We knew this was going to be a good time.
Let’s start with the basics: we were three skaters on that trip, Eole, Guilhem and me, one photographer, Yann and one filmer, Max.
Eole and Guilhem were already in Gran Canaria, living like the stray souls they are, sleeping either on a hammock, a boat or in a van. When Eole came back for a few days in France, he told me and my friends Yann and Max to come and visit him.
The project was simple: to go have fun skating, take pictures and film the whole process. Needless to say, we instantly considered the idea.
Fast forward one or two months of winter, and the instagram group chat is born.
Let’s do this.
«The project was simple: to go have fun skating, take pictures and film the whole process.»
Booked our tickets, rented a place to stay, a car to drive around and off we went. Eole and Guilhem already knew some spots by experience but Yann really took the matter into his own hands, regarding spot selection and the strategic itinerary to follow everyday.
Every crew needs a Yann. Cherish the Yanns you know. Because the efficiency we gained from Yann’s work every night, when we all discussed where we wanted to go, which day etc, ended up being so precious and made us film so much more than what we anticipated.
All that combined with Eole and Guilhem’s newly-learnt knowledge of the climate of the different parts of the island, and you got yourself a solid, well-oiled crew of friends to hang around with on a trip, trust me.
«Every crew needs a Yann (Quenez). Cherish the Yanns you know.»
Gran Canaria has so many different types of landscape to offer, we wanted to go experience it all. We went up in the mountains in a shop where they were selling hand-made clothes made from cloth grown on the island. Had to catch a sunset on the sand dunes in the south, had to go to Las Palmas see what the city parts of the island look like, had to grab a coffee on the rooftop of our house in the hills in the morning, we had to.
Back where we live, catching a glimpse of sunshine is not something you get very often, so you gotta make the most out the chances you got to bathe in its rays. That’s what we did, all day, everyday, outside, everywhere.
Many things happened, but Guilhem busting his chin open on a backside tailslide on a ledge was definitely something. Not the most fun part of the trip, but hey, that’s what we get for playing with our wooden toy in our twenties.
Plus, it gave us the title of the video, because we kept saying “puto borrrrrrrrdillo!” for a few days after that. He handled it like a pro though, gotta be careful of that panic factor when you hurt yourself badly. Guilhem is the best really, such a wholesome individual. He can be the dumbest guy on the planet and the most intelligent dude at the same time, remains a mystery to me, love you Guilhem!
«Many things happened, but Guilhem busting his chin open on a backside tailslide on a ledge was definitely something.»
Time to go home for Yann. He left 2 days earlier than us because of his job and Kaou, Eole’s girlfriend took his place for the two remaining days. All of Yann’s discipline completely out of the window now, we were more laidback and acted as regular tourists with a little less skating than the other days, trying to fit the local lifestyle one Tropical beer at a time. Fun times, for real.
And in what felt like an instant and an eternity at the same time, time for Max and me to wake up at 4am and catch a ferry to go to Tenerife and hop on the plane there.
Sounds easy, right?
Not so easy when you miss the first ferry at the beginning of your journey home.
Well done, you goofs, the next ferry is in 2 hours now. We hop on the ferry, book a taxi from the harbor to the airport while on the ferry and hope for the best. Once in the taxi, we asked for the homie in the driver seat to floor it, which he did.
Very weird type of tourism crossing the island on the highway way over speed limit. Now we’re at the airport, rushing through security with our bags, just to get stopped at the gate, right in front of our plane. 5 minutes too late. We were gutted. Thankfully, there was another flight taking off that day, so six hours of waiting and 300 euros of plane tickets later, we take off and go home. Completely exhausted and one day late for Valentine’s Day.
«Six hours of waiting and 300 euros of plane tickets later, we take off and go home.»
When I was living in Sevilla 7 years ago, we went on a boys night out in Alfalfa with two of my roommates, one of which had the worst English and Spanish in the house. This guy ended up hooking up with a Hungarian girl. They are still together to this day. It blows my mind.
What I mean here is that doing stuff with your friends goes a long way, in ways that you would never expect. If you have a passion, or even if you don’t, organize trips with your friends, create stuff, give things a try. Everybody will grow from it, guaranteed. It’ll take you places that could change your life, or at least, change your perception of it for a while.
As Daniel Johnston said: “Some things last a long time, some things last a lifetime.”
Go for it, you’ll figure it out later.
And on that note, I hope you enjoyed the video, we certainly did.
Text by Alex Signor
Photos by Yann Quenez
Filmed and edited by Max Hurst
