Katha Will Sommer decided to leave Germany for the road, visiting the European West Coast during 4 months, and found her way to Baleal, Peniche. In the company of her caravan, her HawaiianCaution. An ethnic group. Refers to a person who is of Polyn... More doll and her small dinosaur, named respectively Bruno, Ricarda, and Tony, Katha discovered Baleal and instantly fell in love with it.
Her caravan, Bruno, has been her companion for the last two years. Having a lifelong love story with the sun, the ocean and the warm weather, it was obvious that Katha would park her van somewhere close to the beach. It was, actually, at this exact place that Katha met several talented and creative people, inspiring her through her journey.
But even if surfing and its lifestyle was something Katha was hooked on, she wasn’t always a surfer. The words “boards,” “tides,” and “waves” only came into her vocabulary 10 years ago, during her first surf session in France. At first, she hated it. In her mind, it was clear that she didn’t want to touch a surfboard ever again. But surprisingly, 7 years later, she decided to give surfing a last chance. She packed her bags and left for Australia, promising herself that if things went wrong and her frustration kept emerging, she would say goodbye to the surfer life, and this time, forever.
Her experience under the golden sun went well, to her own surprise, and since then, surfing became a part of her life. Her goal? To keep learning, to keep evolving, and most especially, to have fun everyday while being in the water.
In need of a platform to share her passions with others, Katha and her friend founded an online surf magazine called Salty Souls and have been exploring a journalistic approach to the surfing world ever since. Salty Souls is a German magazine, which may sound strange to you as Germany and surfing never came in pairs, but the magazine was founded to answer a need that the growing surf culture of Germany was encountering.
Living the van life, aka literally having no home except a mobile one, isn’t always easy. However, Katha says she could live like this for about 4 or 5 years still, thanks to the money she earned by writing online.
Katha confesses to us that during her first solo trip on the road, she was nervous and afraid of getting herself into some sketchy situation, ones where she will need to ask for some help. Luckily for her, Bruno always protected her, through miles and beaches. Her trip to Peniche was one of the longest she has ever done, but after having this experience, she now knows that she’ll never feel alone on the road—other travelers will always be around her.
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