A Surfer's Guide to Enlightenment with Alastair Thompson
Tyler: [00:01:00] Hello and welcome to the Swell Season Surf Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Brewer. Today's guest is someone who sees life not just in waves, but in the stillness between them. Alistair Thompson is the author of a Surfer's Guide to Enlightenment, a beautifully reflective book that blends surfing, spirituality, and self-discovery.
It's part memoir, part philosophy, and full of lessons drawn straight from the ocean. After decades of watching from the shore, Alistair finally took the plunge and found in surfing a path to presence, peace and personal truth. In his book, he explores everything from fear and ego to love, forgiveness, and faith all through the lens [00:02:00] of the sea. Whether you're a surfer or not, this conversation is about what it means to start to fall, to get back up, and to find your wave, whatever that might be. It's an ode to those seeking self-discovery and meaning in their lives. Welcome to this show, Alistair. How you going?
Alastair: Hey Tyler. Thanks. And yeah, thanks for that. That that intro, man, I, amazing. Loved it.
Tyler: Yeah, no worries. Um, I mean, you know, this book is this wonderful, you know, bunch of lessons basically, you know, that, that you, we all kind of pick up from surfing. And I guess the first question I have, and it's a bit of a doozy, but I thought it'd be a nice launching off point, is, you know, what does enlightenment look like for a surfer?
Alastair: Oh yeah. That, that's a [00:03:00] doozy.
Tyler: Start you off hard and strong on that one.
Alastair: And you know, um, Tyler, that, that's something I've, I think about a lot. You know, what is, what is this thing called enlight me? You know, what, what is it? And, I guess it's, it's personal for each of us. For me, it's a combination of all of those, know, kind of understanding all of those things. You know, I mentioned in the book, it's just, spend, we're surfers. We spend hours out there in the water and we don't, you know, we don't surf, know, we're not catching waves
Tyler: Not the whole time.
Alastair: there and, know, I wish we were, but you know, most of the time we sit on our boards and kind of float in this, you know, the ocean.
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: um, for me, really it's about understanding our place in the ocean, in the world. You [00:04:00] know, how, how we fit in and how we can be a part of it. So, yeah, I mean, that's it. Okay. Sometimes we surf in the wave, sometimes we sitting there, sometimes we're helping a buddy. Sometimes we, you know, re sort of rescuing a board that, you know, some gro lost up the point. Whatever it is, we are all, you know, that's enlightenment.
Knowing what our place is, I guess for me.
Tyler: You, you mentioned something in the book that, that kind of struck me, I thought was really interesting. It was like you, you mentioned the book that enlightenment is knowing why we are here and what we have to do. And you described like kind of a typical surfy kind of morning to explain like the enlightenment and I was hoping you can kind of expand on that.
Like what do you mean by like knowing why we're here and, and what we have to do?
Alastair: Um,
Tyler: Coming at you hard with the hammer questions, man.
Alastair: that, and I, and this is, you know, this is the kind of thing that, you know, you know, after a [00:05:00] couple of hours out in the ocean, I could probably, probably answer, but really, really, for me, it's, you know. The, every, every day we go out to the ocean, the ocean's different, right?
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Alastair: You know, you today it's, it's cold, it's, it's howling off shore. It's kind of closing out.
Tyler: Yep.
Alastair: my, what is my place in this, in this ocean? Is it, you know, hanging, hanging out with my, my mates on, on the shore and, you know, discuss talking about, you know, whatever the day is, is it, is it paddling out?
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: our place, you know, is, is knowing we are. Rarely, and I guess that's the time in the ocean we get to know ourselves. Am I the kind of guy that, you know, paddles out when it's three foot? Am I the kind of guy who paddles out when it's 15 foot? You know, what is my place? Who am I? And, what can I bring with me? You know, am I the kind of guy who wants to be out there alone or do [00:06:00] I bring my buddies?
Am I a helper? Am I, you know. That kind of thing, you know? And then I guess the enlightenment part of it is really being comfortable with that. It doesn't matter what the world thinks, you know, am I? What is my place? You know, knowing that and
Tyler: See, I, I read that and I thought, like, I felt like it was almost like, um, you know, when you do like a certain task or even when you're riding a wave, like you're not, uh, like aware that you're riding a wave almost like you're, you're present and you're in the moment and like. The having like a purpose and having a, like, getting up in the morning, going to check the surf, having a cup of coffee, doing a poo go surf, you know, all that sort of stuff.
Like, you, you just kind of do it without thinking about it. When you don't deliberate and you don't overthink [00:07:00] and you just do, like, that's how I kind of read that was like the, the thing with surfing a lot of times is the, you know, you're not even, you're present, but you're not like self-conscious in the moment.
Alastair: Yeah. I, I like that, Tyler. That's really cool. You know, the taking away the, the self-consciousness and getting into the moment
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: something that, that surfing gives us, right? mean, we, when we, when we, you know, when we're out there and there's a bunch of people around, maybe we feel a bit self-conscious, but when we, when we, when we padding for that word, when we drop in, it all disappears.
You know, that's, you know, that,
Tyler: Unless you got stage fright and all your friends are hooting on the shoulder, you know
Alastair: as I was saying that, I said, yeah, you know, that the sort of, the big, the sort of the big local is sort of just paddling, paddling in a few, you know, a few meters down, you think, damn, I'm gonna have to go straight on this one. You know, I,
Tyler: [00:08:00] the performance anxiety aspect.
Alastair: yeah. But yeah, it's, um, it's, I guess it's, you know, for me, this book is really about all of those moments and reflecting and reflecting on those moments. You know, after the, you know, after the, the Gramm drops in on me and saying, okay, what is my, what is my place? Am I gonna, am I gonna go off on this, this, you
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: Or is it just, you know what, there's another wave coming.
Tyler: Hmm.
Alastair: just You know, wait, chill. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna wreck surf. Because of somebody else. You know, bringing all of that into, into my life. Because, you know, there's, there's that, there's always that, that guy in traffic, you know, he
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: you off.
And he is the, you know, it's the same. Like, am I gonna lose my, you know, my shit just 'cause, you know, just 'cause of that. Or am I gonna just [00:09:00] say whatever?
