Vault: She learned to surf in El Salvador

Summary

The Bert Show – "Vault: She learned to surf in El Salvador"

Date: June 26, 2026
Hosts & Cast: Bert, Elena, Nadine, and others

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on Elena’s adventurous vacation in El Salvador, where she tackled surfing for the first time. The discussion dives into the realities of adventure travel, learning new skills later in life, and the physical (and mental) lessons that come from pushing outside comfort zones. Through humor and camaraderie, the cast explores both the challenges and rewards of such intense trips.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Vacation Recap and Destinations

[01:01–01:16]

• The hosts shared their various vacation spots: San Antonio, Atlanta, Costa Rica, Panama, and notably, Jen Hobby (Elena) in El Salvador.
• El Salvador was highlighted as “off the beaten path”, and not a typical vacation destination.

2. The El Salvador Adventure

[01:17–02:34]

• Elena described a “really, really active vacation,” involving extensive physical activities: “I have never worked out so much in my life.”
• She and her best friend spent time in three distinct regions, always accompanied by a guide named Roy—“We just fell in love with our guide... he was just so amazing and took such great care of us.” (Elena, 01:24)
• The group experienced horseback riding “through coffee plantations on three different volcanoes,” lunch atop a volcano, and rigorous hiking and mountain biking.

3. Physical Challenges & Learning Moments

[02:34–04:20]

• Elena attempted mountain biking with limited success: “I suck at, like, horribly. And kind of got injured the first day.”
• She described the climate and landscape—hot (90–93°F), dry, with green seasons in late fall/winter.
• Relayed the toll of activity: “I have more strawberries and cuts and bruises and bumps all over my body than I did when I was a little kid.” (Elena, 03:54)

4. Surfing: The Real Experience

[04:20–07:30]

• Elena dove into the realities of learning to surf:
  • “You can continue to challenge yourself physically no matter what age you are.” (Elena, 04:41)
  • Bert joked about knee surgery as evidence of age, sparking laughter.
• Surfing proved much more difficult and physically demanding than anticipated:
  • “What you don’t see when you’re watching surf movies... is the struggle to get out. You just see these guys on the wave kicking ass.” (Bert, 05:25)
  • “Surfing is paddling. …and getting pummeled by humongous six foot waves... you are in the middle of nature’s washing machine.” (Elena, 05:34)
  • "It hurts and you have salt water up your nose and... I feel like I brought home most of the Pacific Ocean either up my nose, in my sinuses or I swallowed it." (Elena, 05:48)
• The fear factor: Elena recounted being terrified by the large waves—“They were like six foot, almost seven foot waves. …That’s way too big for a beginner surfer.” (Elena, 06:27–06:28)
• Her friend had surfing experience from trips to Costa Rica, South Africa, and Hawaii, giving her more confidence and success: “She rocked it... totally catching waves on six foot left. …Mother Nature reminds you that you are not in charge; she puts you in your place.” (Elena, 07:20–07:27)

5. Takeaways and Lasting Impact

[07:30–08:23]

• The exhilaration of surfing for the first time, despite hardships: “When you actually feel the motion of the way your body’s supposed to go and get up on a surfboard, you’re like, oh my gosh, this is so awesome.” (Elena, 07:42)
• Elena feels hooked: “Beaches are changed for me forever. I can't go and not want to do something on it because it’s so fun.”
• The reality of intensive learning: “I am still absolutely a beginner. We did two lessons a day for six days.” (Elena, 08:14)

6. Humor, Reality Checks & Listener Call-In

[08:32–09:18]

• Nadine called in to express shock about surfing in South Africa due to shark-infested waters: “Who the hell goes surfing off the coast of South Africa? Is your friend crazy?” (Nadine, 08:41)
• Discussion about riskier surf spots and the wisdom of beginners starting with smaller, safer environments: “Start with like a little surf pool here at Six Flags and work your way up to South Africa.” (Bert, 09:09)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Elena on adventure:
  “I have never worked out so much in my entire life as I did in the last week.” (01:19)
• On learning in adulthood:
  “You can continue to challenge yourself physically no matter what age you are.” (04:41)
• Surfing humility:
  “Mother Nature reminds you that you are not in charge; she puts you in your place.” (07:24)
• On the reality vs. fantasy of surfing:
  “What you don’t see when you’re watching surf movies... is the struggle to get out. You just see these guys on the wave kicking ass.” (Bert, 05:25)
• Nadine’s warning:
  “Who the hell goes surfing off the coast of South Africa? Is your friend crazy? ...Those are great white infested waters.” (Nadine, 08:41–08:54)

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Important Timestamps

• [01:19–02:34] Elena describes the journey through El Salvador, introduces guide Roy, and shares her itinerary
• [03:12–03:54] Climate, injury, and physical toll of the trip
• [04:41–05:34] Key lesson: it's never too late to challenge yourself; true difficulty of surfing
• [05:34–06:28] The realities, dangers, and physical demands of surfing
• [07:20–07:27] Realization of humility in nature and the thrill of surfing
• [08:41–08:54] Nadine calls in expressing concern about surfing in shark-infested waters
• [09:09] Bert suggests starting small and working up to extreme locations

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Tone & Style

The conversation is lively, self-deprecating, supportive, and funny. The hosts and guests share personal vulnerability, mix in some gentle teasing, and give genuine encouragement. The episode exudes an adventurous spirit and emphasizes the value of stepping out of your comfort zone—while poking fun at their own mishaps along the way.

