From Pinball Wizard to World Traveler
Beat-up longboard by his side, Ithaka Darin Pappas sits in the sand at El Porto beach, letting the waves rush by him.
A smile gleaming across his face, he recalls how he first came to realize his love for surfing 38 years ago.
“I was a pinball wizard in inland Orange County, and we used to see surfer magazines at 7/11. I was just going, ‘What am I doing playing pinball when I could be out surfing?’”
Ithaka Darin Pappas has caught waves in East Africa, Morocco, the Great Lakes and Portugal, but he always finds his way back home to Southern California | Photo by Katcy Stephan
His passion for surf has taken him all around the world, to places that aren’t necessarily known for their amazing swells.
“I’ve explored places most people would never even think of surfing. I’ve surfed in East Africa. I’ve surfed in the Mediterranean. I’ve explored many of the mid-Atlantic islands, owned by Portugal and Morocco. I’ve been all over.”
Pappas, 50, is no stranger to challenging the conventional, both in the water and in his career. He has worked several jobs over the years, including artist, photographer and surf journalist, just to name a few. All his jobs have had something major in common: exploration.
“With many sports, it doesn’t really matter where you do them. For surfing, it matters. And its like, you go to Morocco, the surf is incredible, but then when there’s no surf, you go inland and you explore Marrakech. You go to the mountains. It’s just a very complete cultural experience while you’re doing an activity you love.”
Pappas says that, no matter where he travels, he is able to make meaningful connections with fellow surfers.
“Surfing is a completely global tribe. When you travel with surf, you meet people all around the world. You end up re-meeting those people, especially with the internet. You say, ‘Hey, I’m gonna be in Indonesia in June.’ ‘Hey, me too!’ You end up seeing people all around the world that you know.”
Even after living in Greece, Portugal, and Japan, Pappas found himself pulled back to his Southern California roots last year.
“No matter where you’re traveling, you never really leave where you’re from. You never really leave the places you’ve been, either. So I might be here right now, but Portugal, Brazil, everywhere else are still in my head. I’ll be back there again.”