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: there's another, you know, there's
Tyler: Hard to say. If the kid keeps burning you on every set, then it's like,
Alastair: Well, yeah. And then, and then, you know, that's, that's something else. You know, okay, who am I, what is my position? What am I gonna do about this? How am I gonna deal with this conflict in my life?
Tyler: hmm.
Alastair: bringing, and that's the same as that, you know, that guy at work or you know, that personal work is always, you know, stealing your thunder or whatever.
You know, we, we learn surfing just teaches us so much. And I guess, you know, that that's what this book is about, really. You know,
Tyler: Who those little, well, it's like all those little moments, right? Like you, you break down the book, like into these, these little bits, these really bite-sized bits. Like it listeners don't be offended by what I'm about to say, but it's perfect toilet reading material. You know, like, it's like something you can read.
Go [00:10:00] to the bathroom, put it down, pick it back up the next time. And you're not like, oh no, where, where was I? You know, you're just like, oh, okay. There are all these like, very digestible, uh, tidbits, like on surfing, on learning, on acceptance, perfection, abundance, like all these different, you know, aspects to surfing you, you really, you know, you really cover the gambit in this book.
I, I wanted to ask then, like, let's go back to the beginning then. Like what. You say in the intro of the book, uh, you lived a very, uh, you know, I want to go back and, and take a look at, it's like you, you, you were dreaming of surfing. You wanted to do it for a really long time, and then you were, you said in the intro you lived this very secure life of monotonous discomfort.
And I was hoping like you could explain like what one, what was the pull for surfing for you like growing up, and then [00:11:00] what was it that really made you kind of break out of that shell and, and what was your life like before surfing that you felt like it was so monotonous and dis and uncomfortable?
Alastair: Oh yeah, that's another, another great question, you know,
Tyler: Uh,
Alastair: I don't really go
Tyler: think of good stuff.
Alastair: book, you know, that, that's, that's another book. But, um, shit, I, I mean, I. I remember I've loved the ocean since I was a kid.
Tyler: Now you grew up in South Africa.
Alastair: I grew up in South Africa, you know, it's, um, way back when.
Tyler: What? What part?
Alastair: in Johannesburg, the big
Tyler: Okay. Not even, not close to the ocean at all. Really?
Alastair: but, but every year, um, you know, my parents would, you know, bundle us all into the, you know, the car. And we had trek down to the ocean for, you know, 10 days at the beach with, you know, I mean, those were magical times, you know, that, that beautiful [00:12:00] childhood
Tyler: Durban. Where were you? Like Durban holidays. Where were you guys going?
Alastair: in the, down in the eastern cape, just
Tyler: Nice.
Alastair: Elizabeth, you know,
Tyler: Nice.
Alastair: drive from Famous Jefferies Bay.
Tyler: Oh yeah.
Alastair: But, um, and there were surfers out there, and I, you know, I, I love the ocean. I loved swimming and I, I'd go swimming and, um, that I've always, I've always had this. You know, the ocean has always been a really special place for me. Just sitting on the beach, kind of just watching the waves. I could do that for hours, even as a kid, and I'd see these guys surfing and I, I, I knew I wanted to do it, but 10 days out of a year just wasn't then, you know, I, I'd do, I'd do body surf, you know, I'd get up on a wave ski every night.
And again, so I didn't have to learn how to stand up. I could
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: and, you know, catch the semial and that, you know, that got my, see, that kind of did it, but it was never enough.
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Alastair: I, went to university at, [00:13:00] Johannesburg and my whole life was just as far away from the ocean as possible. And, um, but you know, I just, I, there was a part of me, I just knew I had to do it. I wanted to do it. I don't know why.
Tyler: You, are you, uh, the only child? Do you have siblings?
Alastair: no, I have a, I have a brother who is, you know, a, a little bit younger than me, a year, a bit younger than me, and I, a sister who is, you know, um, 10 years younger than I am,
Tyler: Did they, did they share or did you, like, did you guys ever talk about like, oh, we've ought to surf? No,
Alastair: no, it was, you know, I, I was, I guess I was always a quiet, bookish kid too, you know?
Tyler: I was, I was gonna say, were you a closeted surfer that you just didn't want to come out to your family about surfing, you know? No, I'm just kidding.
Alastair: I said, you know, I wanna surf it. I said, you know what? They, I listened to my, my parents when they said, you know what, you're never gonna get this right. 'cause, you know, you don't have enough time to do it, you know?
And I was like, oh, okay. So I try, you know, [00:14:00] I was, I was a kid
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: and I just like, whatever. But then I finished university, got a job, and I said, you know what? This is it. I can't take this anymore. Um, you know, that, that monotony was, I was, I was working at, you know, I just got outta university.
I'd graduated as an engineer and I got into an engineering job and I was like, you know what, this, there's something, something's not right here. You know, when you, you, you sort of, you just know, and I was kind of at this, this in my life. I, I joke sometimes midlife crisis. I had mine when I was, you know, in my early twenties, which was great.
It didn't, you know, my engineering career didn't really take off, but that's, you know, that didn't matter.
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: Um, I got a, one day, I had a, a work, you know, I was gonna go down, see a client down in Durban and they were near the refinery and I had a, a whole afternoon [00:15:00] off and I thought, you know what? Fuck it. Fuck it. I went to a surf shop, I hired a board. I had a, you know, had my board shorts in the, you know, with me. And I said, you know what? This is it. And I just paddled out,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: I got pounded. It was horrible. But, you know, I did it. And after that I knew that it didn't matter where I was, I was gonna live near the ocean and I was gonna surf. And it took me a while to get there. But, you know, that was, that was 25 years ago, even more, you know, almost 30 years ago. you know, a couple of years after that, I was, I was living by the ocean and I was surfing, you know, as often as I could.
Tyler: Did you like leave your job? Did you like, did it, did it cause what I think a lot of people experience is radical lifestyle change. Do you feel like that's like kind of, you went through this [00:16:00] process? I'm curious like what that was like.
Alastair: You know, it was definitely a radical lifestyle change, and I think I, I already knew that that was due and the surfing was just, it was a part of it. It, it took me a while to go from the, you know, the, the sort of that corporate block box into a, a lifestyle, you know, entrepreneur. I got into marketing, you know, I used my engineering background, but, you know, it got more, more creative and moved to a place where I could, could surf.
