Jesse, you’ve got plenty of previous experience of Chile before this trip. How long have you been returning there? What were your first impressions and what memories stand out?
I first went down to Chile in 2000. 22 years of traveling down there. My first impressions were definitely like I was going back in time, just seeing beautiful countryside and miles and miles of pristine coastline with relatively few populated areas and no surfers whatsoever. Just that sense of having so much to explore. I really remember feeling that this is just such a vast place. Every time I seemed to go over a headland, I'd find another set up that I just couldn't wait to paddle out in. The beautiful thing about that time I first went there was that there was just no information or any people there that surfed. It was completely fresh and new to me, and it really heightened my experiences as a result of that.
It's mainly the solo sessions that stand out as memories to me, whether it's surfing or, later on, foiling and kitesurfing, stand-up paddling, and just exploring line-ups with no one around and just really getting to be there in the moment, feeling like I had won the lottery. That feeling that somehow my life had brought me to these experiences where I was able to just appreciate the journey and the moment that I was in. That's really a profound memory of my time going to Chile over the years, and then getting to share it with other people, especially later. But those times completely alone – that to me is really one of the essences of the surfing experience being out there in nature and getting to soak it all in.
