Sami Sauri encourages his followers to practice any sport outdoors.
Sami Sauri answers most questions with a hearty laugh. His energy and vitality are overflowing and this is probably one of the reasons why more than 30,000 people follow his adventures on Instagram. “The other day I was asked how I would define myself. It was during a conversation in English and I answered that, perhaps, a life explorer, an explorer of life in all senses”, she tells us by video call from Fuerteventura, where she has been for a few months to shoot a campaign with the outdoor clothing and footwear firm Merrell. Also to rediscover her motivation. "You learn something new every day. Both physically and mentally I like to explore. But it is a difficult question because depending on the moment you are caught you can answer one way or another”, adds Sami and laughs again out loud.
Sami on the Muda trail in Fuerteventura.
Sami's story is not very common. At 28 years old, he practices all kinds of sports and has lived in five different countries. “It all started by running away from home, the typical thing – he laughs again, she spontaneously. I went to Italy, I looked for a job there, but I couldn't find my lifestyle. I returned to Spain and, later, I moved to France. I worked in hospitality, in the classic seasonal place in Saint-Tropez, but it wasn't for me either. By then, I had already started to take a liking to cycling and spearfishing. I tried Berlin, trying to dedicate myself to professional cycling, but it occurred to me to go do Route 66 and I saw that I liked this type of adventure more than competition, although I still compete sometimes”.
Later, she tells us, she spent almost two years in the United States – “You can't live there either”, she says –, to finally return to Girona, where she now lives in the center and tries to do what she likes the most. And what he likes the most is... practicing all kinds of outdoor sports. In her teens she got hooked on skateboarding, then she moved on to surfing and that's when she started biking. Before, she used it for everything: she started with a fixed gear to move around the city and ended up riding Alleycats (races). Then came other competitions – criteriums, road, velodrome – and the trip pedaling along Route 66, from Chicago to Los Angeles for 25 days, which changed his life.
Last year, during the summer, he felt that he couldn't take it anymore. “I took a sabbatical from work –at Komoot, a platform for organizing hiking trails, mountain biking...– and I did a retreat with my therapist. I spent a week without a cell phone, without a bike, without sports. It went very well, I focused on myself, ”he explains. Since then, he does morning yoga routines, vinyasa type, to wake up all the muscles of the body. “Yesterday, for example, I cycled 40 kilometers and then surfed for two hours. Imagine, in the mornings everything creaks", he underlines.
With Julián, from Sacre Surfboards, in Lajares.
When it comes to nutrition, he tells us, he doesn't follow anything specific. "I think that enjoying food and wine gives you life. Traveling, for example, being here and not eating wrinkled potatoes because you're on a diet... well, don't come here for that." he jokes “I have never followed diets, although I know what works for me and what does not. I try to eat well, healthy, organic if possible. Now I take care to take less gluten because my stomach is knackered, when I'm traveling I abuse the bars. But I drink my little wine at night. And I don't miss the croissant in the morning either”.
A SPORTS RETREAT IN FUERTEVENTURA
It is the third time in six months that Sami has visited Fuerteventura. “It has been a crush on the island. I have come to practice all kinds of sports and to find myself again and have a motivation for sports, after tearing my ligaments. I ran a lot on my first visit, on the second I couldn't and now I'm starting over and doing a little more adventure.”
Maccaroni House, in Lajares.
“It has been a difficult year for everyone. In addition, I reached a limit moment in cycling, for different reasons. I had reached a limit and, therefore, I started running, thanks to which I met Laura (from the Merrell firm). She also needed to regain motivation In general, after a year that was a bit bad, in which, to top it off, I ended up injured. This island activates me, fills me with energy. Coming back here has made me return to sports and, if I can play three sports a day, I do it”.
In Fuerteventura he always resides in Lajares, in the north, where he has some friends, like the guys from Casa Maccaroni Surf & Skatehouse. “I've known them for a few years and when they set this up and I was able to get away, I came right away. Nearby is the Calderón Hondo volcano, very famous and beautiful for sunsets, and the sea is only 9 km away, I have it measured (laughs). You can go surfing and it's amazing. There is also gravel and motorcycle terrain just 5 minutes away. All in all, it's a good location."
The other day he discovered one of his favorite places, in the Midwest, near the town of Betancuria. “It is a trialera in a mountain area that is a real blast, and I still have more to investigate. I have dedicated this trip specifically to creating an Instagram guide to explore the island.”
Sami has rediscovered his motivation for sport in Fuerteventura.