But that surfing that I, you know, I, I'd never really made the connection, but I think it was about two months after that that I quit my job.
Tyler: Wow.
Alastair: I said, you know, cheers, this is it. I put my packed up my. apartment, you know, sent it to storage. I said, [00:17:00] mom, dad, can you hold onto this stuff for me? And I put everything in a, a backpack and I just, I went, I went traveling.
I just started traveling up through Africa. Ended up in,
Tyler: Wow.
Alastair: Red Sea for a while. Not surfing. It was
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: I was near the ocean. And after that, sort of drifted off up through Europe, into the UK again. Ended up working on a, a yacht for a while in the south of England. Not
Tyler: Ooh,
Alastair: but the
Tyler: near the ocean. Yeah.
Alastair: And from there, there were a couple of trips to Portugal where I, you know, it's like, okay, I'm gonna do this. And then, then ended up, you know, moved to Brazil. I met a, you know, a very nice lady who's, you know, the mom of my, my kids, and ended up living, you know, stones throw from the beach. And
Tyler: Wow. What part?
Alastair: ago.
Tyler: Oh, what part of of Brazil were you in?
Alastair: I was in, um, in a small city called Florian. Opolis
Tyler: Oh, [00:18:00] yeah, Flavio Patras is, uh, hometown right there. Yeah.
Alastair: there's, you know, it's, it's, it's a, it's a surf, surf city for sure.
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: And we've got world champions, future world champions, you know, X world champions. They all, you know, all live there, surf there, you know, on a, any given day, you're, you're out there with the, you know, the shredders.
Tyler: When, when do you think, like you became a surfer then? Like when was it like the moment where you're just like, oh, I'm a surfer. I, I'm doing this all the time and I'm going all the time and, and everything is kind of, you know, fucked up in my life now because I surf, but
Alastair: You know what it, it's, I wouldn't, is fucked up in my life. 'cause I surfed. No, I think surfing was the place in my life where I was most at peace. It sounds, you know, strange. I didn't, [00:19:00]but it was, you know, I was, I was working really hard. I was doing a lot of different things and when things were, when things were hard,
Tyler: yeah.
Alastair: I could go to, I could go to the ocean, you know, that, that was my, that was my safe space.
Some people do yoga, some people meditate, you know, whatever. me, my board under my, my arm and just, I'm in the water and I'm, and I'm good,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: I can work. And that's what this book is about. It's about working through that shit that was building up. And then in the ocean it just like, process, process.
The pain, the loss. You know, I, um, I separated from my, you know, the. my ex-wife a while ago, and the ocean was, you know, where I worked through a lot of that,
Tyler: That pain.
Alastair: the loss, it's, for me, the, the ocean is, is my safe [00:20:00] space.
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Alastair: know, it's, and
Tyler: Unless it's, uh, 15 foot at 15 seconds and, uh,
Alastair: I, you know, I've, been lucky. I mean, I, I, I've been in the ocean surfing every day. I'd say for day is, you know, more
Tyler: of course. Yeah.
Alastair: Yeah. You know, let's say five days a week.
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: All right. Is, and so I'm, I'm incredibly lucky. But you know, I've, I've, there's been a couple of hairy moments. You know, it's, it's not all, it's not all, you know, shits and giggles.
It
Tyler: Well, you're not a true surfer unless you have a few of those hairy moments.
Alastair: got the scars. Got, you know. it's not, it's fun, but it's hard. But yeah, I think, you know, always wanted to be a surfer. I was always gonna surf. It was
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: making that, that decision. And that's, I think, what enlightenment is about, is about[00:21:00] knowing
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Alastair: and then deciding. 'cause there's knowing and not doing.
And then you live that life of, it's like angst and frustration. You know what you gotta do, but you, you like, you haven't done it. And that, that kind of eats you out. It's like the, know, you become this hollow man. 'cause, you know, and surfing for me was, is one of the, one of the things is also kind of like writing this book.
It was there, you know, and I just it off, put it off until one day it was just kind of like, had it come out, you know, it was all there.
Tyler: Well, I gotta ask then, like, uh, you know, first, like what do you think it was about surfing that that drew you? Like what, what, what, what were the things that you were like, oh yeah, I need to do this. I need to feel this or I need to understand this. Was was the philosophical aspect to surfing. Present before you [00:22:00] started, or as you started as at all?
Alastair: You know, I don't, I don't think it was, you know, I think it was ocean always drew me, and then, yeah, the excitement, I mean, surfing is, it's amazing. You know, you just that, that, that rush. But I think the philosophical part of it came later. It was really just being out in, in this, in this vast, expansive nature and the, the ocean is, it's just this huge. I mean, energetic,
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Alastair: you, the, the waves are just like literally waves of energy
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: us and that it just moves around. So being immersed in that is, even before I knew it was, was kind of like this draw. I wanted to be in it. And then, yeah, as I got, as I went away from learning, you know, [00:23:00] sucks.
When you're learning, you just, you just get pounded. You just, you know, unless, unless you've got a good, good teacher and you know, a good, nice gentle break, you're gonna get, you're just gonna get hammered. Um, so there's that, that effort. You know, we are all surfing the moment we decide to surf.
The moment we sort of pick up a surfboard, start working, walking to the ocean, we surfing. Right?
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: But. There's the, the, the, the sort of the learning, the putting in the time and effort to learn. And then there's first wave. And I could, you know, we could all remember that first wave, and
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Alastair: not be the first wave we surf, but it was that wave where we stood up and it was just like, wow, what is this? You
Tyler: When was that for you? Was that your first session or, uh.
Alastair: no, no. The first session I remember just getting paddling out and sort of a, know, I think it was about a [00:24:00] four foot beach break in Durban with zero experience and a rental board. That was, was, that was just pounding. Uh,
Tyler: And this would be before like the big surf schools and all that would've really taken off and everything. So you didn't really have like, not like there was no knowledge like being passed down like tough to do unless you're a kid growing up in that area.
Alastair: Exactly. Exactly. I mean, now, you know, I, I. Anybody I know who says, well, I wanna surf. I say, go get lessons.
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: just go do that. Your learning curve is instead of, you know, months or years, you know, it goes down to a couple of days and the, the equipment to, you know, you know, say what you like about foamies.
If you wanna learn how to surf, just, know, do it, man.
