After surfing in Costa Rica for a week with Witch’s Rock Surf Camp, I was just barely able to catch my own waves. But having taken a 5-month break to travel through Europe, I was really nervous about surfing again in Indonesia. I didn’t feel mentally or physically strong enough anymore.

And like I suspected, I needed to retrain my muscles for the paddling and pop ups. I was in no condition to be able to catch the waves on my own again. So usually what happens is an instructor will be with me, encourage me to paddle my heart out when a wave is coming, and then give me that extra last push to help me get over the lip of the wave.

Over this past week, however, I could feel my stamina and muscles building. And also my guts.

On our morning surf session, I felt really comfortable in the water. I think I just knew it was time. I saw a perfectly building wave coming right for me. I turned my board toward the shore and paddled as hard as I could for the wave.

And before I knew it, I was riding it.

And then I caught another one. And another one. Annnnnnnd another one.

I felt so proud of myself to finally get out there and conquer that physical barrier. I feel a freedom to be able go anywhere (haha within reason), grab a board, and catch some waves. And that’s a really great feeling.

Here’s me looking so candid 😉

At the beginning of the morning, I really wanted to bail on my afternoon session (the 2nd session of the day). But after this morning, I was eager to get back out there again. And with that positive attitude, I had my best session I’ve ever had.

To celebrate having a great day on the waves, a few of us headed out to a restaurant in the nearest town to eat good food and listen to live music.

Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better day.