Published Adventure Writer

So apparently I can add Published Writer to my list of accomplishments! I just received a few copies of a book called LegacyofStoke, I wrote an epic story from one of my many surf adventure stories and he decided to published it in Volume 2. If you would like to purchase the book and read the story of how Jeremy Jennings and I ended up on an island in Indonesia with perfect waves but couldn't surf them!
Here it the link to buy the book on Amazon:
http://amzn.to/2pMjg4V

Here it the link to buy the book on Amazon!
http://amzn.to/2pMjg4V

A Weekend in Baja

     Myself and my mates Chris and Jeremy wanted to get into some adventure a few weeks back so we decided to head across the border and get some waves in Baja! The whole trip began on Thursday night as we headed south to my mates in San Diego to crash for the night before crossing the border in the am! Friday morning we got across the border and down to a beach break by 8:30am, the waves looked pretty fun from shore. Jeremy and I paddled out and once we were out there realized it was bigger than expected, about 6-8 foot on the face! Chris swam out with his water housing camera setup and got worked so may times I don't know how he stayed out that long I was really surprised!

     After getting a few we headed little farther south to grab tacos, check a few more spots, and cruise through downtown Ensenada. Of course we ended up at Papas and Beer like most people do, what a great place to people watch. The cruise from Long Beach to Ensenada and back drops all the people

off in town for a few hours on Saturday, so it is quite the scene seeing them run around drunk. Once we got some more tacos for dinner we headed back North a bit to a camp spot on a cobblestone right point.As we pulled up our next door camping neighbors were two Australians that were cruising a van around the west coast for a few months. As we had few beers, sat by the fire, and exchanged stories from all of our travels it was pure bliss, exactly what we all came down to Baja for!

The next morning the swell we came down for did not quite end up being all we thought it would. Never the less I got in the water with the Aussies and a local for a few waves early in the am. Cant not get out in the water when its only a few guys out at a chest high cobblestone right, especially with Jeremy on the rocks coaching haha. After the morning surf we cruised north back to the La Fonda area and had the infamous endless brunch on the cliff there while checking the waves out front. As  Chris was going through the endless bloody mary's Jeremy and I decided to work our brunch off with a surf out front before heading back to the border line that Sunday evening. Getting 3 surf sessions in, lots of tacos, few beers, and meeting a few new friends made the 300 mile in two days trip all worth it!

100 Days Central America Ep3_ Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua

In Episode 3 we cross into Guatemala a country not really known for waves, beautiful none the less. Entering into El Salvador in the night was a fun experience but we woke up to a fun right point break. David has to fly home for a family wedding for a few days while I make some new friends and find a waterfall in the jungle! When David returns we venture south to the Las Flores area where we hit a swell dead on and get some of the best waves of our lives. On our way through Honduras we run into some trouble at the boarder which results in David getting injured and not able to surf in Nicaragua. Which ends up being the smallest waves we had seen in over a month!
Surf Shop in Guatemala!
http://www.surfinguatemala.com/?page_...
Epic Surf Resort in El Salvador!
www.K59SurfResort.com
Need somerwhere to stay in Nicaragua?
www.CafeConLecheNica.com

Follow along on 100DaysTravel.com

Special Thanks to:
SovrnRepublic.com
JlabAudio.com
IndoSole.com
PolarProFilters.com
Use the code "travelsurflive" for %20 off anything from the sponsors above.

Music by:
Pacific Dub- Sundown
Midnight Oils- Beds are burning
Naxxos- New Orleans

100 Days Central America Ep2_Mainland Mexico

In Episode 2 David and I have just landed off the ferry and onto Mainland Mexico. Where we will be encountering some of the best waves of the entire trip, places we have dreamed of surfing like Pascuales, Nexpa, and Puerto Escondido while more adventure ensues. Meeting new friends, a few truck problems, and of course lots of surfing!

Follow along on 100DaysTravel.com and @bdagz on instagram/snapchat to see behind the scenes adventure before the next episode comes out!

Special Thanks to:
SovrnRepublic.com
JlabAudio.com
IndoSole.com
PolarProFilters.com
Use the code "travelsurflive" for %20 off anything from the sponsors above.

