Always bring your fins.
Always pack your wetsuit. Always be ready.
Surfline said 1-2 feet, and the air temperature is barely above 60 with no sun, not to mention the water temp. None of your friends are as experienced as you or have any of the gear. Your body is tired from your run yesterday, so swimming out sounds exhausting. Just enjoy the company and some food in the sand.
But then you get there, and 1-2 feet looks more like 2-3 rolling to the right very nicely, and there are some occasional sets of 3-4 feet. The visibility looks incredible. Your friend just told you how she’s been getting back into swimming shape. There’s no breeze and the sun is starting to peek out, plus the water doesn’t feel as cold as the numerical temperature suggests.
Do you really want to drive home and have to wait another 6 months for your next opportunity to paddle out, or dive, or just to know that you can still do it?
You’re here for the headliner, you’ve never even heard of the opener, and you have to go to work tomorrow. You’re just gonna have one beer in the back, listen to the music, then go home. Your buddy you brought doesn’t even like this type of music, he just wanted to get out of the house and hang out. You don’t want to leave him so you can go get punched in the face.
Then the Drop-A power chords start hitting. You get goosebumps from the 808 bass punching you in the chest. The music is so fast and chaotic that it makes your stomach turn and you remember what it is you love about this music in the first place. You know how much work this band has put in to rehearse, drive in a shitty van up here, unload, sound check, then play a 15-minute set for no payout, and that they do it to see the small crowd go nuts.
You know you’re gonna feel bad later when the singer said “Open this place up!” and no one new moved. All the anger you feel at work that has compounded with no release is gonna come up as soon as your boss talks to you the next morning if you don’t run to the front and get it out now.
That’s why you always pack the mask, the towel, the suit, the fins, or the board. Show your friend who is curious about freediving what’s going on down in the reef.
Be the one who helps push the crowd around. Bang your head during that song that you don’t know but is surprisingly good.
Think ahead, and leave every experience with no regrets.