The Drop In - Portugal

What makes a holiday special to you? Is it doing nothing? Is it sitting by the pool? Or is it experiencing a new way of life?

For those who don't surf, I envy you. You are part of the masses that continue along the same treadmill of life, you do things that you might think give you enjoyment but in the end it means nothing. You are living in an ignorant miasma of hopeful delusion, sometimes I wish it could be that simple for me. I find myself vaguely aware that other things outside the surfing world should matter, and know that I could have thought like others who have yet to make the choice to have their entire existence being ruled by an uncompromising enslavement.  Such is surfing.

A lot of people in the world surf but, a negligible amount feel the same way as me about surfing. I have met people that surf yet can live in a wave starved location, sometimes not even near the sea. Even the thought of this fills me with a dread that is hard to explain and sometimes, just sometimes I meet someone who feels the same. It takes one to know one they say.

The first time I met Mac was at my son's school party, we had a chat about waves and I knew then that he was as lost in the normal world as I, the conflict of life and surf was there for me to see. It is this conflict that is so readily available, having a family, having a job and dealing with prioritizing the addiction that is riding moving pulses of energy in the sea. Fortunately Mac's wife Dani has the same addiction and their kids grew up with and understand the importance of it.

By a happy chance for you guys, Mac and Dani have the perfect job. They have set up the ultimate surf lifestyle holiday. This is no normal surfcamp with the usual cliches. What Mac and Dani offer is a change of mindset, a glimpse into a possible life, one that anyone can have, one that is held together with the addiction we know and love.

The world is a fast moving and stressful place with the interconnectedness of everything and everyone, it is very easy to imagine the places you can go to be you are becoming less and less. The Drop In Surfcamp is one of these places and the moving pictures below will help you get and idea of what the guys offer.

So what?  There are many places with accommodation near the beach and great waves, what is special about this place? As I have hinted previously, while having some amazing facilities in the various camp houses, it is not that which makes the place truly special and worth writing about. It's the escape and the truly 'eye opening experience' that is offered. Mac remains of the opinion that all people are 'good people' some of them just don't know it yet. With all the barriers that the modern world throws at us, a Drop In surf holiday offers up a real chance to be judged on the 'real you' that stands there as apposed to some digital persona.

As far as facilities go there are swimming pools, table football, skate ramps and bowls, nighttime bonfire areas, guitars. There are access to bikes, skateboards, surfboards, suits etc. The team that Mac and Dani have built up over the years consist of guys and girls that have a like-minded easygoing outlook on life and are driven very much by the aforementioned addiction.

The one drawback to this paradise comes if you do not speak German to a decent level. Yep that's right, the guys have found that for everyone to mix and be comfortable at the level at which the magic happens a language barrier of any kind is just too big a hurdle. But hey, language lessons are pretty cheap and I can provide you with a good contact so you can 'Deutsch sprechen' in no time.