How Surfing Ruined My Life: 30 Years of Riding Waves and One Trying Not To

Jason Borte built a good life based around riding waves. From relatively waveless Virginia Beach, he became a pro champion, journalist and successful camp operator. For 30 years, the wind and tides dictated his every move. He felt sorry for the "legions of the unjazzed," as legendary surfer Phil Edwards referred to the people whose lives didn't revolve around walking on water. Until one day, when he wondered what it might feel like to be one of those people.

Borte decided to walk away from surfing for an entire year, approaching the experience as a social experiment, a personal challenge that might make him stronger. He had no idea that abandoning his surfboard would alter his relationships, his career and the entire course of his life. Join him on a wild ride between his three-decade rollercoaster in the surf and his frightening year on dry land, as well as the tumult that followed.