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

Dear Youth More friendly advice for a lot of young men (and women and iPhone users)

Jeremy Lynch Alex Knost Surfing Advice Dear Youth What Youth
10.01.13 – TAGS: ,
Photo: Two Dollars Please

“We spend our time searching for security and hate it when we get it.” John Steinbeck wrote that line in his essay “Paradox and Dream”. I’m sure you’ve read it. 

Anyway, we like that line. It relates to our lives in the water. In America. On the Internet. In this industry. We’re all searching, battling and struggling all the time — for more success, for more, more, more. That’s existence today and it was existence always. Fame, fortune, money, and a house on the hill so we can “surf” more. All working with high hopes that we’ll one day win the battle for happiness — someday in the future, forgetting to look around. But the thing that no one ever realizes or tells you (until you read Steinbeck), is there’s nothing out there on the horizon. The planet aint flat and that isn’t a fucking sunset. Your happiness isn’t out there waiting. It’s right there, in your camera phone pointed at the meaningless orange horizon. It’s in the terminal at LAX. In the drive-thru. On the freeway in traffic. It’s not over the hill. It’s right here. Don’t miss it.

And until you realize that, you won’t find what you’re looking for. And if you do, prepare to hate it. Because it’s only then you’ll miss the days of gridlock and hardship. You’ll miss the creativity of youth. The energy of failure. Which is why we are here. More for the struggle of today than the boat trip of tomorrow. That’s our shit. We can’t get skunked because we don’t know what that means.

In two weeks we’ll be screening our good friend Jeremy Asher Lynch’s new film “Remind Me To Forget” right here at WhatYouth.com. The photo of Alex Knost above was taken on the set by Jeremy. —Travis 

Copenhagen Pro Project Ring of Fire Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth We have a lot to learn about competition

What we’re witnessing right now in Copenhagen is redefining the meaning of “contest” forever. From the ceremonial “Ring of Fire” at the outdoor skate park last night, which officially kicks off the Copenhagen Pro, to the non-stop highfives and good vibes and incredible skating and living going on all around us, it’s clear that Copenhagen…

Dear Youth Happy fourth of July

“Those of us not in France just spent all our lunch money for the month at this fireworks stand. Please standby while we light it all off and run around our neighborhood drinking CL smooths and enjoying the day. We’ll be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled programming, including a teaser to our upcoming Fairly…

Bali Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth A psychedelic trip in Bali

There is some trippy shit going on in Bali right now. We were going to edit this dispatch from Dion down, combine it with some information about the trip and why it’s going down, pull quotes out, etc, but this note we got from Dion last night does a way better job of relaying what…

Brendon Gibbens Dane Reynolds Owen Wright Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth Every wall a door and don’t say shark

I have a friend who lives in South Africa. He ends all his e-mails with the statement: Every wall a door and don’t say shark. It’s a mix of local folklore from the group of laborer/friends he surfs with, mixed with a bit of his own philosophy. Apparently surfing in a community known for having…

Jake Burghart Vice HBO Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth We talked to our good friend Jake Burghart about filming for the new HBO/VICE show

That’s him, in a photo taken by a hidden camera, wearing a What Youth shirt, in Pakistan, about to interview some militant freedom fighters. First of all, for those of you who haven’t seen the show, you can check out episode 1 here, and a new episode on HBO every Friday night, and we reccomend that you do,…

Dillon Perillo Chippa Wilson Skating Australia This is Us Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth Chippa Wilson and Dillon Perillo filming for This is Us: Australia

There was a skatepark next to the bowler’s club we ate dinner at during our recent trip to Australia. It was empty all the time and every evening before dark (and often into the dark thanks to our Subaru’s headlights) we would eat chicken schnitzel’s, grab some beers and roll around for a few hours,…

This is Us Ryan Callinan Creed McTaggart Dillon Perillo Chippa Wilson Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth The making of a new What Youth original series

We’re currently in Australia filming for a new What Youth film series called This Is Us. So far, in the first two days we’ve survived the 50-year storm. Had a late night skate session fueled by the lights on our cars, searched every nook and cranny along this section of Australian coast and met some quality…

Chippa Wilson Creed McTaggart Dillon Perillo Surfing Drinking Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth Fuck Henry Miller

There is a beautiful home in Australia that is now inhabited by us. Nine of us. It has several bedrooms. A beautiful deck. A gas Weber barbecue. Kitschy photos of Waikiki, Santa Monica, Tahiti and other surfing “meccas.” We are here surfing, drinking, skating, talking, grilling, and reading poetry together because we saw a film…

Traveling LAX Surfing Australia Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth A note from LAX

There’s a small bar in this terminal and it’s filled with all those sad looks that people usually have in airports, bad sandwiches and ice cold beers. I’ve just met up with What Youth filmer and team psyche-leader Victor Pakpour. He travels with the most hideous piece of luggage you’ve ever seen. He says it’s…

What Youth Issue Three Skating Surfing Dear Youth

Dear Youth What Youth Issue 3 is Available Thursday, February 14th

After a weekend filled with late night brainstorms, ticket booking and game planning for our next run of films, magazines and videos we’re very happy to announce the official release date of What Youth Issue 3. This Thursday, February 14th you’ll be able to order What Youth Issue 3 in the What Youth Shop, and…

Creed McTaggart Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth New man on the scene: Creed McTaggart

Meet Creed McTaggart. Creed is from Western Australia and we’ve just realized he has quite the presence in our third issue (coming soon) and that you should meet him. Creed recently spent two weeks on the road filming alongside Mitch Coleborn and Dion Agius as he just signed with Epokhe. He is extremely well educated…

Lauren Hastings What Youth dear youth

Dear Youth Read Bukowski – it’s like a text message, I swear

I’m not going to lie. The boys are busy at the moment. Half of us are literally on airplanes to Africa, another half just got home from a wedge hunt in eastern Australia, and the other half  (yeah, we are one and a half to make a whole), are on deadline making What Youth Issue…

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