Tyler: The easiest way to do it.
Alastair: yeah. But, um, that, that first wave was, I think it was a couple of years after, uh, [00:25:00]my daughter was born. It was about, yeah, about five, five years after,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: that first wave in Durban,
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Alastair: was off the coast of Brazil in Sao Paulo in the state of Sao Paulo,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: late one evening. Just, you know, this moon was rising, the sun was setting, the sun had set,
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Alastair: quite, the moon was rising and this wave was just, it was like, I have, you know, a freight train, not, not that, oh my, you know, it was more like the energy, just this flow, just rushing through that. Yeah. So from then on, there was no ways I was ever not gonna surf. That was,
Tyler: What was that like? That on like, I imagine so I guess I've met so many people who've learned to surf as adults and, and I, for me, I grew up surfing, so I don't have that experience [00:26:00] as much. But, um, you know, the people I've watched pick up surfing as o in, in an older age or as an adult, I've watched like.
The people around them like kind of react funny to it, you know? And, and I'm curious like what that impact was like on your life, your, your family, your, your partner, all that sort of stuff. Because like, like I remember going to like this Bill Finnegan book reading and this guy, the Naus question like, Hey, my wife started surfing and now I never see her anymore and I can't connect to her anymore.
I, is this gonna change? Will she ever go back to being normal or am I, like, did I lose her, you know, to surfing? And like, so I've always, I've always been very curious about that, that tension, uh, with surfing and your, your on land life and, and how [00:27:00] you navigate those with, with, through enlightenment basically.
Alastair: Yeah. Okay. Uh, another great question. So yeah, I mean the, um, it did, you know, I, um, one of the surfing, my surfing did become, uh, an issue in, in, in our marriage with
Tyler: Yeah,
Alastair: my, my, my ex-wife.
Tyler: it's always the mistress.
Alastair: it's exactly, it was just, you know, that was, you know, time and there's time. I could have been with the kids time. I could have been, you know, with, you had some financial problems, but still, I was surfing,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: I wasn't buying, you know, new boards, but I was, you know, taking time outta my day to surf because that was where. recharged my batteries. Um, and also, you know, family, you know, her family, my family worried about the safety [00:28:00] aspect. You know, you're a father,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: going out and, you know, it's not all, there was some big days and, you know, it's, it's dangerous. And people, every now and again, someone gets hurt.
You know, we had, um, one of our, our neighbors, you know, the, my next door neighbor, he away in a, a surfing accident.
Tyler: Oh gosh. Damn.
Alastair: you know, so that all of these, you know, of these things, yeah. They, they came into, um, they were part of my life and is my
Tyler: Part of your lessons that you've learned, I imagine.
Alastair: Yeah. And you know, the, you know how to deal with that.
And a lot of them. I dealt with, you know, through the separation. I was less aware of them before the separation, but after I separated and sort of really I, you know, really did a lot of work on [00:29:00]myself, I started taking lot of personal reflection. Whereas before I was using the ocean as kind of like, oh, relax, you know,
Tyler: The escape almost.
Alastair: as exactly, it was the escape.
Now I started to use it as a place to, you know, shit, here comes a big set. Feels like my life right now. You know this, you know, 6, 7, 8 wave set, and you're on the inside. You just, you're get impounded. well what am I gonna do? I'm I gonna pedal around. Just keep paddling out. Don't give up. You got this.
Get through this. You know, taking those, those metaphors, the
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: the ocean's teaching you, man, just hang in there. You got this,
Tyler: It's, it's interesting like how surfing, I mean how surfing is like a mirror or, or it's, it's, it's a, it's what you want it to be. You could look at it like anyone can look at surfing and make it whatever they want it to be to a certain extent. But, uh, there are certain rules [00:30:00] of, of nature that you can't escape and can't avoid and deal with.
And I, I, yeah, like I feel like there are some times like with surfing, like, especially like you, you just overindulge and it's problematic, you know? And, and I think also like for people who, who start later in life, like it, it becomes very obsessed, you know? Whereas I think when you grow up surfing, like you, you kind of get a little bit of that out of that, out of your system to a certain extent.
And maybe you're a little bit more. Uh, picky or choosy with your sessions, whereas, uh, if you're just learning, like you just, you, you'll take whatever you can get, I think. And that, that's like, uh, to me it reminds me of like Buddhism in the sense of like, the path to enlightenment is through excess, you know?
Alastair: Well, yeah, you gotta, I, I really like that. And that's, I think [00:31:00] that's so important is that, you know, for me, I, I surf a lot. It's important to me, and I, yeah, I, I'll surf, I'll go out into the ocean even when it's not great. But the overindulgent, if I spend too long in the ocean,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: my day is just, I'm drained because the surfing, know, might be my safe space.
It might be, you know, a wonderful place, but it's also draining physically, and you spend too much time out there. You come in and I've gotta then, you know, do eight, sometimes 10 hours
Tyler: Work.
Alastair: working, whatever it is. I don't have that energy. So it's, it's really important that moderation, that, you know, knowing, knowing who
Tyler: It's funny, I didn't see a section in the book for moderation in here
Alastair: If not, there was abundance, not moderation,
Tyler: is abundance are not moderation. Yeah. Well they're sharing, I guess, you know
Alastair: You know, but yeah, that, and there's a, you know, there's a couple of extra, [00:32:00] extra chapters to come in on the next edition because, you know, it's, but um, but the ocean, the ocean rarely does teach us so much, you know? And I see, you know, I have a daughter and I have a son, and my son, started surfing, you know, when he was eight, nine, you
Tyler: Proud Dad moment.
Alastair: a good age.
You know,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: in Flo Anolis, and see how much he has learned from the ocean, how much the ocean is, has given him, you know, sort of the confidence, respect. Community,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: things that we get, know, from, from our, our relationship with, with surfing, know, the people, the place, the, it gives us so much.
And I see how much has been given to him, know, [00:33:00] I see how much is, has been given to me
Tyler: Yeah,
Alastair: later. you know, he got lucky. He learned it early on. He's got his own, his own path and his own lessons to learn along the way. But he has been gifted with, and imagine like you
Tyler: yeah. Yeah.
Alastair: there in the ocean when it's big.
You know how to look after yourself.
