Watch “Surfing 50 States” at the Annual HI Member Party, January 14

Posted by admin on Dec 17, 2008

You’ve decked the halls and rung in the New Year, and now it’s time to really kick off 2009 with your friends at Hostelling International!

Join us at the San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf Hostel for the Golden Gate Council’s Annual Member Party on January 14.

This year, in addition to the members reception and board of directors election, we are pleased to present a screening of Surfing 50 States — a new independent travel documentary chronicling two Australian surfers’ adventures across the U.S. — with the filmmakers in attendance.

Both HI members and hostellers staying in any of our Northern California hostels are welcome to join the party, so come on down to make new friends, watch a fascinating film, and have an all-around good time!

5:30 - 7:00 p.m.

Members Reception

Mingle with Hostelling International members from the Northern California region, meet Golden Gate Council staff and board, and cast your vote for the Board of Directors election while enjoying light refreshments.

7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

"Surfing 50 States" Documentary Screening
Filmmakers in person for Q&A

For good mates Jonno and Stefan, traveling is a passion almost as near to their hearts as surfing. Nothing beats the adventure of being in a foreign land and embracing another culture… except dropping a couple of surfboards into the mix. After watching countless documentaries on mysterious and little known countries, Australians Jonno and Stefan wondered, "What about the places that we claim to know so much about? Who’s exploring there?"

Take the good ol’ US of A, for example, the one place that so many Australians love to hate. After all, Jonno and Stefan grew up knowing full well that it’s a country packed with arrogant, loud-mouthed, Bush-loving, fat Anglo-Saxons who only care about themselves and know nothing about the world around them. Oh yeah, and there’s hip hop.

It was only upon traveling to the USA that Jonno and Stefan realized how inaccurate Australians’ perceptions could be. Together they hatched a plan to travel through all 50 states, meeting new friends along the way and investigating the real attitudes and beliefs of average American citizens… and surfing in every state.

Traveling more than 20,000 miles in an old ice cream truck, Jonno and Stefan crisscross the country, getting creative in the inland states by surfing lakes, rivers, snow, grass, concrete, puddles, cornfields, and potatoes. Along the way, they get a firsthand look at the diversity of American regional cultures and of Americans themselves.

Check out the Surfing 50 States trailer on their website.

Please RSVP by Monday, January 12, to (415) 575-1500 or info@norcalhostels.org.