What are his goals now? “As I say, I had lost a bit of motivation and with the pandemic... I simply want to live more in the moment and enjoy what I do and who I am. Next month maybe I can go to the Faroes, if all goes well. For now, travel with caution if you can. Now my life is new since I have left my permanent job to dedicate myself to personal projects".
Sami really likes to travel alone and each one of her trips has marked a before and after. “Route 66 made an incredible turn in my life. Perhaps it is the one that has made me be where I am now. Fuerteventura is a destination where you can find hiking, running routes, walking adventures, all kinds of cycling, surfing, diving, windsurfing... Sea, land, water and even fire, if the volcano erupts”, he jokes. and addendum: "I think I choose my destinations based on the sport that I can practice there."
Cycling, surfing, skateboarding, horse riding... there is no sport that Sami can resist.
As to whether the pandemic has changed us in terms of the way we travel, she is clear. “There are many people who still do not respect nature, who are quite ignorant. And that is the people who did not go out to these enclaves before. You have to educate them. For example, in Barcelona they had to close Tibidabo because of the cyclists, there was a tremendous mass. Mountain bikers don't do anything wrong, but there are so many accidents and so many things... we are in a time of change. The boom in sports and outdoors is incredible, but we will also reach a limit”.
REFERENCES IN FEMALE
Sami had a very tough childhood and sport has always been an escape route for her. “I think that's why I keep doing what I do. And travel has accompanied sport, thanks to sport you can get to all kinds of places. I have had no references or family or outside. I have survived”, she sentences.
We want to know if she has encountered limitations associated with being a woman. “I have had my problems on some trips, like one I did of about 3,000 km in Canada. It was with a team of six guys, I was the only girl and, in the end, they treated me as if she was the one in charge of cleaning. I had conflicts with them because I don't shut up. It shocked me quite a bit. And some other limitation I have had. For example, I have always wanted to go to Morocco but one of my friends was harassed during a race. Those things put a barrier on you.”
Surfing at Esquinzo beach.
Therefore, one of her goals is make films of women who have been in the world of sports and have encountered obstacles. “You learn a lot as you go in the audiovisual world and, after two years of trying, I have launched my own production company. I left my full-time job to dedicate myself to this 100% and, at the moment, I am doing very well. For this year I prepare several related works with inspiring women in sport”.
“Because this world is, in some ways, still very old school. I ended up with one of my bike sponsors because it was not egalitarian. I discovered that a man who had been with the brand for less time and who had less achievements was paid twice as much as me. I couldn't accept it. I can create the same thing with or without them and it seemed to me that they did not value me”.
Sami Sauri at Casa Maccaroni.
In her social networks she tries to inspire, she tells us, “especially women, to explore. I try to be very communicative and post evocative content. I like it when people tell me 'I saw your photo and it made me want to go for a walk'. It is what I have always wanted since my beginnings in the sport”.
However, she confesses to being a rare bird as an influencer. “People ask me how I got so many followers and I honestly don't know. In fact, I put few hashtags, only from a brand if I collaborate with it. I don't buy followers or anything like that, I just share my life in case someone is motivated. On another occasion they told me 'I would like to have your life because you don't work'. At that time, I squeezed the sport as much as I could, but I spent many hours on the computer. Obviously I told that person that the computer part wasn't that inspiring, but it was there. I try not to get caught up with that or with the TV."
Fuerteventura, an invitation to enjoy the outdoors: hiking, biking, surfing...
THE VALUE OF THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT
Presumably an explorer like Sami travels light. “Normally yes, if I don't have to record (the recording equipment takes up a lot of space). But, it's just me with my backpack, the bike and little else”, she says, and confesses that when it comes to equipment it has always been “a bit of a disaster”. “I used to wear any shoe, now I only wear the most comfortable or the lightest. My relationship with Merrell started when I started to mix different types of sports and I am delighted. He has helped me a lot, especially with my hip and knee problems. Having a shoe that supports you in this sense is another world. I am very into boots, because I also ride a horse and I also like aesthetics, but if I have a twelve-hour photo session... ”, she laughs. But is there no sport that can resist him? “No (she laughs). And now I'm starting with the bike. A little bit of everything,” she smiles.
Hedonistic moments at Casa Maccaroni, in Lajares.
And what about those who don't feel as, shall we say, athletic, or don't have as much facility for physical activity? “There is something I always say: It really doesn't matter what you wear, who you are... in the end, it's all about getting out there and enjoying nature. Taking care of her, obviously. Even if it is going five minutes from your house, you will enjoy it more than staying at home lying on the sofa watching TV. The key is to see your own strength and how far you go. Whether you're athletic or not, you can still enjoy it."