Denice Arthurton

For many years of my life my major passions were all types of sport but particularly gymnastics. After finishing my own competitive career I became a coach, eventually converting an old industrial unit into a training facility to accommodate my 200 gymnasts. It was while coaching that I developed my interest in nutrition and how certain foods and herbs both fuel and heal the body. It was also during this time that I discovered surfing and became somewhat addicted even though I began in the handicapped position of some-one with a severe phobia of water. . However, following a rather too-close-for-comfort brush with death, I decided I needed to make every day count. In 2003 I sold my house, gave away my business and most of my possessions and, with my surf board tucked under my arm, set out to explore the world. Luckily for me I had a husband with the same crazy notions as myself and an equal, if not greater, passion for surfing. Friends and family thought we were mad and would soon come to our senses but eight years on we are still travelling and surfing. Many of the countries we visit are viewed more often from the ocean than with our feet on the land. I have always written for my own pleasure but began doing so professionally from a need to help finance my perpetual travels. To my great astonishment I found myself quite successful in a short space of time. I feel myself incredibly fortunate to be doing something I love and making a living from it. What's more it is something I can do from wherever in the world the wind has blown me. People often ask me if I mind having no home and no security and what will I do when I get old. My answer – the words both 'home' and 'security' are dependant on personal definitions. As to what I will do when I get old........I live each day just for today - I can neither worry nor care about what lies so far ahead. But I suspect when old age does creep up on me I will have a perpetually large smile on my face as I recall the wonderful places I have been, the amazing people I have met and remember a thousand mornings that I sat on my surfboard just as the rising sun turned the ocean to gold.