Music by:
The Gringoz- Let It Go
311- Flowing
The Terras- Threads

One 30 second long wave in El Salvador

After an all day drive and search for this wave, we showed just before dark and camped on the point. Woke up to about 25 guys out at 6:30am in the water, so waited until 8:30am and got out there to grab a few to ourselves this was one of the good ones!

100 Days Central America Ep1_Baja

Departing June 8. 2016 from my home in Huntington Beach, California I am attempting to drive my Toyota 4Runner all the way through Central America.... and back home. In this first episode released of my newest adventure/project 100 Days Central America myself and my mate David Elliott make our way down the Baja Peninsula. In the 8 days or so we spent in Baja we had everything from car breakdowns, almost running out of gas in the middle of the desert, and camping on the beach surfing an epic right point. Follow along on 100DaysTravel.com and @bdagz on instagram/snapchat to see behind the scenes adventure before the next episode comes out!

100 Days Central America Official Trailer

#100DaysCentralAmerica is a vision of a n epic road trip I wanted to do from California to Panama. This Summer that dream is a reality since the departure on June 8th. Follow along on www.100DaysTravel.com

100 Days Central America: Baja Part 1

Average 3:30 Minute Read

     I departed Huntington Beach and arrived in San Diego on Tuesday evening we had a couple drinks and passed out to wake up Wednesday morning and get on the road crossing into Mexico. Before crossing the border we stopped and exchanged some money and got our car insurance which was about $140 for 6 months. I bought 6 months because I might be driving the truck back through Mexico and it was just cheaper that way. After crossing the border the next step was to find the immigration office, I needed to get a vehicle permit for my truck to take it on the ferry that goes from Baja to Mainland Mexico. En route to finding the office I took a wrong turn and ended up in the border line at Otay Mesa. We sat there just bummed thinking are we really about to sit here for 2 hours and have to turn back around and recross into Mexico! Well I wasn't going to let that happen, I through it in reverse and drove about half a mile in reverse dodging cars, pinatas, and people to get outta line, illegal yes but saved about 3 hours. When driving on Baja you do not need this but you need a permit when crossing over to Mainland Mex. I plan on spending about a month in Mexico so I also got a tourist visa which is also needed to get on the ferry. All of this cost about $70 for the vehicle permit and the person's Visa.

     As I had explained in my recent blog post I put new rear leaf springs and shocks on my truck to hold extra weight. But it was still saging in the rear and I wanted to get fixed before we kept going down Baja. So we drove around Tijuana to try to find a shop, of course translating what we needed and what need to be fixed was very hard. After about an hour we found a shop called Baja Custom Offroad and they were Legends, not only did they speak English but they knew exactly what to do. Remove the rear leaf spring bracket and move it back about 3 inches which gives the leaf springs more room for travel and a wider base to bump up the back end. After about 5 hours, $160 and a couple Tecate beers later it was finished and no more bottoming out! We were back on the road at about 8:30 p.m. and made it to Robert's k38 Surf hotel just 30 minutes away.

      Robert who was away at the time has owned this hotel for over 25 years, his son Russ now runs it when he's not around. Russ is a legend as well we chatted about my trip, his world travels, some photos he has taken and the new boat he purchased he was working on in the driveway when we arrived. All of this happened before noon and then Dave finally woke up and we hit the road again trying to get as far south as we could while the waves are flat. We made it all the way to Santa Rosalita an epic fishing Village set up with whole beach to camp on. When we awoke there was perfect waves peeling down the point, only problem was they were only 1 foot tall so not surfable haha.

       The Baja Peninsula is much longer and bigger than I could have ever imagined, I've been down here once before about six years ago but I still can't believe how vast and open it is. Now technically day three of the adventure we made it to the Sea of Cortez side of the Baja Peninsula where we found an epic little bay we stopped to have a dip in the water after 6 hours of driving that morning. Hitting the road again hopefully trying to make it to La Paz that evening we stopped to grab dinner. David had mentioned he wouldn't mind driving since I had driven the last 2-3 days so I said sure why not the road is pretty straight what could go wrong. Well a lot went wrong haha about 5 minutes after getting behind the Wheel, David was shifting into 4th when....

