When I spent time in Fortaleza, Brazil in 2022 I learned about a small beach town 45 minutes west of the city called Cumbuco. Locals apparently traveled there on the weekends for great beaches, live music concerts and parties. It is a famous destination for kite surfing (it seems like I am always traveling to famous destinations for kite surfing). So this time around, on my way to visiting Fortaleza again, I spent a week in Cumbuco first to do a reconnaissance trip to get the vibe and feel of it to see if it would be a place I’d like to stay again for longer in the future.
Such reconnaissance trips are my modus operandi for sustained livability on the road and serve the purpose of scouting locations without a big, upfront investment. It’s better to spend a few days figuring out a place before I commit to spend a month, or longer there, sight unseen. In this way I can also get a beat on the neighborhood I want to stay in if I return which would be otherwise more difficult to do without being there first.
Cumbuco is pretty cool. Well, actually it’s very hot during the day — I had to be barefoot and shirtless most of my time there to allow the breeze to cool me. The time that I spent working inside from my computer was accompanied with constant air conditioning. If I turned it off for 10 minutes I would start sweating. I had an apartment with a picturesque view of the beach that sat behind it. I could see kite surfers sailing up and down throughout the day even though it was currently the low season for wind, and European tourists, who spend their winters there for the hot weather and wind of Brazilian summers in Ceara.
I found a great, simple, old and dirty gym in the central downtown. Equipment from the 1960s, no air-conditioning, very sweaty, a couple of bucks for a day pass — my type of place. I always lose the dedicated, nice water bottles that I buy (and I had this time as well while I was in Joāo Pessoa), so I used an empty Corona beer bottle that I purchased at the grocery store for the purpose, instead. It ended up being my favorite gym water bottle for the next two months in Brazil until it fell out of my backpack and shattered on the floor of somewhere I don’t remember.
Nothing beats the sensation of feeling like you are in the middle of a Rocky Balboa or Creed movie, in one of those montage segments where it seems you are overcoming your previous limitations by breaking through the invisible barriers that were previously inhibiting your performance and potential. I achieve this exact feeling when I am training in a hot, sweaty gym from 50+ years ago. As I’ve written here many times, working out at gyms in other countries is one of my favorite things about my lifestyle. I am forced to accommodate available equipment in each place and incorporate new exercises into my regimen. It feels a bit like how the protagonist of The Highlander film absorbs the powers of those he bests in 1v1 combat and becomes more powerful in the process. This is how we grow — through discomforts that improve us.
While I was in Cumbuco I challenged myself to take ten hours of kite surfing lessons. It’s never been something I have been interested in doing, though I am always traveling to places that people claim are “a top kite surfing destination.” I figured that maybe the universe was nudging me to give it a go and maybe incorporate it into my slew of hobbies (like gym going, photography and writing) that could accompany me to future destinations.
I spent ten hours on the beach and in the water learning from a local professional kite surfer and instructor the basics of how to kite surf. I uploaded a video of it on my Youtube channel – I dare you to go find it. Let me tell you that kite surfing is tough — tougher than I expected it would be. There are many variables that need to be constantly monitored and managed: wind speed, direction, waves, your body’s position, balance, your hand positions on the control mechanisms (there are multiple ways and instruments for maneuvering the kite).
The first five hours were challenging and involved a lot of cerebral activity and repetitive practice of getting the initial basics down. At no point was it ever fun, though I understood that was part of the learning process — the fun would come later after I was good enough to ride the board and do my own thing, while making occasional mistakes (just like surfing). From that point the fun would increase exponentially as I got better and better.
The second five hours were no different – still no fun, actually it was less than not fun — it was paying money and working to have no fun. My teacher had me learning in the ocean, instead of the Cumbuco lagoon without waves where all the beginners typically learned. I came to learn this did not set me up for success, but I don’t blame him for me being bad at kite surfing. I do blame the sun for constantly being in the exact spot where I was supposed to be constantly staring at my kite to keep it hovering in the correct spot above the water. If the kite went too low it would fall into the ocean, if it went to high then I would have to start a process of turning it back and again managing and monitoring its position within that range. Try staring into the sun for ten hours – that was how I would summarize my kite boarding lessons.
I think it’s important to do things that are uncomfortable and annoying in order to evolve, grow and push past limitations just like in those Rocky training montages. However, I have also learned that sometimes the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze, especially if the reward that resides on the other side of that effort isn’t what is desired. Distinguishing between what is valid effort, discomfort and growth versus wasted opportunity, energy, time and resources that I could spent elsewhere is an important aspect of becoming a wiser person. What sacrifices are worth making? Maybe I’ll try kite surfing again but for now I’m happy to have spent $500 and ten hours of my time to understand that I hate it.