Tyler: Yeah. You know, it's interesting though, is I was just thinking like, I feel like on one hand I, I not missed out, but like, I don't know, I'm not very aware of a time before I surfed, you know, or when I did, I was very young. So it's, it's like interesting, like it's hard to, to see any sort of change or see anything, the effects of it, because it's been there my whole life.
And I'm curious, like with you, like you've, you were able to [00:34:00] have this like demarcation line in your life where it's. Before surfing after surf. And, and I'm curious, like now, like when you look back at yourself before surfing and who you are now, what, what is the difference? What is, besides the fact that you surf, and I'm curious, like what do you do, you do recognize that person before surfing as opposed to after?
Alastair: Yeah, I like that question. I don't, I don't think it was necessarily surfing that made the difference, but I do think that act of surfing that one day saying, okay, this is it. I'm gonna make that choice,
Tyler: That's the line right there.
Alastair: that's the line. And that was the beginning of many of me saying, enough.
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: Enough. This is, this is, this is not what I'll be doing.
And I still, I still gotta say that enough, every now and again. But [00:35:00] that was, I think, in a lot of ways, one of the first times I'd said, you know what? Enough, know, I, I, I, I was good at, you know, I was, I was, I was smart at school. I did all the right things. I, you know, got good grades. I went to university, you know, did all the right things there too.
And the surfing. was never the right thing to do. Okay.
Tyler: Especially back, way back, you know, few, few decades back, like it was not a, a thing they, that was really looked, uh, upon in a favorable way.
Alastair: It, it, it definitely wasn't. And I think, you know, that was me one way of me saying, you know what, okay, I didn't die. I got, you know, it was, it was fun in a very strange kind of, um, you know, violent way. But I, you know, I did it and I survived. What else could I do? And [00:36:00] that, I think was one of the, the beginning of, okay, I can, yeah, I'm gonna quit my job. I'm gonna go traveling. I'm gonna try, you know, try out other careers. And the, the courage, you know, when you go to a new break, it's, it's very similar. You got your board, you know how to surf, but you know, you dunno that wave, you dunno the crowd. You don't know the currents,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: you know, I think it's paddle out.
You know, you just, okay, let's, let's do this. You know? And that, that, I think the demarcation was right. Paddle out and there's been, you know, there's been a, a shit, you know, a whole lot of change. Between then and, and the man I am now,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: surfing has been a part of that journey. But,
Tyler: Do you, do you remember a life. Like, and I don't know what you were, you know, before surfing, but like, were you passionate about anything else in your life before surfing the way [00:37:00] you are about surfing now?
Alastair: you know, I wouldn't, that's a great question because No, I, I mean, I did, I did all the usual things. I was, you know, I partied hard at, you know, uni. I played sports, I was, you know, grew up in South Africa, so I played, you know, rugby and for, you know, physically, I, I
Tyler: There's only so much you can do with rugby.
Alastair: so much you can do,
Tyler: It's, you get hurt.
Alastair: had fun,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: always something. Yeah, it wasn't.
Tyler: didn't obsess over it, you weren't like,
Alastair: didn't obsess with it. You know,
Tyler: yeah.
Alastair: I'd study and then I'd play rugby and then I'd go out and party and there was this kind of the, this rinse and repeat. And then I got a job and it was very similar. You know, I did a bit of golfing, did a bit of partying, did a bit of work, and it just, you know, now surfing, you know, I got bun, you know, a, a whole lot of surfboards in different places in the world.
You know, surfing [00:38:00] my life. Are we, where are we getting on holiday? Well, are there waves? Before it wasn't, are we, are we getting on holiday? Are there golf courses? Or you know, is it was, you know, um, well, okay, are they waves? You know, where can I get a surfboard? My life definitely revolves around surfing.
I dunno if that's necessarily healthy, but it is, you know, it is what it is.
Tyler: Well, it's, you know, again, like if you, well, if you, if you read the book and you reach enlightenment, then it is healthy, I guess.
Alastair: Well, and you know, this is, this is an interesting, interesting thing for me. You know, I separated and, you know, I have a, a new partner now, and, and she, she does yoga,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: so she's got her yoga.
Tyler: She's got that thing.
Alastair: yeah, she's got that thing. And I think that's, you know, it might not necessarily be surfing, but enlightenment is about finding that [00:39:00] thing,
Tyler: Yeah,
Alastair: know, once you've found that thing that says, okay, I need this in my life.
What is my thing? Physic physically, you know, okay. Some people, it's climbing.
Tyler: yeah,
Alastair: she climbs, you know, that's her space. She, and you know, she, she, she rides, um, you know, some people it's CrossFit, some people it's whatever it is,
Tyler: yeah.
Alastair: your thing. Know your thing, and you know. Your, you know, it has a place in your life, your work too. You know, what is my thing at work?
Tyler: Well, I gotta ask then like, um, you know, with. With it, with it being so, um, sorry, I just lost train of thought. Um, hate when that happens. I, I guess like the, oh, the one thing I wanted to ask then is like, were you spiritual or into [00:40:00] philosophy at all before this book? Like, were there things that you, you know, dove into, uh, you know, uh, to help you like, reach this, you know, kind of state or were you always interested in that, in the philosophy and aspect of enlightenment?
Alastair: Yeah. Um, I'd always been interested, I guess, you know, I read, I read a lot of stuff and. I said a lot of stuff, but the actual, it's um, the actual practical applications of finding, you know, that'll, you know, the illumination understanding and even more than that, you know, piece that I'd never, I'd been looking for it, but I'd never, never really found it.
Maybe out in, you know, out in the ocean. That was where the closest I had come to it.
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: But [00:41:00] I had always been searching. But as sort of as the book became more pressing, 'cause this book had been sitting there for a while,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: I then needed to structure it because that, that's an interesting, really interesting question, Tyler.
And it's, you know,
Tyler: Well, well what, what sparked you to write this book then? Like, what got you to be like, I need to write this book on, on surfing. I've, I've gotta take all these lessons I'm learning and, and write it down like I.
Alastair: Man, I, I think I've been through a really, really, you know, hard, moment in my life. And I just being, you know, working through lot of issues. You know, we, we've all got our, we've all got our shadow, right? And my shadow
Tyler: Yes,
Alastair: with the separation, just
Tyler: that's right.