100 Days of Indo // Part 2

Here is episode 2 of 6 from our trip last year to Indonesia for 3 months! Another awesome story at an iconic wave with my mates for a whole week! Directed/Edited Funkhouse Media and special thanks to Sovrn Republic!
Go back and watch episode 1 HERE ►



Watch Episode 2 Next!

As we venture off Bali, the sights are set on Desert Point for our first major excursion. The swell forecast is looking promising, but there are other forces at play as the transport struggle gets real. No matter if we get waves or not, there's sure to be some new faces as we get to these new places. And puppies.

A SOVRN Republic Web Series
SovrnRepublic.com (Use promo code "travelsurflive for %15 off!)
In Association With Funkhouse Media
facebook.com/funkhousemedia

Music:
This is DoKashiteru (ft. DoKashiteru) by Carosone
Night Owl by Broke For Free
Alex’s Recital (ft. Alexander Stone) by DoKashiteru
Shiro (Kirkoid Mix) by Kirkoid

100 Days of Indo // Part 1

Last year I was able to do a trip with some good mates to Indonesia for 3 months. With the help of Sovrn Republic and Funkhouse Media were able to get together all the footage into an epic 6 part series, enjoy!



Watch Episode 2 Next ►

So it begins. As we land on Bali and get acclimated to Southeast Asia, we explore the southern part of the island, known as the Bukit, and explore the options for surf. As we cruise around the island for the first week, we make stops at Bingin, Balangan and Uluwatu. Testing our language skills, we get indigenous with some elderly locals near Nyang Nyang.

A SOVRN Republic Web Series
SovrnRepublic.com (Use promo code "travelsurflive for %15 off!)
In Association With Funkhouse Media
Facebook.com/Funkhousemedia

Music:
Hit The Road by Gyom
Kingston Shuffle by Good New Tunes
Parametaphoriquement by gmz
Brake Dub by belaf
Feet in the Sand by Morgantj

From L-R: Brian Daigneault, Travis Lindsey, David Elliot, Jeremy Jennings, Jay Neyer, Alex Arkeilpane

Week 6 // Part 2 // Indo Coffee, Coconuts, and Instant Noodles

The palm tree window.....

     There is nothing like falling asleep to rain pounding on the roof and a cool breeze wafting in
through the window making it’s way into your mosquito net. Then knowing your waking up the next day to a picturesque beach on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. As my mind starts to slowly awaken from my 5th REM cycle and my hearing goes from peace fading into the sound of crashing waves in the distance. Once my eyes fade from black to the vision of our wall full of palm fawn’s swaying with the light morning wind. If only this could be the way I woke up from a night’s sleep every morning, then everyday would be bliss. But for now this is life in Indonesia and has been for the last 42 days.

     The following days were filled with lots of surfing just out front, where we could view the wave right through the arch of palm trees out front. Waking up around 7:00am each morning, wandering onto the patio for a quick 5-minute surf check usually followed by a trip down stairs to get the thermos of hot water for our packet IndoCafe Cappuccino coffee we had all got addicted to. Once I had prepared my packet of coffee the guessing begins, since this spot impeticular was frequented by boat charter surf trips. We would all guess how many boats were moored in the channel hiding behind the palms trees to our left. Chest high waves, a lil bump on the ocean’s surface, 15 guys out, must be at least two boats on there first day of the trip and maybe a few guys from the land camp down the beach.

     By the time 8:00am comes around I’m getting restless after finishing my coffee, and sweeping the table and floor. Yes I am on a 3-month surf trip to surf and relax, but as most of my friend’s and family know, I don’t really lounge around. I am always tinkering with something or on the move to somewhere to do something active. So nothing has change even on the other side of the world, so I grab my board; scrap a lil wax on it, apply some sunscreen, and head out in the board shorts I had already woken up in. Walking down the stairs into the ground level of the losmen (local term for homestay) were staying in I make eye contact with one of the elders this morning being the grandma and exchange a sincere smile before walking out the door.