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For full photos and more trip details, Elena promises to update their website with pictures from her trip.

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This summary captures the experience and attitudes explored in the episode, delivering an inspiring, relatable, and entertaining account for listeners—whether or not they’ve ever set foot on a surfboard.

Transcript

[Host]

Okay, I have a business question for you. Where did you get your domain on wix?

[Elena]

It was really easy.

[Host]

Was it actually easy or are you exaggerating? No, really, it took like 90 seconds. I even built a full website.

[Elena]

What do you mean?

[Host]

I just used wix. Harmony just told it what I wanted and it built a fully functional website for me in minutes. It also comes with hosting security, privacy protection, everything. Oh, cool. Yeah. Check it [e-mail] domains there's nothing like

[American Express Representative]

my American Express Platinum card. I love that I can earn hotel credits when I travel. I can also earn resi credits, so, you know, I'm hitting the restaurants everyone's talking about. Plus, with the digital entertainment credit, I'm even more excited to catch my favorite shows. All in all, I can access over $3,500 in annual value with benefits and eligible purchases across travel, entertainment, and more. Learn [e-mail] Explore Platinum enrollment require monthly and other limits in terms apply.

[Elena]

Get it?

[Bert]

The bird show. So for vacation, Wendy went down to San Antonio. Melissa stayed here in Atlanta. I went to Costa Rica. Jeff went to Panama. Jen hobby totally roughed it.

[Elena]

Went to El Salvador.

[Bert]

El Salvador, man, it's like nobody. El Salvador.

[Elena]

Who comes to El Salvador?

[Bert]

El Salvador.

[Elena]

What?

[Bert]

El Salvador.

[Elena]

Tons and tons of surfing and really, really great, amazing waves and breaks. And so, yeah, I went down there with my best friend and we did this really, really active vacation. I have never worked out so much in my entire life as I did in the last week. So we had a really great time and relaxed a little bit, slept a lot because we were so exhausted by the end of our days. But it wasn't really like a party vacation at all because we were so spent. But we had an amazing time. We were in three different areas of El Salvador and we were with a guide the entire time. I'll put all the information up online because we just fell in love with our guide. I mean, he was just. His name is Roy and he was just like, so amazing and took such great care of us.

[Bert]

Roy. I hope he has like, some kind of cool South American last name.

[Elena]

No, his last name is Beers.

[Bert]

Aww.

[Elena]

Yeah, very American. But he's disappointing. He's from El Salvador. He grew up there and loves his country and just loved showing us his country and just took really great care of us and took us everywhere. We were with him for 10 days and it was just. It was an incredible, incredible trip. We went first in the mountains in this area called Los Naranos, which is. That means orange, right? The oranges, Narano? Yeah, I think so. Thank you. I'm working on my Spanish, but it's terrible.

[Bert]

I bought Rosetta stone as soon as I got home.

[Nadine]

I did.

[Bert]

You did?

[Elena]

I did, yeah. I know it's embarrassing that we only speak one language, and most other countries, they speak three or four. But anyway, so I was working on my Spanish a lot. So we went to this beautiful area in the mountains, tried mountain biking. I suck at, like, horribly. And kind of got injured the first day. And I was like, okay, no more mountain biking. Like, this is not cool. And then what else did we do? Horseback riding through these, like, coffee plantations on three different volcanoes. Had lunch at the top of a volcano one day after we got there on horseback. I mean, just beautiful views and vistas. And I'll put all the pictures up. Is it green?

[Bert]

Is it dry?

[Elena]

It's dry right now. The raining rainy season is September and October, so usually, like, November, December, January, it's really green. But at this point of the year, it's getting really, really hot. I mean, you know, 90, 90 to 93 degrees every day. And so we did the mountain thing. Oh, hiking. Did this, like, really, really difficult hike. I can't even believe we signed up to do it. That kind of thing. And then we were at the beach for six days learning to surf. I can't actually say that I know how to surf, but I was learning to surf and learning so much about the sport and the ocean and how tied to nature it all is. And it was a fantastic trip. But I have more strawberries and cuts and bruises and bumps all over my body than I did when I was a little kid, like, playing in the neighborhood and falling off bikes and playing softball and all that stuff growing up. I have more of them now at 33 years old than I did as a kid.

[Bert]

From time to time, I'll look through one of those men's journals, and in the very back, they have all these adventure vacations to me, where people do what you're doing the entire time they're down there, and I'm like, that's too much work for me on vacation.