Alastair: came up at [00:42:00] once. And I just wanted, I felt that the ocean, you know,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: my place.
I just wanted to, I wanted to say that, you know what, it's just this, this knowledge that came from the ocean. Let's just put it down on paper because like you say, it's, it's, it's not a thousand page treaty, you know,
Tyler: Yeah. No, it's, it's very, very, it's succinct.
Alastair: sized chunks of, you
Tyler: Please don't say toilet sized chunks. That does not sound good.
Alastair: no. As I said it, I thought, man, I'm supposed to, you know, supposed to be able to put words together. But yeah, it's, um, it's just, I wanted to share, share this, and I've been sort of started and stop and I'd stopped, you know, little, you know, projects in terms of books. And this one, it's almost like as I started to [00:43:00] structure my thoughts, the words just kind of, they flowed, there, it had to come out.
And I said they, as it developed, I just found it easier and easier to write. The hardest part, I think I, there's a chapter on the book on starting,
Tyler: Yeah, that's always,
Alastair: I.
Tyler: yeah.
Alastair: It kind of just fell into place and that's the power of starting, you know? And it was the
Tyler: It,
Alastair: yeah.
Tyler: it sounds like the book almost was like something that you used to help work through some of your stuff too. Like it sounds like I need, it sounds like to me, and I don't know if this is the case, but it sounds like you were going through something and the, the lessons you were getting from surfing and being in the ocean, you're like, I need to write this down so I can help myself learn these lessons almost.
Right. Like working [00:44:00] through, uh, writing it out, you know, 'cause I, my brother and I have talked about doing books like this, writing something where it's like, oh, all these lessons, we gotta get it down, you know, and it's like, yeah, you're, you're kind of, you need to write it down almost to work it out almost to come to understand it actually.
Alastair: I, Tyler, I think that's a great point. And I think a lot of it was, it was that, you know, I wanted, I wanted to write a book and the, but this was a lot, a lot of it was, was for me,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: that. You know, the structuring my thoughts, putting them in a way that I understood them, you
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: know, and, and then saying, you know what, this is not just for me.
You know, I want to, I, I shared it with my son and he was like, cool dad. And some of the stuff he was like, yeah, whatever. And some of the stuff was, yeah, that's cool. You know,
Tyler: Nice.
Alastair: people like, some people like it and you know, there's some people who just like, yeah, whatever. This is not for me. That's, that's like every book, right? [00:45:00] It's,
Tyler: people have taste and some don't. I mean, come on.
Alastair: yeah. You know, it's, it's, yeah. And that's cool. You know, this, this was, you know, really, I. When I, when I, I finished it and I wrote that, you know, that last little bit. I was like, man, wow, that's cool. I like that. It, it felt complete. And I
Tyler: Yeah,
Alastair: of it was I understood it I, and I, I got to, I got to, I got to own something, you know?
Every now and again, I do, you know, when I gotta go, I, I take it with me and I the door and I read a, a quick chapter while I'm, while I'm going, you know, and it's, it's, it's all right. It's good. And I remember, man, I wrote that. That's, that's really cool.
Tyler: that's really profound. Who wrote that? Oh, I did.
Alastair: And sometimes, you know, every now and again, it's like, wait, I could change that and I'll, you
Tyler: Hmm.
Alastair: out into the ocean with me.
But, that, that's what the book is about. It's about ideas [00:46:00] and helping me, my, my son, whoever's reading it to say when they're out there or when, whatever, whatever's happening in, in our lives to say, It's, yeah, it's like the ocean, you know? It's just, how it is today.
Tyler: How, how did you decide on the format, um, you know, for the book, you know, it's says these wonderful short reflections around life themes. Was, was that, was that the vision, uh, when you started, or,
Alastair: No, that, that kind of grew too. You know, I'd had this, I'd had this, this,
Tyler: mm-hmm.
Alastair: idea that, okay, I wanted to talk about all these things, but how to do it was, was challenging. Right. And, and what I noticed was that there were days when I would ruminate on one thing out in the ocean,
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Alastair: you know, [00:47:00] just, and that would be the, it's almost like the theme of that day. Surf, surf,
Tyler: Yeah,
Alastair: you know, loss, you know, anger. Resentment. And then I, I came back and I started to say, wait. When I came back, I'd say, well, lemme just sit down and hammer that out.
Tyler: yeah,
Alastair: And it literally became, okay, what is this, this section on, this is on resentment. All right, well let's, and, and so after a couple of chapters like that, then, then the structure fell into place, okay, I got this.
And I would actually go out into the ocean and say, what are we, what are we, what are we think, you know, what are we working on today?
Tyler: yeah. It's, it, it's very nicely broken down. And these are all like great aspects around surfing, you know, the, the different topics, you know, where you have one on ego, on faith, on change, you know, and these are all just like these wonderful bite sized. Bits of, of information. Like, and [00:48:00] honestly, like I, I was reading this and I started thinking like, this should be a children's book too.
Alastair: I mean
Tyler: You know?
Alastair: but yeah, I mean that, there you go. There's a, there's an idea. You know,
Tyler: There's your, there's your next one right there.
Alastair: Well, yeah. Or for someone out there, I don't know. Let's, let's see how it goes. You know, my, the next one is, is, it's also, it's sitting up here a lot and there's, you know, bits and pieces come out on, on paper, but it's get, for me to get to that moment, it's, it's, it feels like it's all right, it's almost ready, and then it kind of, then it, then it comes, and then it, then it flows
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: you know, that's why I'm glad son started surfing when he did, did you
Tyler: Nice.
Alastair: all of those things, all of these things we talk about you know, fear, faith, you know, I'm gonna get past, I'm gonna make it, you [00:49:00] know, all of these things that are out there and learning them as a, as a kid is. Is really powerful. And it doesn't have to be surfing, right? I
Tyler: Hmm.
Alastair: could be mountain biking, it could
Tyler: Yeah. Chess, Pokemon, whatever. You know, you could find enlightenment in anything
Alastair: there's gotta be some kind of, I, I think it's really important, the, the you,
Tyler: physical.
Alastair: the physical aspect. That aspect of, you know, where you, you that a loss is, is real. You know, you, you, you can get hurt. Okay, so I need, every decision has a cost benefit analysis
Tyler: Hmm.
