Surfing, Skateboarding, Music, Photography, Travel, Culture and general antics of the youth on the run.

Friendly advice from a tax man Is this the end of experience?

This week we begin work on What Youth issue 11. And as we begin the purification process of deciphering what is worthy of living forever, immortally inside a print book, it’s a tiny piece of information I received from a friendly tax man that has me fucking terrified — frozen and pondering a complete drive-to-the-desert-to-bury-it-all meltdown.

This artfully-calculated man who files my annual tax forms, making sure I don’t end up with any tattoos similar to Sunny Garcia told me how each year he gets a pretty good sense of what’s happening in the world after compiling the myriad stories and financial situations that come across his desk each year. And he seemed especially worried this year.

“We’re completely giving up on each other,” he said. “The human interaction is gone and the next generation has more information than any of the previous, but they have zero actual experience. I recently looked at all of my students I coach [he coaches high school Volleyball as well] — and they’re all good kids and great students and I had to say to them: ‘I love you guys but I wouldn’t hire a single one of you.’”

And the reason is simple: no one is specialized. No one has actual real-world experience. We currently inhale more information in a day than our ancestor’s would in an entire lifetime. But the problem: we have no idea what the hell to do with it. We’re paralyzed by information at all times. We now have access to so much and are stimulated by so many things at once that our receptors can hardly tell a hot chick from a calculator. Let alone hone in on a details or a specialized skill long enough to become an expert, or an artisan. Or change a flat tire when the cell phone has gone dead.

Some of you may remember our recent rant on artisans in What Youth Issue 9. Another smart man forecasted that the key to our future were with these few remaining artisans. Those willing to raise their hand bravely and become so highly-skilled in their field that they would lead the next revolution in their field. So as you swipe up, down, side to side this week: think about what makes you special. What do you slow down your life for? What gets you so jazzed that not even the iPhone 6 can get in your way? We suggest you find that thing, and as wise and often drunk Bukowski said: “Let it destroy you.”

Today I want to leave you with our old friend C.S. Louis’ Instagram farewell that was posted this week. Maybe it’s time we all consider slowing it all down just enough to enjoy what’s in front of us a little more. —Travis 

C.S. Louis via Instagram: I want this to be personal. Thankfully I have only amassed 104 of you and it will be. 

Fuck that I deliberated this as if it were a real decision. As if it were risky and it was important and worth pondering. 

This is bullshit. 

I follow children because they are attractive and post frequently. I follow dudes who post pictures of my hometown to reminisce even though they are no talent ass clowns. I follow dudes from my new home who are ambivalent to my existence. I follow a couple of actual mates also but I’m confident our relationship is unaffected by their posts or mine. 

Fuck that I shit at work and see who posted a photo about not being at work. Fuck that I awake serene and senseless and grab my phone like a fiend each morning. Fuck that I lay next to my naked girlfriend playing with this retarded shit and not her at night. 

Call me undisciplined and you will be correct. Call me a social media pervert and I’ll remind you that so is everyone else. 

This is no longer a pastime I wish to actively pursue and this is why: Fuck you Instagram, goodbye. 

I did it to MySpace in 2003 and then Facebook in 2008. Still seem to be living and breathing. Panting in fact. Drinking draft beer, laughing with friends and getting God damned tubed just the same. 

And my last picture? It’s my dick, with an all-black filter. 

Right, so the WSL starts again next week And hello, yes, we have some questions and concerns. Five exactly.

It is 6:30 am, picture the scene. It is 6:30 am and the crack of dawn in San Diego and I’m paying for a latte at the coffee shop I frequently go to. “And what,” the barista says as he takes my cash. “What do you think about the upcoming WSL season? What with the…

A quick ode to Uncle Gav Please buy this legend a cold beer. He is a surfing treasure.

Yesterday you heard we went to Samoa and got hit by a cyclone before finding blue tubes and cold beers in it’s wake at Salani Surf Resort. You also saw that Gavin Beschen was there. Well, Gavin flew in from Hawaii by himself, and in true Gavin fashion showed up to the camp solo, 8…

letters from what youth where ya been

“Where ya been?” A little update on our recent movements

Don’t you just love when people ask you that? Well, we do. And people been asking us – especially our mailman, cuz we haven’t been home in a while… so let’s see, where did we go… a little bit of everywhere really. We road tripped up the CA coast in a van thanks to you and…

Youth against the machine I’m so proud of you

Editor’s Note: Last Friday night I got emotional. I was watching recaps of what happened in the world that week and a lot had happened. Part of me was on the verge of tears watching young people, you, the youth, standing toe-to-toe with politicians and paid speakers and paid pros for the NRA, and I saw…

Outside the Comfort Zone San Francisco to Florida to the North Shore to “The Other Guys.”

It’s been one of those days. Weeks. Years. Hell, six years. I haven’t used my own soap in three weeks. My bag of clothes is soggy. I miss my bed and I’ve seen three time zones in a week, but I’ve surfed, talked, laughed, drank, filmed and even worn a headset and done commentary for…

Media Model Subsidy Line Noise Ordinances and surf video making with Mitch Coleborn, Harry Bryant, Nate Tyler, Colin Moran and more

This morning we received a note on our front door reminding us that this town operates under a noise ordinance and that we may have been in violation during our first night here. And I may know why. You see, we lucked into an AirBnb that’s equipped with a pool table in the sun room, and last…

what youth harry bryant surf trip

Well, you’re hired We reached out to you and you delivered. Now it’s time to go

Holy shit, it worked!  The idea hatched over a pitcher of margaritas the other night is a reality. And it’s all because of you. You have officially funded the What Youth California ramp hunt and now the boys are ready to send it. We’re starting tomorrow and making it official: The What Youth film project,…

dear youth david bowie has a book club

David Bowie Has A Book Club Maybe 2018 won’t be terrible after all

When history looks back at our bizarre little era, it will agree on one thing: Everything went to shit real quick right after David Bowie died. It’s baffling how quickly reality unraveled after David Robert Jones left us in early 2016. Muhammad Ali, Prince, Tom Petty and a whole bunch of people you really like passed…

Quiksilver has acquired rival Billabong In the least shocking headline you’ll read today

I know this headline isn’t as good as: “Iguanas are freezing and falling from trees.” Or “It’s so cold that sharks are dying.” But we’ll give it a shot. Quiksilver and Billabong are now owned by the same company. This was posted last night by our fabulous friends and drinking buddies and hard-hitting journalists at…

Hunter Martinez, San Francisco

2018: Fitter, Happier…still on antibiotics Here we go again

To be modern is to find ourselves in an environment that promises us adventure, power, joy, growth, transformation of ourselves and our world – and at the same time, that threatens to destroy everything we have, everything we know, everything we are…—Marshall Berman 2018 and I woke up strange. My FICO score changed (for the…

Blake Myers, Noa Deane

Save What Youth Dot Com And the rest of our little digital realm for that matter

I have loads of nasty habits. I drink six cups of coffee every morning, I let my wetsuit ferment in the back of my car because I’m too lazy to rinse it out, and I’ve caught myself watching the Oi Rio Pro un-ironically on several occasions. But there’s one stupid, habitual quirk I do every single…

what youth bruce brown rip

RIP Bruce Brown The man responsible for surfing’s greatest celluloid achievement is gone, but there’s no chance we’ll ever forget him

I was 12 years old and I remember leaving baseball practice of all things to go see the world premiere of Endless Summer II at the old Peirside Cinema in Huntington Beach. That night was the beginning of the end of my cleat-wearing years. Just me and my dad went and the electricity inside that…

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