discussing some other options with them. They are located in the US so that would mean we'd start back in the US and either ship from Halifax to Europe, or from LA to Australia to begin the next leg of the around the world trip after South America.

Option #2 - Earth Cruiser
We really like this rig. These are built in Australia which would be perfect. We could just fly in and pick up the rig which would completely eliminate one leg of the ATW shipping logistics. And speaking of shipping, this baby actually fits into a container, so down the road we have more flexibility for moving it from continent to continent. It's smaller than the Unimog which means less living space, but gains more maneuverability. It's 4 wheel drive and the Mitsubishi chassis is serviceable around the world. These vehicles really are mind blowing. I can't do them justice, so you should just watch this short video. (Steve Cox, you're gonna love this man)...

Earth Cruiser Video - Watch Now

So, that's where we're at. Sprinter Life will always be Sprinter Life so long as I keep sprinting through life. My spiritual practice will be learning how to sprint without rushing my wife. Other than that, life is butter!

Over and out - TREE

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In Search Of Eden...

Inspired by the raw beauty of Pavones, I've been musing over the concept of paradise. Paradise seems to be one of those collective desires that are entirely subjective. We all want to find our own little piece of it, but what each of us considers as paradise is entirely different. For instance, Tree and I are enamored with Pavones, but I can see how someone else might think it’s too remote, while yet another may find it too touristy. 

  

Still, there is one concept of paradise, or, rather, of paradise lost, that is universally acknowledged as perfect to everyone in the western world: the Garden of Eden. What is it about Eden that makes it so perfect?  In The Diary of Adam and Eve, Mark Twain hints to the nature of this elusive paradisiacal quality: At the end of his life, pondering his banishment from the Garden, Adam concludes that it was better to live outside the Garden with Eve than inside without her because, for him, “whersoever she was, there was Eden.” Mark Twain writes after my own heart!

So why do most of us feel like forced exiles, blindly lumbering in search of paradise lost? The Social Exchange Theory, for starters.  This modern theory—rooted in economics, sociology, and psychology—attempts to explain the formula we use when deciding 1) whether or not we want to get into a relationship with someone, and 2) whether or not we want to stay in that relationship. 

Social Exchange Theory (SET) states that all human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analysis and the comparison of alternatives. Benefits include things like material or financial gains, social status, and emotional comforts. Costs generally consist of sacrifices of time, money, or lost opportunities. The outcome equals benefits minus costs (click here to learn more). Basically, according to SET, we’re doing math equations in our head to assess our own worth compared to our partners, constantly weighing the exchange of resources to make sure we’re coming out on top, while also looking over our shoulder to see if we should trade up for the bigger better deal. If this is true, it is no wonder we feel so much anxiety in our relationships, and that our rates of divorce and depression continue to rise. Not only do we keep trying to use our heads instead of our hearts to forge long lasting and meaningful connections, we also seem to think, quite curiously, that the purpose of love is to advance our position in our social-economic model of living.

Which brings me to my final point: The sheer irrelevance of the Social Exchange Theory in Eden is why Eden is the quintessential paradise.  Without social standards of beauty, wealth, prestige, or power, Adam and Eve didn’t represent potential resource channels to one another. Furthermore, being the first man and woman to ever walk the earth, they literally had no idea of what to expect from themselves, each other, or life itself. Instead, they had the divine pleasure of discovering themselves, each other and their place in the world, separately and together, without any preconceived ideas or expectations.  

Towards the end of her life in The Diary of Adam and Eve, Eve ponders why she loves Adam. In a very humorous soliloquy, she first enumerates all the reasons that she doesn’t. She says it’s not because he’s a good singer, good heavens no, it’s not because he’s particularly bright, after all he thought our first child was a tailless bear, and it’s certainly not for his chivalry- he ratted me out straight away after I ate the apple. After  exhausting herself, she finally resolves that she loves Adam simply because he is Adam, and that their love is an essential part of her being. She is who she is in part because he is who he is. Throughout their life together, they have each helped the other realize his and her purpose. The purpose of course, at least the only one that brings any real meaning to our life, is to love as wholly as we possibly can. 