[Elena]

It shocked my body, I think, the first four days. Like, I was so sore, my calves were screaming just the moment I got out of bed. You know, it's certainly probably geared for somebody wende's age, but I wasn't gonna let that hold, you know, we weren't gonna let that hold us back. So it was incredible. It was like. I think maybe, like, the biggest lesson I learned is that you can continue to challenge yourself physically no matter what age you are.

[Bert]

Yeah, I've got a knee surgery on Thursday to prove.

[Elena]

Well, I think that you have to warm up a little bit more. I think you have to stretch a little bit more and not like, you know, maybe jump in with the 20 year olds playing soccer. Bert. But I think that, you know, I think that was the biggest lesson for me was like, you can still like continue to learn really brand new things. Like. And I had no idea how hard surfing was. Yeah, you watch it and surfers do it with such grace and precision and elegance and they're just like in line with the waves and the water and the way they move. They make it look effortless, but. Oh, is it anything but effortless.

[Bert]

It's so much work. Like what you don't see when you're watching surf movies or whatever, what you don't see is like the struggle to get out. You just see these guys on the wave kicking ass. Right.

[Elena]

That's what I thought surfing was. Was. Oh yeah, you just get on a wave. No, surfing is paddling. Yeah, it's a lot paddling and paddling and paddling and getting pummeled by humongous six foot waves and getting feeling like you are in the middle of nature's washing machine.

[Bert]

And it hurts.

[Elena]

And it hurts and you have salt water up your nose and you've like. I feel like I brought home most of the Pacific Ocean either up my nose, in my sinuses or I swallowed it.

[Bert]

Yeah, it's a lot tougher than it looks.

[Elena]

It is so hard.

[Bert]

Did you get up at all?

[Elena]

Oh yeah.

[Bert]

You did okay.

[American Express Representative]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Elena]

We started on, well, Bert and anybody who surfs knows the lingo, whatever. But we started learning on a beach break. And so we were getting up in the white water and then we moved to like an unbroken wave and we're trying those, but the swell was so big on the days we were trying those that I got really scared. I got really, really scared. I mean, they were like, they were like six foot, almost seven foot waves.

[Bert]

It's way too much for a beginner

[Elena]

and that's way too big for a beginner surfer. Like I should have been practicing on like two to three foot waves and this well just got big at the place we were and it didn't really go down.

[Bert]

So the guide was loving it. But it scared the hell out of you probably.

[Elena]

Oh my gosh, completely scared me. And this was my very first time learning surfing. My best friend Elena, who came with, she had Tried to surf. She had gone on different surf trips. She'd been in Costa Rica, South Africa, and in Hawaii. I think this was maybe her fourth time surfing, or fifth, something like that. So she had a lot more confidence, like, knew how to, like, pop up on the board and that kind of thing. So she rocked it. She got on those waves. Yesterday morning. We were up at sunrise, like, I mean, and she was like in the water, like, totally catching waves on six foot left. It was. It was a little bit lower yesterday, but. But the days that we first got there, when I got out there and I just got. I got so freaked out. I got tossed around out there. I mean, Mother Nature reminds you that you are not in charge. Like, she puts you in your place, like, hey, you think you know what you're doing? I'm gonna thrash you around a little bit and prove that I'm way bigger than you.

[Nadine]

Well, did you ever think that maybe the ocean was meant for just floating in? Maybe on a raft with a drink in your hand and not for standing on a board trying to navigate the wave? No, because Mother Nature never checks with me when I'm doing that.

[Elena]

And beaches are changed for me forever. I can't go. I won't be able to go and not want to do something on it because it's so fun. Like when you actually feel the motion of the way your body's supposed to go and get up on a surfboard, you're like, oh, my gosh, this is so awesome.

[Bert]

And if you're on the beach. If you're on the beach and you're watching other people in the water surf, I mean, you're bored of tears.

[Elena]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I can't wait to talk to you about all the, like, technical parts of it that would probably bore everybody else to pieces, but I just. I loved it. I had so much fun. And being out there and being in the water and trying to learn it, but I am still absolutely a beginner. And we did two lessons a day for six days.

[Bert]

It's hard. It's hard. Pictures up online today?

[Elena]

Yes, I will get them up online. We just got back last night at like 8pm we got out of the airport. So I still am trying to get it together, but. But yeah, we'll definitely put them up online today.

[Host]

That's great.

[Bert]

Q100ATLANTA.com. Good morning, Nadine. You're on Q100.

[Nadine]

Hey, Bert. How you guys doing this morning?

[Elena]

Okay.

[Bert]

How are you?

[Nadine]

I just wanted to say, who the hell goes surfing off the coast of South Africa. Is your friend crazy?

[Elena]

She must be, because I know that's where she went surfing last time. There's a ton of sharks there, right?

[Nadine]

Those. Those are great white infested waters.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Nadine]

And the waves, from what I'm hearing from relatives that live in London, they go there for vacation. Those lanes are no joke.

[Bert]

Yeah. If I'm a beginner, I'm not starting in South Africa. I'm starting like.

[Nadine]

I mean, that's like going surfing off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

[Bert]

Start with like a little surf pool here at Six Flags and work your way up to South Africa. You're on the Birch Show.

[Host]

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