     Between the 200 feet of sand leaving the losmen ending at the beach, my ears are full of sounds; palms brushing against each other, every insect and birds chirp, and of course the waves breaking and rumbling across the reef. Upon reaching the sand and getting the full view of the bay, the peeling wave, and channel where I can confirm there are actually 3 boats. Submerging myself into the water for the first time today you can hardly feel any change since the water here is a warm 81-83°F. The
next few minute paddle to the lineup starts to loosen up the muscles, while I observe how the ocean is moving, and scope out a position to get some of the better waves. The lineup here is like most others with the beginner/intermediate surfers sitting inside and the more experienced surfers looking for better, longer, and bigger waves farther out! But luckily at this break since there are always new boats coming everyday anchoring up for only a 3 or 4-hour session, the people staying on land get priority and position on the better waves.

     The first few days of surf were epic, being head high to overhead and quite a few make able barrels coming through. Between dodging some people sitting or paddling in the wrong places we all had a few great waves. Travis on the other hand took the first 4 days off and shot some photos and video since he was still recovering from some pretty bad cuts that got infected again. It worked out for all of us since there were some good waves, since our two friends Alex and Jay had got caught up in Bali figuring out there Visa extension. Most evenings started at 6pm everyone usually out the water from the evening surf and watching the last few guys get some waves before you could only hear the ocean but not see it through the palm tree window. We all usually grab a beer and wait for dinner which is promptly served at 7pm, dinner consists of a bowl of rice big enough for a football team, a few bowls of veggies with a delicious broth, and hopefully a piece of chicken or fish! Everyone gathers around the table like a family and chows down hardly saying a word, after dinner the cards come out and we play games for hours. With the card games comes great laughs about the day, talks with Ben from Australia and advice on spots he has been and surfed in the area, which is always good knowledge to know from a first person perspective.

     Lunch was a mystery everyday, if Ibu (mom in Indonesian) was home then we had the choice of fried rice or fried noodle. If Ibu was not home then we were basically shit out of luck, so we had to resort to our bag of snacks and instant noodles. All of us had spent $20 or so on a huge bag full of our favorite goodies, I picked up 10 instant noodles, 3 lbs of peanuts, chips, Oreos, bread, peanut butter, and jelly. The other land camps on the beach were not much better except one 100 meters down or so that our friend Todd was staying at. They had a pretty decent menu he had told us multiple times out in the water, after drooling over him talking about the burger and fries he had I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Only eating rice and noodles for 5 days at this point I had to go check it out, but upon arriving and trying to order food they said no, guests only here. We were all disappointed but what can you do but go back and have another PBJ and instant noodle soup before heading out for the second surf of the day.

     At this point we had been on the island for 5 days with no internet, so we were wondering where or if our friend’s Alex and Jay would even show up? They were supposed to arrive Wednesday evening if all had gone to plan with flights, ferries, etc. The waves were a bit smaller today so Jeremy,

Wrangling some coconuts!

Travis, and I decided to go for a walk down the beach we told David and other new Aussie friend Ben that we’ll be back in an hour or so. After getting around the first point and seeing a few other in sight we just wanted to keep going and explore around the next bay and the next bay! All we had were our two GoPros, a hat, and sunglasses, no water haha. Obviously after 30 minutes or so in the sun, walking on the hot sand paralleling the thousands of scenic coconut trees lining the beach, we were thirsty. We tried our hand at wrangling ourselves a coconut from the treetops, our first goal, get up the tree trunk!

     Most of the tree trunks had these little steps cut into them at a 45° angle every 2 ft or so, we could now get pretty far up the tree. But once at the top of the steps the inch or so groove that our feet were in would get uncomfortable and the coconuts were just at our finger tips, with nothing to cut them off with other than hitting them with a stick of bamboo found nearby. After getting nowhere the 3 of us resorted to throwing rocks and pieces of coral at the low hanging coconuts to our surprise we got a pretty decent sized one down. Now step two opening the damn coconut with anything we could find, I initiated the attempt with a solid coral head that I pounded into the soft part of the coconut head. After a few minutes I was getting somewhere but was also exhausting, took myself about 20 minutes to finally crack it open. The first sip was actually delicious even though there was a good amount of sand mixed in, we didn’t care much, after finishing the coconut the wandering continued down the beach. Finally returning back to the losmen with a few coconuts to properly chop open with a machete 3 hours later…..

