Being a university professor (in an area near enough to decent waves) is a pretty good situation. Flexible schedule during the week, winter break free and summer recess for travel to better waves and working with creative, engaged, and talented people. I scored a ton of water time until I had a baby!
My experience has been that balancing the family stuff is way harder then the career stuff. If you can pick a career you really like and become good at it and you'll be in demand ie call your hours and salary. But once you have the whole
house/kids going it seems your time and dollar priories shift unless you were already in a v good position, which most surfers are not lol
Even the guys I know who have the ideal setup (live in LB/rock) good jobs with home and kids still don't surf all the time because of the other demands...
True- Hope to start having kids in the next few years but honestly if I lose water time because of that, I wont care at all. Thats a great trade off. Anyway, Im finding that as I get older, surf quality is more important to me than quantity. A real good session can last me for weeks before I feel a jones again, sometimes longer. Ive never had to make this decision, but Ive often wondered if I could or would take a higher paying gig in a totally landlocked, lower cost of living location if I could take 3-4 quality surf trips a year... I think I might do it if the opportunity came up to bank some serious $..potentially retire early to a surfy place, etc.. Its an interesting question to ponder and one that in light of current economic conditions a lot of surfers probably are.
Three fins out's post highlights the fact that if the goal is lifestyle, you better remember that even more important than choice of career is choice of spouse. If momma aint happy... aint nobody happy. Im lucky to have a wife that surfs and although not as passionate about it as I am, she respects my need to not let my gills dry out, and encourages me to enjoy what makes me "me". In turn, I dont abuse that like a selfish f---.
Anyday of the week, in the surf/happiness equation, choice of spouse> choice of career
Unless maybe youre a trust fund kid