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

Dear Youth The fun that leads to sleep paralysis

Surfing road-trip dear youth what youth

“Never trust a thought that didn’t come from walking.” That’s a quote by an old madman by the name of Friedrich Nietzsche. He’s an existential pioneer and had one hell of a dark passenger throughout his life. But the man sure did drop some wisdom while he was here.

I bring this up as a bit of a postmortem from a pretty serious “walk” we’ve just returned from. A car was driven from our current location in Orange County up to an island off British Columbia. Along the way we skated, surfed, forgot, remembered, danced, drove, brooded, exclaimed, drank and moved ridiculous distances without sleep just to see what it would feel like to not know which side of consciousness we were on.

While nature bloomed and whizzed by outside the window, our brains swelled with too much alcohol and no computer screens to save us. But now we know what it feels like to skate Burnside and Orcas. Surf frozen Canada and wash it down with Lucky beer served by friendly small town granola girls.

At times we must have looked like miserable bum fights, at other times we were wetsuit clad with big stoke grins, alive and leaving frozen tracks on frozen waves we’d never knew existed. And we found all moods that exist between those two extremes along the way.

And now we’re back from the north and we’ve mopped up all the blood from our elbows, thawed our frozen toes and faces enough to remember what happened…somewhat. And just to be sure we did it right, upon return, your current scribe was stricken with two instances of sleep paralysis (which is very much a thing) on night number one in his own bed after two weeks without it, and can report with certainty that it feels not unlike a demon pulling a sheet over your face while you watch, unable to do anything about it. But stay tuned for issue 3! The creative juices flow. Kai is rolling film, Victor is rolling film, Nate is snapping stills and a variety of surprises are brewing. Let’s just say we had a good “walk.” The new magazine will be out in early February. —Travis

 

thurston moore what youth

Thurston Moore made our ears bleed Live from the LA Art Book Fair

Thurston Moore continues his reign as the king of dissonance at the LAABF

I still haven’t seen Cluster either And it’s being made in the room next to me

I didn’t think I’d have to write that. But there it is. The morning of the premiere and I still haven’t seen the damn thing. After a week in the desert, followed by an even more dehydrated stint in the lizard den known as the What Youth editing bay, Kai and Blake are still the…

Seven missions, 16 sessions A dispatch from your guide to good waves

Hints from a good-wave magnet

Creed McTaggart what youth cluster

Dear Youth What Youth HQ during the making of Cluster

This is us on deadline.

quinn matthews what youth surfing photography

A rookie’s year on the run Dear Youth with Quinn Matthews

Quinn Matthews recaps his 2014 year on the road as a rookie.

dear youth quinn matthews what youth hawaii

Dear Youth One more Aloha from Hawaii (with Quinn Matthews)

We just had to say aloha one more time. This time Quinn Matthews says farewell to the island. It’s been exactly a year now since Quinn Matthews caught our eye with his photos from Hawaii, and this year was a stellar sophomore campaign. Always fresh, and always rad angles.

john john florence surfing hawaii what youth

Dear Youth: See Ya Hawaii 12 Photos from the North Shore

Nate Lawrence photos from the North Shore.

Quinn Matthews pipeline what youth surfing

Dear Youth Swimming at Pipe: Quinn Matthews

Editor’s Note: Every time Quinn does something (anything), it’s probably his first time. And while I think he’d swam and shot at Pipe before, these were definitely the biggest waves he’d ever swam in. Which lends for good reading, especially when you line it up with the results you see below. Quinn wrote this and…

dear youth quinn matthews what youth surfing

Dear Youth 15 photos from North Shore: Quinn Matthews

Last year it was his fresh approach in Hawaii that caught our eye. And throughout the year he’s continued to amaze and baffle us simultaneously with his awe of the world around him and ability to get the wildest shots at the least likely of times. Quinn Matthews is a shy, unassuming, extremely green but…

dear youth hawaii kenny hurtado what youth surfing

Dear Youth 15 Photos from Hawaii: Kenny Hurtado

Kenny Hurtado has always been one of our favorite photographers. Both for the purity of his photography and for his humble demeanor. He’s been over on the North Shore the past few weeks and took a very unique approach to his coverage of the most photographed place in the surf world.

dear youth hawii nate lawrence what youth

Dear Youth 15 Photos from the North Shore: Nate Lawrence

Photographing the North Shore is an interesting skill if you wanna do it right. Nate Lawrence has been on the North Shore for a few weeks now, and prior to that he’s logged well over a decade of pilgrimages each year. And somehow, each trip back he manages to surprise us with the unique and…

nate zoller what youth dear youth fiji

Dear Youth Right Place, Right Time.

I just had the best month of my life.

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