Rainy weekend and Go Pro pics

     Friday was a rest day, we checked the waves in the am, but I wasn't feeling to good when i woke up. I believe it was from the vog (volcano fog), the volcano on the big island blows smoke over here during the winds and everyone says that it messes with your system once in awhile. So basically chilled inside all day, it was also overcast and rainy all weekend also.
     Saturday was another sluggish day since it was raining again. But I got some things done in the am looking up rental cars and places to stay when my sister and friend Jeremy come to town. I got an alright surf in at Rockies which is not even a mile down Kam Hwy, probably the most crowded spot usually on the North Shore. The wave is pretty consist, not to powerful when under 6 foot, just gotta watch out on the inside for the shallow rocks. Saturday night Salah had a fun lil BBQ with some great cooking, as usual!
     Sunday was also rainy but got a few sessions in still. Just trying to stay busy here even when its raining, hate being cooped up inside. Also trying to take advantage of the rain since usually keeps majority of the people out of the water, which is always nice. I went to bed earlier since I was going to hep out with a surf lesson in the morning.
     Monday morning I went with Salah to a surf lesson, over by the east side where he sets up for his lessons. It was cool to teach a young girl to surf, I haven't done a lesson in quite some time but it's not to hard and I'm a pretty good teacher and explainer. The girl I was working with picked it up really fast and was not scared at all, so it made the lesson a lot easier and fun. After the lesson I grabbed some Taco Bell nearby, I have not had Mexican food in over 3 weeks to that point, which is hard for me, I usually eat it at least 4 times a week! I helped out friend Salah move some things around and do a few errands, I watched the waves after for awhile since the winds had changed and sun finally came out. All the waves and scenery here is so awesome to just sit and look at, makes a day lil more relaxed to sit down for a bit.
     Tuesday I was supposed to go help out with another lesson but didn't work out, I wasn't to bummed since the waves and weather was supposed to be perfect. I hoped on the scooter and went straight to V-Land which looked super fun. The setup at this spot is really cool, breaks into a big bay, comes in at angle then just reels off the shallow reef. One of my more favorite waves I've surfed this trip because every wave is going to be a little different, wedgy, open face, or barrel. Had a great warm, sunny, two hour session, little crowded but got some super fun ones! Got a cheeseburger a Ted's bakery that is just down the street, chilled out for a bit then went out again. This time to Sunset right out front, wasn't to crowded and there were some solid 10-16 footers coming through. I set up the Go Pro on my new 6'6" Pang that I put a board mount on, I've never surfed with a Go Pro on my board other than on my big Stand Up Paddle. I was hoping to get some cool shots of some good size waves, below are a few of the better ones, hopefully more to come!
     Wednesday was another rainy day inside for the most part, but got a little session in at a sandbar past Rockies. Been hanging out with a cool guy that just got here a few days ago, he's on a surf trip also. His name is Gabriel and he is from Israel, he started his trip in New York, then went to Santa Cruz for a month, Mexico for two months, now he is finishing his trip in here till the beginning of May. Nice to have someone around my age that I can hang with for a bit and also go surf with. All in all it kinda sucks when it rains here sometimes can still surf if it's not to blow out, but can't go explore unless you want to get wet and lil cold.
     Thursday I got up checked the waves and they sucked so I hoped on the bus to town for my flight to Maui at 4. It ended up being a crappy day on the bus, got stuck on the bus for 4 hours getting to town. I barely made it to town in time for my buddy to give me a ride to the airport to make my flight. We ended up going to the wrong terminal twice and finally I just hoped out and started running to were the parking attendant told me the airline was. I got to the check in desk and the lady said I was more than likely not making the flight, but she helped me out and got me through! When I got to the gate it was a mess, all flights were delayed, I ended up getting onto a flight though and got to Maui around 5:30. I got to my friend Nate's that I'm staying with here on Maui, and we just chilled and cooked up some food while talking story since we saw each other last. More to come about my weekend on Maui!


