After The Trip

There’s a lot of excitement and anticipation in the air as you prepare for a trip to the ocean. Be it going through tackle, checking over the traps and rods, you’re feeling refreshed and ready to hit the road. After the trip? A slightly different story. You’re usually a bit tired after a long drive and several extended days on the water, you have to unpack all the stuff you’ve haphazardly piled into the back of the truck and the boat and, if the trip was successful, there’s a cooler full of fish, prawns and crabs to clean and package up.

 

Inevitably, it can feel like a never-ending process; a far cry from the trip planning prior and instead feeling like a chore. Some of the best moments of the trip can be found after it’s over and you’re back home, gathered around the cooler, sorting through the catch and reminiscing about the days away with some of your closest friends. Everyone pitches in – some are cleaning the catch, some carefully packaging said catch to be enjoyed later on in the year and usually one person cooking up a delicious dinner for all to enjoy.

Not only does it make short work of clean up, but also some of the best fishing tales are told while huddled around one another get it done. Be it from the most recent trip or one a couple decades ago, stories of extraordinary luck and mild misfortune elicit a chorus of chuckles. Depending on the crowd, there’s usually more than a few embarrassing experiences than have become lore, with several embellishments and creative flair added each time the stories are retold.

 

People bond over food. After a trip is no different, and as you all gather around the table to crack crab legs, drink beer and swap tall fishing tales, you can’t help but to start planning out the start of the next trip to come. Of course, it’s great to bring back an overflowing cooler, but it’s the fellowship of fishermen and women that keeps us anticipating the next adventure – even though the most recent has hardly even come to a close!