Eden is letting go of everything you think you know about the way things should be and accepting what simply is. Eden is opening yourself up, as if you were the first person on earth, to experience without expectation so that every moment bursts with wonder and excitement.  Eden is looking at your lover and thinking, my god you are gorgeous and perfect simply because you are. Eden is looking in the mirror and thinking, my god you are gorgeous and perfect simply because you are. -STEVIE

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Life in Pavones - Surf and Pizza

We're staying at a little hotel/restaurant/hostel type place right in front of the Pavones wave. This is one of the best hangs we've had in months. The establishment is run by a really cool Italian woman.

Pavones is the second longest wave in the world (after Chicama, Peru). The wave breaks on larger southern swells from April through September, but we were lucky enough to catch the early swell. Though it’s considered one wave, it tends to section in the middle creating two long waves. During a strong swell the two waves will connect for a ride of over 2 km! This morning it was a 1 km ride, although I didn't get one that long. This last swell sent in solid overhead sets.

In addition to serving the best pizza on the planet (no f'in joke), our Italian hostess also has the cutest 5 year old kid in the village. This kid reminds me of me when I was 5, running around in his Batman costume chasing imaginary villains in the heat of the day. Stevie, not understanding the fragile ego of a super hero, followed him around the yard with a camera yelling, "Oh Batman, you are too CUTE." Newsflash babe, no legitimate super hero crime fighter wants to be called "cute". He walked up to her with his chest puffed out, swinging his arms from side to side, and yelling in Italian what I can only assume was translated as... "Hey crazy woman, I am NOT CUTE! I am BATMAN. I am a BAD ASS!" Then he made off at high speed on his Bat-Mobile. Incidentally this kid speaks 4 languages. His mom speaks 6. What the hell is wrong with me. I'm still struggling with Spanish.



Kiki getting her beach lurk on while Daddy surfs...

Sprinter taking a well deserved 2 week break from the road. Notice the Stand Up boards are no longer on the roof. Yeah, sold those things. They weren't getting used and they were f'in up our gas mileage. That plus I almost knocked my two front teeth out last time I took one out. Guess I'm losing my pallet for danger as I approach yet another birthday, which is coming up WAY too fast. Just send your presents to Outdoorplay.com. Thanks. TREE

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Aloha Costa Rica, Pass My Pocket Book Honey...

Pass my pocket book honey, we just crossed into Costa Rica. After months of paying cheap prices we know our world is about to be rocked. How about $4 for a jug of water? Or hotel rooms that start at $60 instead of $15. Ouch! Still, we're super happy to be here. The paved roads alone warm my heart.

We are definitely feeling like we're way the hell down here. No longer can we look at a map and say, "gee, if we really wanted to we could bust back to the US in a few days". Luckily we don't want to. South is the only way our compass points these days. Statistically the most dangerous countries are now behind us (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras). Costa Rica and Panama are more developed, have better roads, and get this, they have ROAD SIGNS! There are only 2 countries left in Central America. That means South America is rapidly approaching. The only potential worries for safety down there are Venezuela and Brazil.

The border crossing between Nicaragua and Costa Rica was a snap. My only goal was to beat Dave and Ann's time of 2 hours, which we did. One hour and fifty three minutes pal, WHO'S YOUR DADDY!!! 

You may know by now that we have a family ritual at every border crossing. We put the new country's flag on the Sprinter. For Costa Rica I had the bright idea of having Kiki star in the photo. Here we are getting psyched up for the big moment.

Then we went to work. At first Kiki didn't realize that I was trying to make her a HUGE star. During her Diva moment she fought me pretty hard. "Dammit Kiki, you're going to point your paw at that frikin Costa Rican flag and you're gonna like it!"

