So it is only just over a week to go until I jet off to Brazil. I am starting to get excited about the trip and have been getting things slowly organised.

One thing that did surprise me this afternoon though was the flight duration. I was checking my itinerary on the BA website and was under the impression that my flight was about 10 or 11 hours max, this would seem a little optimistic, as after looking a little closer I found out that it is 14 hours 15 mins. Although I went around the world last year, I think the longest individual flight I had was only 10-11 hours, so 14 is really gonna test me I think. I will have the PB, iPod, several books and I guess a free bar on the plane, so I can just get some red wine inside me and fall asleep hopefully.

On arrival in Rio, the plan is to get transfered to the surf resort at Macumba, check-in to the surf-camp, visit the shaper, pick up my new board and then hit the beach and be in the water for midday. Current temps are about 33 degress, nicccccccceee!
Elise has been apartment hunting for me over the past week, and I should hopefully have a nice pad waiting for my arrival in Salvador.

I have been keeping a close eye on the surf cams for both Rio and Salvador, both of which are looking a bit flat at the moment, so hopefully we’ll be getting some swell coming through over the week or so.

Portuguese has been going well, hopefully I will have enough under my belt to at least order a beer and not get ripped off etc.
Countdown continues, off to Dirty Martini now for team drinks, bring on the weekend!

McDonalds Make Up Your Own Mind was a site I worked on whilst Freelancing as a Front end Web Developer at Duke. The site was commisioned by McDonalds UK to engage the public in an open dialogue about it’s business: food, working environment, environmental obligations, suppliers etc.

The original site had been built in Flash and was inaccessible and demonstrated poor usability. Duke Paris won the contract to redevelop an accessible version of the site. I worked on the first phase of development and was responsible for writing the XHTML, CSS and JavaScript whilst Duke Paris developed the interface design.

URL: www.makeupyourownmind.co.uk/

Update May 2008: The front end of the site was subsequently redeveloped by BJC Design whilst at Duke UK in the summer/autumn of 2007.

So it has been a long time coming, but I finally put my money where my mouth is and decided to go to Brazil for a 6 week surf tour that will hopefully rock as much as WST06 did. OK so Brazil doesn’t really merit a World Surf Tour, but I haven’t been to South America before, so for me it is a big adventure into the unknown.

I am flying out from Heathrow to Rio on the 8th April (just 19 days now). I remember last year being kinda nervous about WST06, I wonder if I will get the jitters before I head off this time?!

So the idea behind this trip is to combine a few things that I love: travel, surfing, exploring different cultures and seeing my girlfriend. The last point actually being kinda the persuading factor in choosing Brazil rather than anywhere else. It will be interesting this time round, as I am now officially a “good boy” with a girlfriend, so its no Brasilieras for me, maybe I’ll attach a small sign to my back saying “hands off, property of Elise Boyson”, haha!

My first stop will be to check out the waves in Rio with the guys and gals down at Rio Surf ‘n’ Stay. I can’t wait to get in the sea again and score some decent waves and get back to what gets me stoked. Hopefully they will have a nice tasty swell waiting for me.

I then fly to Salvador de Bahia on the 12th April and will be hanging out for up to a month. My plan is to get in as much surfing as possible, both in and around the town, but also with a few trips up the coast to various spots. I have already started learning some Portuguese and might even do a language school when I am there, we’ll see. Apparently there is loads to see and do in Salvador, as it is the cultural capital of Brazil. It is also gonna be a great chance to hang out and spend a prolonged period of time with Elise (whom I haven’t seen for over 3 months).

I am then going to either head up/down the coast to surf some more at either EasyDrop down in Itacare, or at Bahia Surf Camp up near Busca Vida, gonna keep that one open for now and wait and see what the charts say.

I then fly back to Rio, where I will stay for a weekend at the Ipanema Beach House, see some of the town and sights etc and then head back to, what will hopefully be early summer in London!

So to say I am excited it an understatement. I really don’t know what to expect from Brazil, so I am going to go with no expectations at all, just keep it chilled, go with the flow and hopefully have a wonderful experience in the process. I am going to make another movie and I will be updating my blog out there so everyone can keep up with the latest news etc.

More to come…

So it had to happen sooner or later I guess, I am officially a member of the old boys club, 29 today. That means I can only say I’m a twenty-something for one more year, then I get bumped up into the next socio-economic age bracket, doh! Hey in another few years I can get one of those electric chairs to scoot around on, mmm I wonder if they produce a model that carries surfboards as well?!

Without making this post sound like a trip down memory lane, it only seemed like yesterday that I was leaving uni at the ripe age of 21, not a care in the world etc. The funny thing is, 8 years on, I feel no different. In fact, it gets better as you get older, you develop a clearer idea of what you want in life, you get more confident, you earn more money, and life in general just improves.

I guess there are some downsides, hangovers get worse and you have to get up for work every morning, but in general it is all good.

My 28th year was pretty awesome; surfed around the world, fell in love, earned more money than the previous year and generally rocked. My 29th year looks to be pretty promising too. I am still rocking the web skills, pushing out some cool work, I have a good set of mates, my family is cool, I have a great girlfriend, and I am still stoked about surfing.

So I can relax in the fact that even though I am officially 29, people seem to think I look a few years younger (the consensus is 25), maybe its the Olay (joke), maybe ‘cos I act like an immature ass, or maybe ‘cos I dress like a 16 year old skater boy, who knows, I must be doing something right though, haha!

Anyway, it is time to get off the PB and head off to the pub for a beer with BJC, top up the levels from lunch time and generally relax and have some fun!

This one goes out to Mark Sullivan over in Hong Kong, a belated happy birthday to you mate. I think yours was the 3rd or 4th of March right?

Just think, last year you and I were in Bali, maxing it up and living the dream of international surfers/rock stars/sex gods, it’s funny what a year does to you hey, haha!

Hope you had a good one, and see ya soon!