We want Yvon’s Adventure

Photo: Patagonia Historical Archives

“The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, Adventure is when everything goes wrong—that’s when adventure starts.”

-Yvon Chouinard

Recently, Ky and I were home on an uncharacteristically gray and very characteristically flat day in Santa Barbara and decided to rewatch The Endless Summer for the umpteenth time. From there, we binged our favorite surf films, ending up on 180 Degrees South, a documentary that follows Ventura-local Jeff Johnson as he retraces Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins’ life-changing voyage through Patagonia, Chile. 

Every time I watch these older films there’s a palpable excitement that builds with every long ride and the fancy footwork stamped across the wave. But there’s always been a pit in my stomach I’ve never been able to name. 

After this last trip around the world with Rob and Mike, I realized it was a sense of mourning. These hooligans hoof it through parts unknown and find untouched barrels miles long with only an idea of wind swell and coastal direction to guide them. It was unbridled freedom—a  form of exploration that seems to no longer exists. 

I often wish I could go back to the ‘60s and live in a world where everything hadn’t been touched—where we could pick up and follow Summer as she bounces from coast to coast, without ruining our resumes and the rest of our lives.

This time around, I asked Ky if he thought there were any more undiscovered perfect waves in this world and he just laughed.

“Of course, do you know how big this world is?” 

Social media, the internet, the capitalism of travel make it feel small, but Ky’s right. This world has so much newness to offer, even if it’s only new to our perspective. We believe in adventure and not the kind propagated on Instagram—the real kind, the kind Yvon Chouinard would look at and deem fit for dirtbags. 

Although the world is big, humans have touched and tormented most of its unbridled beauty. So for Ky and I, there will be exploration of the known (but unknown to us). When we travel to those humanity-marked spaces we want to bring with us a sense of oneness with the people and the places we visit. 

But overall, we are looking for adventure—Yvon’s adventure, and nothing short of it.