"Sometimes I really hate you Daddy. Now PUT ME DOWN. The other dogs are watching!"

As soon as we got to Costa Rica we were shell shocked! After not seeing road signs for 4 countries we weren't sure what to do when we started seeing this shit show. I was paralyzed with information overload. I actually had to pull over. Luckily Stevie busted out the map and for the first time we were actually able to USE it!

We went to Tamarindo looking for fish tacos and waves, but again we were overwhelmed with kids. That's right, DAMN KIDS who were on spring break. We didn't even have spring break when I was a kid. It wasn't even invented yet!  We pushed south toward Playa Hermosa in Central Costa Rica. We reconnected with Pleasure Device and then kept driving. Our destination was the far southwestern corner of Costa Rica on the Panama border. A remote little wave known as Pavones. Lefts anyone? TREE 

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Declaring Impossible Goals...

And now, for our next act Sprinter Life will DRIVE AROUND THE WORLD!

When I was in the 5th grade I told all the girls in my class that I was going to be a pro football player for the San Francisco 49ers. I repeated that statement to the girls in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Sadly I never made the cut. The NFL scouts just weren't interested in an undersized Mexican who fumbled the ball. Go figure.

I clearly decided at an early age that I was going to engage life by declaring my impossible, improbable, and seemingly unattainable goals as fact, out loud, to anyone who would listen, over and over again. I'm not sure why I did it, but over time I realized that shameless public declaration actually helped to manifest these goals. It doesn't always work. Sometimes I just look like an idiot (note the NFL example above). Nevertheless I continued to declare far fetched goals louder and more frequently. DRIVE AROUND THE WORLD. When I say that to myself it seems like such a monstrous feat and it sounds kinda scary. So, I'll just keep saying it to others.

Do we know how long it will take? Not really. Do we know the overland route? Nope. Can we afford it? Not sure. I can tell you that it is indeed possible. By using boats to cross oceans and rivers, you can literally drive around the entire planet, continent by continent. The journey includes North America to South America, Africa to Europe, across Russia into Asia, down through the South Pacific Islands, and across Australia.

So why are we doing it? Over the last year and a half Stevie and I have driven a lot of miles through many different countries. We've been happy and sad, felt fear and peace, seen ruins and progress, met people who are not like us, and we've fallen deeper in love every day. Sprinter Life has been so much more than what we originally expected. It is literally changing who we are as people. When we moved into the Sprinter in the fall of 2009 our plan was to drive to the tip of South America. But during the journey something changed in us and the way we view the world. We have so much more to learn and through our Sprinter Life experiences we grow. So, we really have no choice. We will keep driving, around the world. TREE

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San Juan Del Sur - It's A BUST!

As we move from place to place it's hard not to get excited about upcoming locations. Nicaragua surf beaches were on my list of favorites. After a disappointing performance at the Boom Wave I set my sights on San Juan Del Sur, reportedly one of the best surf destinations in Central America. Upon arriving we discovered that this was not going to be the place for us. There were hundreds of college sorority/fraternity kids on spring break. Wait a second, did I just call them kids?  Man I'm getting old. 

The waves that were accessible by car were tiny and there were probably 50 long boarders in the line up, most on foam boards. I am beginning to believe that surfing is the worst sport in the world. It's fickle, inconsistent, crowded, hard, and frustrating. Anyone want to buy some surf boards?

To top it all off, there was no internet. Different places claimed to have wifi, but upon trying to connect we realized that it must be an advertising gimmick. We were never able to connect, and that doesn't fly for Outdoorplay.

We had planned to stay in San Juan Del Sur at least 1 week, but we have a hard coded nomad rule that we always follow. If we get to a place and don't vibe it, we leave. Even if we've built it up in our heads as paradise, we leave. The next amazing spot is always just down the road, so we don't stay where we don't vibe.

We quickly made plans to bounce the next morning. We set up an urban bivy right on the beach and drank the rest of our gin while watching the sunset. Next Stop, Costa Rica! TREE

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