Alastair: you know, cost benefit. I'm gonna
Tyler: It's true.
Alastair: past this shore break. Is it, you know, is
Tyler: This morning, my cost, cost, uh, benefit analysis was, is it worth putting on the six mil boots and gloves
Alastair: Oh man. Yeah.
Tyler: and then, and then struggling to [00:50:00] take it off again? And, and for closeouts, uh, did writing the book teach you anything new about surfing or about yourself, like as that process was coming? Like what did you, did you find something that was surprising even?
Alastair: Yeah, I like that question. I think, um, I discovered that the, the process of writing
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Alastair: actually a lot like surfing.
Tyler: Mm.
Alastair: You know, it's sometimes there's moments where it's just beautiful, everything seems to flow there's other times where it's just feels like you're, again, that shore break, you're just putting down the words and it's you, you just gotta keep doing it because that's where you are right
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: do it, you're not gonna get to that flow again. You know? That was I the book. Really part of writing the book was learning that was, was taking that learning from the ocean [00:51:00] and, and really applying it in real life and doing something a lot like for the first time, patterning now and doing it.
And there's what you, you know, that book is after revision. It's,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: not, yeah. The first draft looks nothing like the, you know, the you see. It's a lot of, a lot of hard work, but we do it, you know, finding that, that thing, and for me, writing also has become that thing. And I had to sit down eventually and say, fuck it,
Tyler: Yeah,
Alastair: do it. It's, it's gotta
Tyler: just.
Alastair: Yeah. You, you just gotta do it.
Tyler: So, so what was the hardest chapter to write emotionally for you, do you think? Or the one that you struggled the most with and not the first chapter? Okay. We've already talked about that.
Alastair: well that, it's [00:52:00] right there on starting, um, the on loss rarely, you know, loss, that it wasn't just, there was a lot of, I, I had lost a lot from, you know, in the separation and yeah, it was a huge change in my life and writing through that,
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Alastair: you know, understanding that, yeah, this is, it is what it is, you know, it's, and I can, I can look at everything I've, I, I lost or I can look at everything that I gained,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: joy, look at the beauty, you know, when I. When you, when you eventually kind of like paddle back to the ocean,
Tyler: Yeah,
Alastair: ends, [00:53:00] you know, what, what remains, you know, that, so that was hard. I mean, that was, I remember it quite literally brought tears to my eyes. I mean, I would, it, yeah, it's, it's, it's, it was hard. There were other parts of the book, but that is the one I I particularly remember.
It was, um,
Tyler: it's tough.
Alastair: down in the words, but there was some tears there.
Tyler: Well, it's tough to finish something, right? Like a project that you've started and really enjoyed, and then. You're done. It's like, you know, it could be a relief, it could be anxiety, it could be all of those things mixed in, you know,
Alastair: every end is a beginning, you know, and the every beginning has its,
Tyler: as its end.
Alastair: or you know, what's gonna happen now.
Tyler: Did, did writing the book shift your relationship to surfing at all? Did it, you know, like, I guess sometimes like [00:54:00] whenever I've worked in surfing or made surfing kind of taken on something more, you know, like maybe that, that's beyond surfing to a, a sense, like, like a, a obligation or responsibility.
Sometimes that changes your, your, your relationship to it. So I was curious like how that writing the book might have changed your, your outlook or perspective on surfing, if it did at all, or just made you more of a believer.
Alastair: it may, I think it made me more a believer because now, you know, now I was, I was not. I was, I had a, I had a talk to walk, you know?
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: the ocean, it's very much, okay, someone drops in in me. I've got a chapter in the book to deal with that.
Tyler: Do you, do you go home after a session where you've even burned a bunch and you're like, I gotta read this chapter again?
Alastair: Oh man. Yeah, definitely. Uh, there's a, a great, you know, great story. I, I, you know, I'm spending some [00:55:00] time in, in San Diego right now, and I first started surfing out, you know, out, you know, say out front here, my, you
Tyler: Yeah,
Alastair: the, my local break here? There's a bunch of guys there, really nice bunch of guys, right? But, you know, I was the new guy
Tyler: yeah.
Alastair: I got, you know, there was some
Tyler: Gotta get hazed a little bit.
Alastair: and, and yeah, I had to come back and, you know, come back few minutes. Fuckers, you know, you know, angry because, you know, there was their wave and you know, I got, you know, a couple of comments and, um, we had a couple of interactions.
Nothing, nothing, nothing bad, just, you know, we, I was the new guy, so they let me know. And it, um, having to reflect on that, that, that. Sometimes you hold that anger, right?
Tyler: Yeah. Well,
Alastair: that
Tyler: it's, it, you, you should lives for you for years. Sometimes, you know, like, I've had session. Well, it's like [00:56:00] any sort of confrontation, right? Like, and you, if you don't like, match your expectation of yourself in those confrontations. I think that's, that can stick with you for a while.
Alastair: exactly. And that's it, you know, and I think the, in the book, it's the, the concept of carrying those rocks around with me. How long do I want to carry those rocks, you know?
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: the next time I paddled out, I, you know, I took the rock with me and I,
Tyler: I took the rock at me and I bashed someone's brains in with it. No kidding.
Alastair: I, I went out there and I said, you know, you know, this is it. Thanks. Appreciate it. You know, and literally made a point of putting that rock down. Let it go. It's not
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: It's not your rock. It's back in the ocean. Let's, you know, just chill and surf and
Tyler: it's, you, you, you talk about like community in the book and you talk about, um, something about like, um, [00:57:00] viewing yourself as a pro or a local or this, like wearing these like kind of masks, if you will. Uh, and. How that can sometimes contribute to the negative feelings that we can feel when we're surfing because we, yeah, we, we, we all view ourselves through these different prisms and, and indeed different environments where we view ourselves differently.
Um, you know, like I go into surfing in the water 'cause I've been doing it my whole life with a whole shit ton of confidence that I wouldn't have going into some sort of, uh, you know, office or whatever. You know, it's like you, you can't help but, but have those masks, I guess. Right? And it's like, how do you, how do you, how do you find, how do you surf and, and not have to box yourself in on that, in, in, in that mask or that identity.
Alastair: [00:58:00] Um, yeah, I like that question, Tyler. Um,
Tyler: You love all my questions?
