Nouvelle Vague Magazine
Article “Living your dream & saving our oceans with Simon Witt”
“That’s where I met Simon Witt – a person who stands out in my memory for pursuing his dreams.
When I met Simon, this tall Dutch guy with blond surfy hair, a huge love for longboarding and quite an easygoing lifestyle, he totally fit my cliché of a surf instructor. In the seasons we worked together I got to know Simon quite well. We worked together, surfed together and we spent a lot of time sitting on the beach, drinking delicious Portuguese coffee and having chats about life.
Simon had quite a detailed idea about what he wanted to do with his life. He explained that his time here at Surfivor Surfcamp was only one stop on his journey to save our coasts from pollution. He told me about his studies in geography, his upcoming master degree and about his plan to eventually change the way tourism is perceived in the developing world.
When Simon talked about his projects, his eyes lit up. He always got so excited and he was convinced that this was his path and it would all work out. Even during our time in Portugal, he did what he could to help protect our oceans; he organized beach cleanups and gave short presentations to the guests about plastic pollution. Back then in 2011, the topic of plastic pollution wasn’t really publicly addressed as an environmental issue yet. I loved listening to Simon and his ambitious dream, wondering where this lovely surfer would end up in life. Well, almost 10 years later, the long blond surfer hair is gone, but Simon is exactly where he said he wanted to be.
Simon is now working for the Surfrider Foundation Europe as an environmental campaign coordinator. I was intrigued how he managed to fulfill his life-long dream and wanted to find out more about how he ended up there and most importantly what Surfrider is all about. So I decided to catch up with Simon after all these years.”
Photocredits: Surfrider Foundation Europe & Samanta Hunt Photography
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