A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon surf writer Cameron Brown and his blog, My Wave Addiction. I found myself nodding along to so many of his posts that revolve around sustainability, surfing, and the human obsession with living a convenient lifestyle. Lucky for us, he’s agreed to participate in an interview about a movement, Bike to Surf, where he’s lowering his CO2 emissions by bicycling to surf spots for an entire year.
First of all, do you mind telling us who you are and a little bit about My Wave Addiction?
After college I was dying to go to Indonesia, and My Wave Addiction started as a place for me to share stories about my travels with my friends and family. As I wrote more, people in my life seemed to like it and wanted to read more. And now it’s a year later and MWA has sort of morphed into what it is today: A place for curious surfers whose interests span beyond the happenings of the ocean. It’s funny because there is not a lot of surf-specific content on my site. I end up posting about all sorts of random topics that interest me, so while surfing is a constant underlying theme because it’s ingrained in my life, and a huge part of who I am as a person, it’s definitely not just a place for surfers. My love for surfing and the ocean often ends up being the motivation behind topics that I like to write about, including but not limited to: travel, the environment, and life in general.
Obviously surfing is a huge part of your life, hence the blog and aspirations as a surf journalist. What is it about surfing that makes you so passionate about the sport?
Hard to answer this one in an original way. The name of my site kind of says it all. I think most surfers, probably including you, understand how it can become a bit like an addiction, and how you can actually crave it. There are many parallels that can be drawn between surfers and surfing, and anyone who is really passionate about their biggest hobby, whether it’s a sport, a creative activity, or even their life’s work. What makes surfing unique to me (again, this has been said time and time again), is that we can never ride the same wave twice, which keeps things interesting. And I guess once you get barreled as well, like really, truly barreled, that kind of changes the game. That’s my ultimate craving.
Can you tell us about your new campaign, #BikeToSurf? Where did it come from and how has it been working so far?
What are some of the rewards and challenges you’ve found about biking to surf?
What do you suggest for people who can’t bike to surf, but still want to counteract the negative environmental impacts of surfing?
Great question. I think that carpooling with friends is a great way to reduce your emissions and still drive to the beach. Also, we tend to like to check ten different spots before we surf to find the best waves, but how often do we end up back at the first place we checked? I guess the best thing you can do is just stay local and enjoy what’s right in front of you. If you can learn to really enjoy surfing average waves, I think that’s a great start in not always needing to continue driving (and emitting) to find the best surf.