What is your love? What were you put on planet earth to do? These are the questions that Ed and Sofie Templeton asked themselves when they decided to change their lives and embark on an around-the-world-on-a-shoestring adventure. They followed their hearts, took a chance and tried something new – and now they’re living their dream…
Ed & Sofie outside their Soul & Surf retreat in India
1. How are you leading a life ‘doing what you love’?
Ed’s a surfer who enjoys yoga and Sofie’s a yogi who enjoys surfing. We both love travelling and entertaining friends so by setting up India’s first Surf & Yoga retreat on a beautiful cliff-top hotel in Kerala we get to do the things we love on a daily basis – with loads of cool people from all around the world.
2. Tell us about Soul & Surf… what’s the philosophy behind it?
Philosophy is probably too strong a word, Soul & Surf has just evolved. It began as an extension of our around the world trip to buy us six more months somewhere warm over winter. We started small, inviting people to come and stay in our house in Kerala and do the things we love to do: surf, eat great food, hang out, practice yoga… oh, and have a little party here and there because we try to live a balanced life with equal measures of health and fun. So I guess our philosophy, if we have one, is to treat our guests as we’d treat good friends who come to stay with us. We’ve grown from three guest rooms to 15 and our challenge is to maintain that ‘personal’ feel on a larger scale. We have a team of 25 staff in mid season and they go over and above to help us make our guests feel welcome and relaxed. We hire people that we like and that we get on with first and foremost – this helps us to keep our philosophy alive.
Ed and Sofie (centre) with the warm and friendly Soul & Surf team
3. What inspired you to leave everything behind and travel the world?
I ran my own graphic design company for 14 years where I designed album covers for the likes of Fatboy Slim and Elbow and films for companies like Playstation. Alongside that I was a DJ – a 16-year career which fizzled out when I got too tired to DJ all night and then stay up all day designing! Sofie worked hard in the fashion industry. When we met we had both become disillusioned with the relentless deadline chasing of our creative worlds. We were ready for a new adventure. On a trip to Panama early on in our relationship, we did some ‘blue sky’ thinking and wrote down how we’d choose to spend our days if we won £10m and didn’t have to worry about work or money. We both knew what kind of lifestyle we wanted so we worked back from there to see how we could make it happen – without the £10m!
4. So is that how Soul & Surf came about?
Soul & Surf was just one of the many possibilities we dreamt up on that beach, and so buoyed by these ideas we came back the UK, quit our jobs, sold the design company, rented our house out and set off on a year long£10-a-day surf and yoga adventure.
Off on an adventure…
5. You took a leap of faith… how did it feel? Did you ever wonder if you were doing the right thing?
It was incredibly exhilarating. For a few years in the run up to our adventure I’d been dreaming of making a change but I felt trapped by responsibilities – by being a company owner, employing staff, and paying a mortgage, etc. I didn’t think I could do anything other than design. But as soon as we made the decision to up sticks and leave we felt a real sense of lightness – we were completely at ease with our decision. The process of making the decision was the difficult bit.
When we left we had no idea how long we’d be away, where we’d go, how we’d earn a living or where we’d end up calling home. Everything was up in the air. We just had to trust in our ability to make stuff happen. It was the kind of attitude I had when I was in my teens and early twenties but getting back into that mindset again was terrifying as well as liberating! Of course we had many doubts along the way, but the more we travelled and the more we were away from our usual patterns of life and home-bound constraints, the more we began to believe that anything is possible.
6. You fell in love with Varkala, India and made it home; why did it capture your hearts, minds and souls?
We travelled through so many amazing places and we could have stopped at any number of them. It’s all quite random really. We just felt a bit more at home in Varkala; we were enchanted by its magical, spiritual atmosphere, the raw natural beauty of the area and the warmth of the local people. We also met a little ex-pat gang so it felt like we belonged. It really could have happened anywhere. It just happened to be Varkala.
7. How does it feel being explorers of the world?
I’d baulk at the word explorers! The places we went to and go to now are mostly well-trodden paths but it’s great to get new perspectives. We love to see how people live their lives differently. In fact what we’ve realised is that we’re all quite similar and that most people are genuinely good. We’ll be going off the beaten track with our surf tours to the Andaman Islands – some of the places we’ve been to there feel like the very ends of the earth – ancient, untouched, beautiful and incredibly remote.
8. You now run ‘pop up’ soul and surf retreats all over the world… where’s your next and is it something that you plan to keep doing?
We’re doing retreats in Sri Lanka in November and February, Banda Aceh in Sumatra in March, The Andaman Islands in April and hopefully Cornwall or Devon in England next summer. We do plan to keep doing the pop-ups and to expand them by collaborating with some of the amazing people we’ve worked with along the way. Retreats in Brazil and Portugal are also on the cards at some point in the not too distant future.
9. What’s life like for you both now? How does it compare with your ‘old’ life in England?
Well, what we’ve learnt is that even when we ‘drop-out’ we end up being busy! Even before we set up Soul & Surf and when we were travelling, whilst some were snoozing in hammocks I was writing travel articles, setting up a fitness website for surfers and doing countless other projects. So life is always busy – and especially as we had our first baby just 11 weeks ago! However we get to be busy in amazing places, work with inspiring people and meet great guests. Life is good.
10. Where’s next on your list of places to go?
Hmmm, tough one. Sumatra, Brazil and Argentina are all up there, and that’s why we’re planning pop-ups there soon.
11. What else would you love to do in life? What does the future hold?
I’d love to make time to make art – screen prints, photography and painting. Oh, and learn to sail and go on a sailing surf adventure somewhere.
12. What advice would you give anyone who isn’t doing what they love?
A series of events preceding our initial adventure reminded me that life is short, that risks are good and that no-one will ever lie on their death bed wishing they’d spent more time in a boring office.
Ed & Sofie’s snapshot…
Happiest moment: Our wedding day in a wood in the South Downs National Park, closely followed by the birth of our son, Kit.
Most inspiring book you’ve read: Sooooo many! Vagabonding by Rolf Potts was pertinent to our initial trip.
Best light-bulb moment: That I was ‘allowed’ to leave a business that I’d set-up. For years I believed I couldn’t.
Anything is possible… what’s your wish? Peace. Within ourselves and within the world.
Quote you live by: “Jump. You might fall. You might fly.”
What’s your love? What were you put on planet earth to do? Watch ‘Find Your Love’ Soul & Surf’s inspirational video…
