Meet Jonas Studer, a primary school teacher from the small town of Brugg, Switzerland. For the last decade he has been crossing the world in search of the biggest, badest, and most exotic waves. It wasn’t until after years of traveling to surf that he began to “see things” other than waves. I caught up with him for an interview on a non-surfing leg of a trip to Malaysian Borneo.

GN: I’ve heard of Swiss hikers, mountaineers, ice-climbers…but surfers? No. How does a person from a mountainous land-locked country develop a life-long obsession with surfing?

JS: The first time I saw a proper wave was in my friend’s brother’s bedroom. We were young. It was a poster of Hawaii’s Back Door. We were sneaking into to his room to look for any evidence of girls that we could find. Instead of girls, we found surfing.

When I got a little older, I learned to surf “static” waves in rivers. At 14, we had raised money for a school trip to Barcelona. Due to a measles outbreak, the trip got cancelled. But some of us wanted to salvage our summer holiday. One of our classmate’s fathers invited us to his beach house in Brittany, France. We ended up using the money we raised for surfing lessons.

GN: Where are some of the destinations you’ve traveled to surf?

JS: In South America I surfed on practically every beach from Ecuador down to Santiago, Chile. In Central America I hit the waves in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Also, Indonesia, Australia (including Tasmania), New Zealand, and Hawaii. Closer to home, I’ve surfed in France, Portugal, the UK, Italy, and Morocco. And there’s one more place…but…I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.

GN: The question I always ask? Does your passion drive you to travel, or is traveling the driving force? In other words, do you travel to surf or surf to travel?

 JS: I definitely travel to surf. But traveling is a nice “side effect”. I thank my girlfriend Camilla for helping me to begin to see things when I travel. In fact, my first trip not to surf was to Bolivia and it was an incredible experience.

GN: Do you always travel with your surf board? How do you transport it?

JS: The surf board is a big pain to transport. My biggest board is 6 ft. 4 in. Some airlines charge extra for surfboards. British Airways does not allow them. You can find information like that on surfline.com.

GN: Has surfing brought you closer to locals or the local culture of the place you were traveling?

JS: For surfing, many times you have to trek to remote places. This has meant that I come in contact with a lot of locals and consequently have spent a lot of time hanging out with them. In Morocco, I took a car about two or three hours south of the touristy area to a predominately Berber region.

GN: How do you compare surfing in surfing cultures, say in Hawaii or Australia versus non-surfing cultures like Indonesia?

JS: In countries with a large percentage of surfers, everything seems to revolve around surfing, so much so, that it can be annoying. It attracts not only considerate surfers, but also the arrogant and selfish crowd.

In a place like Indonesia, you meet independent travelers that have come to surf and they tend to be much more open minded.

GN: Where are some surf destinations that are at the top of your list for the future? How about your favorite places to revisit?

JS: Indonesia is definitely on my list to revisit as is South America, predominately because of the combination of the waves and the culture.

I’d love to surf in Mozambique and Ireland at some point in the future.

GN: Thanks so much for the interview!  Keep in touch during your future surfing adventures!

Interview compiled by Stephen Bugno

By Isabel Eva Bohrer

In midst of the Alps, cows graze peacefully on evergreen fields. Farmers breathe in the crisp mountain air as they herd their sheep to be fed. This is Switzerland. A paradise not only of political neutrality, but also of locally grown foods. If anything is imported, it’s only the highest quality. Got your mouth watering? Take a look at the following specialties, and you’ll be sure to head to Switzerland soon.

Käsefondue (cheese fondue)

Come hungry, because a cheese fondue is not a small snack. Best consumed in a group, the Käsefondue involves dipping bread and vegetables in a large, heated pot filled with cheese. The true Swiss will first drench the bread in Kirschwasser, a cherry-based alcoholic beverage. Be careful though, you can get drunk very fast…

Raclette

Another treat based on melted cheese, the raclette is also interactive. Small pans are filled with potatoes and vegetables, with cheese on top. The latter slowly melts as the pans are heated. It’s great because each person can choose exactly what they want, and how much. Although it’s sure to be a lot, since it’s absolutely delicious!

Älplermagronen

"Älplermagronen" by Isabel Eva Bohrer

Are we noticing an obsession with cheese? Yes; it is the local specialty after all. This dish is the Swiss reply to “mac and cheese”: pasta topped with potatoes and applesauce. Available at countless mountain huts for carb-loading hikers, it’s sure to give you an energy boost.

Silserli

Taking a long trek and don’t have a kitchen on the way? Don’t despair, just take a silserli with you. The freshly baked bread made of pretzel dough tastes great on its own!

Zürcher Geschnetzeltes

Enough cheese and bread. With this treat from Zurich, you’ll finally get some meat on the table. Typically prepared with veal, Zürcher Geschnetzeltes is made of thin strips of meat, covered in a creamy sauce which sometimes contains mushrooms.

Rösti

The perfect accompaniment for Zürcher Geschnetzeltes. Rösti are roughly grated potatoes, fried in either butter or some other source of fat. Often served with fried eggs, they’re a great option for vegetarians, too!

Birchermüsli

What a way to start the day. This Swiss cereal is packed with oats, nuts, and dried fruit, all mixed together with tasty yogurt. Though typical for breakfast, it can be enjoyed at any time of the day. Just make sure you a get the fresh version; the already mixed supermarket kind just doesn’t do it justice.

Rivella

Ok, it’s a beverage not a dish. But the mixture of apple juice and sparkling water is so integral to Swiss eateries that it is worth mentioning here. With its refreshing taste, it’s the ideal drink after a day of skiing in the Alps.

Meringues

Finally, we’ve reached dessert. Prepared by beating egg-whites, meringues are wonderfully light and sugary. It’s almost as if you were nourishing yourself on air, except yummier! 

Chocolate, in any imaginable shape or form

Swiss chocolate by Isabel Eva Bohrer

Whether a simple bar or a box of exquisite pralines, Swiss chocolate is famous for being the crème de la crème. If you’ve started your trip with a cheese fondue, end it with a chocolate one. The perfect finish to a truly Swiss culinary tour!

Isabel Eva Bohrer is a freelance writer, editor, photographer, and translator currently based in Madrid, Spain. She has lived, studied, worked, and volunteered in over twenty countries on five different continents. Equally enthralled by the close-by as the distant, she aspires to share her adventures and advice through eloquent writing alongside eye-catching images. Visit her website at www.isabelevabohrer.com.

After changing trains in St. Moritz, I rode through the Bernina Pass and chugged slowly down into Italian-speaking Switzerland. I enjoyed an espresso and a short stroll through the town of Poschiavo and snapped this photo while hanging out of the train window as we returned up the steep grade to the alpine pass.

Photo and text by Stephen Bugno