After the symposium, I drove up to the North Shore and stayed for two more days. My last day in Kauai it was raining. I decided very last-minute that instead of going for a hike on the muddy trail, I’d be better off going surfing at the Hanalei beach. The thing is I’m not a surfer at all. I’ve had a few group sessions with instructors but hadn’t even been able to stand up. Somehow that day I thought it would be a good idea to give it a try, alone. I rented the longest board they have, asked about the best spots for beginners, and paddled off in the rain. The beach was quiet that day. I was completely clueless, but enjoyed the feeling of being in the ocean with the constant changing waves and occassional rains. I ended up meeting a local (whose name is Buna), who taught me how to “read the water”, and I caught four or five waves with his help. I would never have imagined that I learned surfing on the north shore of Hawaii. Buna also made me notice how the roughness of the water surface quickly changes after the rainfall. Of course I didn’t tell him that I studied ocean waves and that was my entire PhD thesis. It was a magical morning. I was immersed in the water, feeling the waves, yet at the same time, I realized I knew nothing about it. And I was reminded that sometimes when you travel alone, it opens up all possible connection to the world.