Hey There...

How to start...

I guess from the beginning… although that would take too long.

In North Shore Oahu, when I first started to be able to handle these waves in small format

Maybe by telling you a bit about me, yes, let me try that.

My name is Sophia, and I’m 38 years old. I was born and raised in a small coastal town in Mexico, and at age 25, I left for the US chasing the American Dream. Long story short, with all the ups and downs that come with it, I found my way in the E-Commerce realm and owned a series of successful online stores, which I recently sold for a decent amount.

Along the way, I invested heavily in Crypto and energy stocks, as well as blue-chip stocks, which allows me a certain financial freedom and lifestyle. Four years ago, in 2020, just before the pandemic started, I landed in Hawaii with the idea of making it my new home base. Not one month after my arrival, we were all in lockdown, and I found myself buying my first surfboard.

I guess if I had to start somewhere, this is where it would be…

So at the time, I’m 34 years old, single, a new millionaire, full of curiosity for life, looking for a place to live. My first apartment in Hawaii was a gift from the Universe. I remember going to look at a place to lease in this very swanky neighborhood on Oahu called the Gold Coast. At first glance, you wouldn’t think much of it; tourists drive by sometimes since it’s on the famous Kalakaua Avenue, but have no clue what they’re passing. I certainly didn’t understand it when I went to look at a shoebox of an apartment that rented for what people make in six months of hard work back in my hometown in Mexico.

I remember going to see it in shorts and a tank top, with salty hair and slippers (in Hawaii, flip-flops are called slippers). I took my motorbike there,  a green Kawasaki Ninja, and as I dismounted, I saw the property manager standing near the entrance looking out for the potential renter. She looked me up and down and I could tell she was not impressed.

When I entered this apartment, my jaw dropped. It was on the seventh floor and felt like it was on top of the ocean—not even oceanfront, but on top of the ocean! The floors were teal marble imported from Italy, the bathrooms had huge slabs of lighter marble covering the walls from top to bottom, gorgeous finishes, a tub three people could swim in, luxury everything! I’ll take it!! I didn’t even need to see the master. I’ll take it.  And so begins my stint living in Hawaii.

While surfing in front of the house I met my amazing group of latin girlfriends. They all surf and are badass women. One of the luckiest days of my life when I met the girls.

So here I am in this princess apartment I nicknamed The Mermaid Palace, with the most dreamy left-handed wave ever smack in front of me, stuck in quarantine. Luckily, the government realized the population would need an outlet and allowed us to do watersports. By the way, such a smart move! I feel we were able to keep our sanity and stay healthy. Everything else was forbidden, but water sports were allowed. Well, I did the most natural thing. I bought a surfboard. And here starts my journey.

In the giant master bathroom of the mermaid palace, decked out in floor to ceiling Italian marble slabs, .

The wave in front of The Mermaid Palace is called Old Man’s, and every day I’d paddle out, not knowing what I was doing, and would try my hand at surfing. At first, I could never catch them. I’d exhaust myself paddling for everything and had no clue. I was what you call in the sport a kook. All the residents who surfed this wave had so much patience for me. Even though I was constantly dropping in on them and didn’t understand the lineup or the etiquette, they were so kind and surfed around me. I’d paddle for 20 waves and was lucky if I caught one, and then I’d fall half the time.  They knew to go for their waves anyway, and in the off chance I’d catch one, they’d let me have it.  It was a lovely time of learning and growth, of finding something that completely consumed me and at which I wanted to get better.

My first surf board is a 10'0. I asked my shaper to make me a "mermaid board". He even put sparklies around the circumferance. People still swoon over it whenever I surf it.

I’ve pursued this sport diligently for the past four years, and it’s changed my whole life inside and out. It’s given me so much, and I found what I will be pursuing for the rest of my life: waves. Magical, glassy, bomb waves with very few humans on them.

Over the next four years, I’ve used Hawaii and the Gold Coast of Oahu as my base and traveled all over. My world now is surfing, and all my trips revolve around surfing and freediving, with the exception of winter skiing, which is my other obsession in life. I chase the powder as much as I chase the swells.

This is me in a nutshell. As my blog develops, I will post short stories about my travels, little secrets along the way, and travel hacks I've discovered over my now 20 years of five-star homelessing. Stay tuned for an adventure-filled journey as I share my experiences from around the world.