Alastair: no. There's a couple, there's a couple of, you know, there's a couple. I, I, I, when I haven't said, I like your question, I'm secretly fuming
Tyler: They were really bad questions.
Alastair: No, but that, that's a good one. I guess it's like anything in life is staying humble, you know, getting yourself into those places where, you know, doing new things,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: going, going to a new break.
I mean, you, you, you paddle out into a new break and you've done it a couple of times, so now you know how to do it right. But you
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: out there and you're kind of like, okay, I. You know, let's just take it easy. I'm not gonna, you know, here comes the set. All right. Let's just let these guys get it.
Okay. When they, you know, you know the rules and you get it. So, but, um, I guess it's, it's putting ourselves into new situations ready for me. It's going out. Surfing helped me with that because I know if I could, you know, if I could survive that first day out in, Durban, you know, maybe that, that [00:59:00] boardroom full of, you know, the publishers is not so, not so hard or that, you know, kids' birthday party is not gonna be a complete, you know, whatever it is.
You know, there's all these little, things.
Tyler: Yeah. How, how, uh, how's the book been received so far from like, friends, family, and people you've, you've, you know, uh, been able to get it to
Alastair: It is, it's been, it's been great. Um. I'm surprisingly, well, I mean, it's, it's self-published, you know, it's not, there's no big names behind it, so promotions and whatnot. I, I do a lot of
Tyler: podcasts?
Alastair: So, yeah. You know, Tyler, thanks for having me on your show.
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: appreciate it. This is, this is fantastic, but for the most part, it's, it's been, it's been really positive.
I joke, you know, I asked my mom to review it for me on Amazon, and she gave me a four star review, and I go, mom, come on. You're my
Tyler: Five.
Alastair: Yeah, come on.
Tyler: Well, you miss, you didn't mention us in the book.
Alastair: [01:00:00] yeah. But, um, it's, uh, it's been really well received Every now and again, you know, I get, you know, someone says, you know, adult learner, you know, whatever it is, there's, there's, there's, there's been some criticism about the, um, I. Criticizing me as a surfer, which is okay. I'm not, you know,
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: But, um, it's been, it's been fantastic. I've loved it. I've had some great feedback.
Tyler: Nice.
Alastair: you know, a lot of, a lot of comments, people saying, yeah, I really needed this book. this was right. I, I got this right when I write, when I needed to,
Tyler: It's, it's a great reminder, you know, uh, I mean, it's great for, for a lot of things, like, for, for someone who, who's surf has been surfing a long time, like it's great reminder, you know, like to, to look at it and Oh yeah, oh yeah. You know, you, you get to see these little, little bits of information to, to kind of refresh your, [01:01:00] your, uh, your path almost to a certain extent.
Alastair: yeah, I don't, I, I agree, Tyler, I don't think there's anything, anything new and spectacular in there that someone, you know, smarter and wiser than me hasn't said. But it's, it's, I, for me, it was, it was very much about it all together and saying, okay, this is what, it's, this is what abundance is about. This is what, you know, love is about. This is what loss is about. All of these little things, just
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: okay, for me, this is how I understand it, based on my experience in the ocean. This is how, this is what the ocean has taught me. You
Tyler: So, so Wendy, you and Sean Thompson go on your, your self-help book tour around South Africa and other parts.
Alastair: Uh, I, I'd love to do that. You know, I, um. I'd love to do a next time and, and I think Sean lives [01:02:00] just up the road here in, um,
Tyler: Well, you gotta drop off a copy for him.
Alastair: Yeah. And I, you know, I've, I've shared a couple of, you know, Florian Opolis has, has, its, has share, share of professional surfers.
Tyler: it does.
Alastair: a, I've shared it with a, a couple of, a couple of, you know, a couple of pros and, you know, had some, some great feedback and I, you know, I'd love to love to chat with Sean about this and Yeah, we'll see, you know, we'll see where things go.
I mean, it's, since I've written the book, my, my life has been, wow. It's been, you know, I have people coming up and say, Hey, you wrote that. And I'm going, you know, surfing, I, I'm out there in the ocean and they say, you, that guy, you wrote that? And I'm like, yeah, wow.
Tyler: That's awesome.
Alastair: cool.
Tyler: So the big question is then where can our listeners find this book? Where can they get a copy and how can they follow you as well?
Alastair: Alright, so, um, you know, I, it's on Amazon right now. That's the only place you can get it.
Tyler: A Surfer's Guide to Enlightenment [01:03:00] listeners, you know Alistair Thompson?
Alastair: Thank you. You can get it on Kindle. If you've got a Kindle, you know, you can get it right now. It'll take you three, all of three seconds to it to your Kindle or, you know, order it.
The, I love the, the hard copy.
Tyler: Yeah.
Alastair: great to have. 'cause then you, you know, you don't risk falling into the,
Tyler: Toilet.
Alastair: in the bathroom. Um, yeah, I'm on a, I'm on Instagram. I got a little author page there. It's Surfers Guide. If you, you know, share some thoughts, you know, every now and again I come back from the ocean and there's something more,
Tyler: Nice.
Alastair: um, than bits of the next book. So, yeah, I'd love, you know, I'd love to, you know, hear thoughts, ideas, feedback, you know, check me out, hunt me down on Instagram. I'm there. Alistair Thompson, a surfers guide. Yeah, that'd be
Tyler: [01:04:00] Nice. Well, Alice, I really appreciate you coming on and, and talking about this book and sending me a copy. I really enjoyed it. And, uh, you know, listeners, I, I definitely recommend getting yourself a copy and, you know, something that you can just pick up and read anytime to kind of feel, you know, grounded, centered, especially like.
If you have a bad session, it's a good one to read after, you know, and, uh, yeah, get yourself a copy, follow Alistair on, on Instagram and, um, you know, it's, it's definitely worth getting a, getting a copy. It's really awesome and, uh, really appreciate you, Alistair, coming on. Um, listeners, don't forget to hit like, and subscribe on for swell season surf radio on, uh, Instagram and of course on all the different podcast networks and YouTube.
Um, but yeah, really Alistair, super stoked man. Thank you so much for coming [01:05:00] on and uh, listeners, we'll check you all down the line soon. You.
Alastair: Cool. Thanks.