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Surfboards everywhere around the world have been abandoned in garages and storage rooms, longing for the day that they’ll be reunited with the ocean.
Well, not unless you’re a surfboard owned by Stefania, a 26-year-old free surfer and surf photographer from Lima, Peru.
Stefania has found a way to keep herself entertained during lockdown, mastering the art of getting barreled under blankets and shredding the pillow pipe with her skateboard (safety gear on, of course).
We’ve caught up with Stefania to chat about her passion for adventure sports and where she finds the inspiration for these fun photo shoots featured on her Instagram account @stefamesiarossi.
Hey Stefania, can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do when you’re free to explore outside of your house?
I work as a surf photographer in Perú, so I’m really lucky to be at the beach almost every day.
I love to surf, skate, wakeboard, and snowboard… whatever sport that has a board. Before quarantine, I used to surf at least 5-6 days per week, wakeboard sometimes, and skate before a surf with my Carver skateboard that helps me a LOT with my technique in surfing and snowboarding.
I just spent two seasons in Colorado and I really love snowboarding! I think I’m good at it so I hope soon I can go again.
Where do you get the inspiration for these fun photos and videos?
I was pretty excited about the GoPro contest #Homepro and the home break challenge of WSL. I was literally crazy to find ideas that would win the award.
Sometimes, I looked for posts on Instagram that inspired me. Then, I didn’t care so much about winning because I thought that my content was nice for other people to see and get distracted for at least one minute.
I’m actually having a fun quarantine. A lot of people have been writing to me and I think it’s nice content to watch because can inspire other people to do the same. It’s a break from watching bad news on TV. I was lucky to be reposted on ESPN and CNN because they want to show people that quarantine can be fun and that not everything is going bad in the world. It’s important to share good things so that people can feel happy.
What will be the first thing you do once it’s safe to adventure outside again?
Definitely surf! And when the vaccine is ready and it is safe to travel–I think it might be next year–I really want to go to California to surf and snowboard. Or, go back to Colorado to just snowboard.
What advice do you have for other surfers, skaters, and snowboarders stuck at home?
There is always a way to have fun at home or get distracted from bad news. People can also continue working out in different ways.
Nowadays, the mind has been completely playing with our thoughts–I can be included here. It’s not an east time but we need to try to change the situation and try to be strong and happy every day.
We have to find a way to keep smiling because this is going to end in couple of months maybe… but then we are going to have amazing moments and continue with our life. It might be different because the behavior of people is changing but that’s part of the life in order to learn and grow up in the best way.
We need to be strong together so soon we can go surf or skate or snowboard where we really like.
Thank you, Stefania! Which capture is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!