OTHER TRAVEL UPDATE
Still on the calendar to come, my sister Brooke and good friend Jeremy are heading over here on in the beginning of April. My parents got my sister a ticket over here for her birthday to visit me and have a fun spring break vacation. Jeremy is coming over to hang for a bit before we start our trip over to Indo! We booked our tickets that depart from Honolulu on the 16th, couldn't be more excited to finally go to Bali and to have a good friend to travel with!

Chickens on the beach at Sunset, still always excites me that my love of animals and the ocean come together here.

Finally some okay Mexican food after 3 weeks!

Surf lesson

Go Pro sequence at Sunset

Here's a photograph from my buddy Nate I'm staying with in Maui. He is a super talented snowboard photographer from Minesota, now living on Maui and getting some great surf and water shots. Click the picture to check out his blog!

First week of paradise!

     Hello everybody sorry for the delay on the blog post but it has been an awesome, relaxed at sometimes, and also busy first week! I am doing great here in Oahu on the North Shore, I have a great place to stay with my cousin Chris, literally a minute walk to the beach. Right in front of the house are two sick waves called Kami's and Sunset Point, I've been surfing both of them a few times and also some other sweet spots. Other than surfing I have been meeting some great people and making some awesome new friends.
     The first day I arrived we got a bite to eat and went straight to surf some fun head high warm waves down the road. It was so cool to go from surfing in HB on Saturday in a 4/3 on some fun beach break waves, then 24 hours later surfing in just trunks on a fun lil reef in Hawaii.
     The first few days of the week I got some fun sessions while my cousin Chris was at work. On Tuesday we paddled out to Sunset Point which is a heavy right hander. I was riding my Chris' 7'4" Al Merrick, my first time riding a gun. There were 10-12 ft sets (Hawaiin Size) coming in, so about 20' to 25' face waves. I have never seen waves this big, meaty, big barrels, and heavy in my life. I was definitely a little scared in the water for one of the first times in my life, but i thought to myself I'm on the North Shore, one of the best places in the world for waves. I had to at least catch a few, I snagged a few of the smaller ones on the inside, still about 15' faces. I paddled out a little farther as I saw some bigger ones coming in, as soon as I got out there a wave swung wide straight to me, I thought shit if I'm going to do this, this is the one! I paddled and caught a over 20' face wave, at one of the heaviest waves on the North Shore on my 3rd day here. It was definitely a highlight of my surfing life and will never forget that first legit big ass wave!
     On Wednesday and Thursday I hung out at our friend Mikey and Salah's house and worked on a broken scooter they had lying around the yard. I thought it would be sick to have a working scooter to cruise around on, and of course for cheap transportation. So after a little work and some help from a local scooter mechanic and I got it running and looking legit.
     Today, Friday Chris and I slept in a bit and went to check a few low key spots and ended up surfing a sick outer reef break all to ourselves. It was like a spot that any surfer would dream of, head high to a little over head peaks coming in all over the place. After catching as many waves as we could, we cruised into town (Honolulu) to get some food. Since we were going to town I got dropped off in town to hang with some old high school friends that go to school at the university. Going to hang with them for the night and celebrate a friends birthday!
     Thanks everyone for checking in and reading my first blog, keep checking back and please hit me up whenever, love to hear from friends and family!

Fun lil collage from the first few days.

Getting the scooter ready to roll!

Sunset from the treehouse.

Cousin Chris and I BBQing at a friends and overlooking firing Sunset!

7 days until the departure....

     First off thanks everybody for checking out my blog that i will be updating as much as i can as i am traveling. I know lots of friends and family want to hear, see, and read about this awesome adventure I'm starting to take.
     The last few weeks have been awful busy with both life, working, getting ready, and still trying to have some fun in between. I have managed to get a lot of things done and ready to go in the last few days. Been trying to think of everything i might need on this trip has been crazy, definitely preparing my self for everything and anything in all of the places i want to travel to.

Thanks for checking out my first blog post!

 Here's all i got packed so far, throwing everything in the board bag and one carry on.