Tati is a born adventurer who is always looking for life’s next challenge.
TATI COCO has been an adventurer for as long as she can remember. As a child she always preferred being outdoors where she could immerse herself in nature and all the adventures it has to offer.
Some of her biggest accomplishments to date have seen her bike across the Sierra Nevada, ride her motorbike in long off-road rallies, follow the Great Ocean Road in Australia, organise a charity event in Sri Lanka, explore unknown islands in Thailand and lead several stand up paddle expeditions.
In this exclusive interview Tati talks about when her passion for adventure started and shares more about her planned paddle of the length of the United Arabs coastline.
Once afraid of water Tati started stand up paddle to overcome her fear.
Tell us about your early life and when you first realised you had a passion for adventure?
There are still some facts in my life that I can’t resolve. For example trying to explain where my addiction to adventure comes from and I do not really want to try to answer it here.
Since I was a little girl I was always called ‘wild’, ‘savage’, ‘the girl who never stops’… and millions of nickname all my life. I do not want to know why I love so much being lost and in the outdoors. I feel happy when I can smell, touch, see and just breathe the nature and the movement of life. I love silence, being lost and I love to hear and feel deeply everything around me.
The only way I know that you can feel alive is when you are on an adventure, discovering and sharing your experience. When I was a little girl I didn’t use to play with girlie toys – I would rather be with my dad in the garden or in his little workshop. I never cared about being a pink princess covered with flowers, I was in my imagination more a kind of Warrior Princess covered in dirt, building castles in trees in the deep forest, full of mud and ready to fight the enemy with my fantastic branch converted to a sword.
I don’t have a date to put on a calendar to say this is when I started adventures but as far as I can remember the only place I loved to be was in the wild.
Tati has led a stand up paddle expedition with an 11-year-old boy going from from Abu Dhabi to Dubai.
When were you introduced to stand up paddle and what was it about the sport that caught your imagination?
In 2011, I hadn’t overcome my fear of the sea so I decided to get a job on an Island very far from any continent. I ended up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in New Caledonia where the sea is a huge aquarium full of wildlife. That was so scary, the first week I was there a guy died in a shark attack and the jungle was full of dangerous animals, not a good start to get me motivated but obviously it did wake up my curiosity. I had to find a way to do it!
I saw on TV Laird Hamilton standing on a paddle board and I found this sport perfect for me as I was standing on the water and not in it. I bought my first Red paddle Co inflatable and this was when I started my new adventures on the water.
It has been mental – the quantities of sharks I have seen and also whales. I still wasn’t able to swim in open water at this time and when I fell off my board I think I had the world record of the fastest paddler to go back on!
Each time I had the opportunity to go for a ride I used to go further and further away from the land to different islands and visit different villages along the coast.
Tati’s next project will see her attempt to paddle the length of the United Arabs Emirates coastline.
What have been some of your other greatest adventures and where in the world have they taken you?
My whole life has been divided into phases from trekking and canoeing in the Pyrenees to paragliding in Spain, snowshoeing in the Alps, road tripping all over Europe, completing survival training, skiing in Germany and bungee jumping in Switzerland. I have mountain biked across the Sierra Nevada and ridden my motorbike off road in long rallies with my friends, following the Great Ocean Road in Australia, organising a charity event in Sri Lanka and explored unknown islands in Thailand, leading a stand up paddle expedition with an 11-year-old boy from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, rockclimbing in the East of Spain, completing a 1,000 miles trek visiting Spanish Castle’s to simple microadventures.
My latest venture is trying to mix all the outdoor sports I love all over the world.
How are you currently spending your time and what’s the next challenge you have set yourself?
To be honest I am a kind of hobo since 1999 I have been living in many countries. I adapt my life to what is coming up for me. I spent the last six months in Ireland which is an incredible country. I planned four expeditions for this winter 2015 to 2016 but I broke my foot and I am stuck right now in a boot for the next three months, which forced me to cancel the first 3 expeditions. I just hope that I can keep going on with my biggest project, which it is to paddle the length of the United Arabs Emirates coastline. I will have as partner in this expedition Damien Rider from Australia who is the founder of PACA ‘Paddle Against Child Abuse’ and he holds three world records.
What’s your message to those inspired by your thirst for adventure and what words of advice would you give to those tempted to try something new in the world of outdoor pursuits and exploration?
Try, discover and be safe!
