Having packed all my worldly possessions into one, extremely stuffed backpack, I jump on the Vallarta plus back to the chilled surfers haven that is Sayulita. Though I've never really surfed before, I'm determined to be able to stand up on a surfboard by the end of the week. For the first couple of nights I'm staying in the campground with my friend Gerado. The campground is idillic in that our tent faces right out onto the beach and even has a perfect spot for my hammock.

Day one we rent a couple of paddle boards and head out beyond the waves to an empty beach cove with some epic rocks to climb and jump off into the sea bellow. Then back to the campground for a bit of downtime in the sun and a few coronas. Too tired to go out on the town we collapse onto the slowly sinking blow up mattresses for a much needed good nights sleep after our 3am bus journey.

Day two begins with a scrumptious breakfast of pancakes, bacon, coffee and a mango smoothie and then back to the beach for our first surfing lesson. To my surprise I'm not as hopeless as I'd originally thought I'd be and am soon able to stand up. By the end of the lesson, with the instructors help at when to go, I'm even catching waves by myself.

Gerado is only here for a couple of nights whereas I'm here for the duration of the week so on the third day I cart my stuff from the campground to the hostel, looking forward to a night in a non-deflatable bed. There are tons of cool people in the hostel and after a night in the local go to bar - Don Pato's - a group of us get together and decide to hike to San Pancho, the neighbouring town. With 10 of us and a somewhat warped sense of direction, a supposedly 40 minute walk turns into a solid 2 1/2 hours up a forlorn track. At one point the path got so steep that we had to cling on to trees just to keep from slipping back down to the bottom. Despite the challenge, it certainly was an adventure and when we eventually arrive, we all relish a nice swim and a well deserved lunch before mutually deciding to get a taxi back to the hostel rather than face another treacherous walk.

Somehow a week has flown by already and my last day has come and gone. Living by the beach it's almost as if every day merges into one. Random sleeping patterns, perpetual sun and surfers out at all times of day. Sad to say goodbye, I head to the bus station to meet a couple of German girls I met back in Guadalajara and catch the bus to DF.