Home is where the heart is for Bianca Buitendag

The lifestyle of a competitive surfer sounds pretty incredible on the surface. They get to travel to some of the most sought after destinations, chasing waves and surfing iconic and uncrowded waves, all while experiencing the local culture and everything on offer. Until you discover they spend the better part of their year on the road (or in the air) away from loved ones and most importantly, the comforts of home.

Team rider Bianca Buitendag has been travelling since she was 14, and for her there’s no place like home. Read about how Bianca feels about the anticipation of life on the road and the constant pull of home here -

I have noticed a small change of heart, or is it home? The excitement and urgency of coming home seems to subside a little more every time I cross the seas. Travelling since the age 14 sets you up for a slightly different lifestyle to those around you.

You are set up into a life that is not normal, unfamiliar to others and quite a rollercoaster to yourself. Some nights, you would close your eyes wishing the opposite, wishing you were home, on the other side of the globe, only having to handle the stress a teenager normally would as you count the days to your return to family and a sense of security.

But with every flight crossing to another country, what was once regarded as unfamiliar starts to grow more and more natural. One starts to realize the privilege of the difference, that difference, a privilege only a handful of people I know get to experience. One becomes more comfortable in an economy class seat and the thrill of dependence than the routine of home.

I have just come home after the longest time ever spent away, a short 5 months. Instead of counting the days here, I count the days where the journey of travel and adventure and surprise would begin. From now, the majority of heart is on that road, and so my home also.