windgirls: Anne Marie Reichman

The wonderful World of Anne Marie Reichman

"Even though I am very much Dutch, I seem to live elsewhere most of the year. Besides the many travels that I do for stories, competitions, promotional and sponsor activities, I spend most months of the year in Maui. Yes, Maui is windsurfing Mecca, great training grounds and that's why it is so great to be here. An other very good reason for me to be in Maui is my boyfriend, Dan, that lives on Maui full time ; )

I already said that Maui is a perfect place for anyone that is passionate about windsurfing. Even so... there is much more fun stuff on Maui that you can do. When the winds are down it is time for surfing and stand up paddling, 2 other ocean sports I am passionate about. The longer I spent time on Maui, the better I got to know which spots work on what side of the island with what swell direction. Even though Hookipa is still my favorite windsurfing spot, Maui has shown me many more great waves over the last years.

Besides water action, there are other things that I am drawn to. Painting is one of them and that way I can be in touch with my creative side. (I have to admit that I find it difficult these days to create time for this since there is always something happening, but I am looking forward to my next session with my canvas!). Besides painting, I love to get into my yoga to balance the mind and body plus to be more aware in both of those areas. Here in Maui there are a lot of yoga studios and the teachers are very high developed, so I definitely learn a lot from them.

What makes my day? Well… many little things can make me happy like:
going for a late windsurfing session at Hookipa. I thought the wind would die and thought I had to swim in, but NO! the wind stayed up, there were little waves to play with while the sun was setting. Only 3 people were out with me and we all were out there enjoying Maui’s magic moment.
a perfect cup of coffee in the morning; a mix between a cappuccino and latte.
getting up early to catch a glassy surf session.
seeing a dolphin appear unexpectedly.
seeing a whale jumping out of the water.
going windsurfing with your friends and everything comes together.
watching sunset with my boyfriend or by myself.
a smile I get from a strange person on the streets.
seeing rainbows and drive through them.
seeing that the moon is almost full again.
feeling the positive things even though things don’t go the way you planned (basically meaning: being in a good state of mind).
a good yoga session.
going stand up paddling in the waves or along the coast.
a good chat- conversation with somebody.
teaching somebody to surf or windsurf and see/ feel their happy response.
hanging out with my niece Sacha.
planning new travels.
being inspirational to other people and… being inspired by others.
some beautiful food prepared by Dan.
And I can go on and on and on…

What motivates me? It all depends: Sometimes/ most of the time I motivate myself, for I feel energized, I want to challenge myself and the conditions. I am motivated to get up early, or… squeeze in as many activities in a day as possible. Sometimes the conditions motivate me: a glassy ocean/ perfect waves/ side off shore winds on the waves… If I drive by the ocean on my way to ‘do something’, and then… by the look of that perfect ocean, plans might change… ;)

My travels: back in may I went back to Holland for a few days to see my newborn niece (my brother and his wife will get their 2nd child; Aunty Anne-Marie), family and friends. After that Roxy had organized a sales meeting in San Sebastian in Spain where I shared yoga and stand up paddling with everybody there. My first PWA world cup that was going to take place in Guincho is just cancelled. Too bad. Hopefully this competition will happen later in the year.

Then back to Holland where I can enjoy myself for a week, catch my breath and I will be able to participate in a Roxy promotion day in Scheveningen, my favorite town in Holland. After this fun month I will fly back to Maui, reunite with my man before the next travel mission is coming up."

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Anne Marie