Though we are a surf camp, it’s easy to put us in the “surfing box” — just like dance class, soccer practice, piano lessons, or tennis, baseball, and volleyball.
These “boxes” often help us organize our family schedules, keep kids active, off screens, and maybe add a new skill or dimension to their lives.
But let’s be honest: while we tell our kids “you are unique, you are an individual,” we’re also placing them into pre-shaped containers with artificial rules — far from the freedom and creativity we hope to inspire.
For years now, I’ve seen Freedom Surf Camp as something different — a chance for kids to step outside of the box entirely.
Here, they enter an environment that is constantly changing — learning to adapt to the tide, the swell, the wind, and to other young humans around them — many of whom may become lifelong friends through these shared, powerful experiences.
I call this environment: Nature.
Yes, we place safety boundaries (that’s the only “box” we truly believe in), but beyond that, we give kids the space to discover their own rhythm, their own choices, needs, and natural abilities.
In a world that is so boxed in, nature doesn’t fit in a box — and neither do our children.
Nature has its own harmony — a steady rhythm that never stops. Whether we like it or not, it invites us to join in. And when we do, something beautiful happens:
Old thoughts and distractions fade.
New thoughts arise — thoughts not taught in classrooms, but felt in the body and soul.
This is how we reconnect.
This is how we grow.
This is how we awaken something true.
Every time I paddle out into the ocean, hike or ride the mountains, I feel lucky to be part of this journey — to learn again and again from the greatest teacher we have: NATURE.
All we need is a safe space, and a guide who can channel that force — not to control the child, but to guide the wild, and awaken the individual within.
At Freedom, that’s our mission.
Not just to surf — but to return to who we are: free, connected, alive.
Stoked & Grateful,
Gilad Lewandowsky.