- Travessa das Ruinas - Paço d'Ilhas - Ericeira
- +351 960 055 361 | +351 938 880 186
Justin (‘1988) was born and raised in Knokke, a small seaside resort nestled along the shores of the Belgian Northsea. With his grandfather running a beachshack, Justin spent his summers with sand between his toes and learned to surf at an early age at the local surfclub. Mostly catering for tourism, his hometown was asleep for most of the year though and this, in combination with the lack of consistent surfconditions, made Justin dream of distant horizons with perfect waves. He couldn’t have turned eightteen fast enough in order to close the schoolgates behind him, pack his bags and set off for a journey to the unknown and adventurous. But staying true to his roots he always returned home to spend the summer at his local beach with friends and family by his side and working as a kite- and surf instructor at Surfers Paradise, Belgium’s prime watersports center. Being a level 2 professional kiteinstructor and a skilled surfer he managed to find a way to prolong his winter trips by teaching kitesurfing at some of the world’s most renowned kite destinations. But waves are where his heart is at and this let him to distant shores and far swung cultures, a profound knowledge of the ocean and eventually even a sponsorship with BWS Kitesurfing. During one of his summers in Belgium he met Jelle and they instantly became soulbrothers with a shared passion for life, travelling, the ocean and an overall bourgondian lifestyle with respect and gratitude. They’ve spent countless nights fantasising about one day combining all of their shared passions in a hospitality business with a more than personal twist and so Casa Paço D’Ilhas was born…
Jelle (‘1983) hails from Bruges, one of Belgian’s most enchanting historical towns. Due to the city’s proximity to the Northsea and the communal love Jelle and his mother share for the ocean, it was no coincidence that schoolholidays were mostly spent on the beach. When his father introduced Jelle to windsurfing when he was just 10 years old, noone could have foreseen what an impact this would have on his future life. From that day onwards all his free time got absorbed by his newly discovered passion. Life was centered around weather forecasts, begging parents and adult friends for lifts to the beach, saving up hard-earned cash for surfquiver and constant dreaming of distant horizons with endless waves waiting to be discovered.
But the most influencial experience of his young life must have been the backpacking trip to Sri Lanka with his father. Being just fifteen years old this was a real eye-opener, being overwhelmed by a different culture, witnessing how some people have to struggle in order to survive and how chances are inequally distributed. This voyage led to many other trips, exploring the road less traveled, intense encounters, relativating one’s own, known safe haven, the search for epic surf-, kite- and windconditions and using this passion for boardsports as a tool to overcome cultural bridges. As a part of his social studies Jelle enrolled for a internship abroad and ended up in a NGO in Kovalam, South India. A part of Jelle’s curriculum there was to educate school drop-outs during schooldays, but also to implement after school activities to keep the students off the streets and it’s negative influence during the weekend. Jelle’s experience and passion for surfing and other cultures came in useful and he soon made close friendships with some locals and started
a small-scale surfschool to keep SISP students off the streets, but also to motivate them to continue their education. All of the SISP students were welcome for free surfclasses as long as they could live by one simple rule: ‘No school-No surfing’! The Kovalam Surfclub was born and ever since 2005 Jelle has been working as a volunteer and fundraiser, building up his own Kovalam Surfclub and recently the Kovalam Skateclub and helping out wherever he could at the motherproject SISP! Winters were spent in India which deeply influenced his character and view on life, while summers were spent in Belgium, working as a surf-, kite- and windsurfing instructor & manager at Surfers Paradise, Belgium’s prime watersports center. During one of his summers in Belgium he met Justin and they instantly became soulbrothers with a shared passion for life, travelling, the ocean and an overall bourgondian lifestyle with respect and gratitude. Pushing each others limits on land and on the water, sharing intense moments in the line-up, which not only led to a profound knowledge of the ocean but eventually even to a sponsorship by O’Neill. Over the years Jelle realized that he wanted to continue his volunteering winters in India, but also built up something of his own. Justin and him spend countless nights together fantasising about one day combining all of their shared passions in a hospitality business with a more than personal twist and so Casa Paço D’Ilhas was born…
Travessa das Ruinas
2640 – 825 Paço d’Ilhas
Ericeira | Portugal
Alojamento Local: 20628/AL
Alma do Paço is proudly part of Casa Paço D’Ilhas www.casapacodilhas.com
+351 960 055 361 | + 351 938 880 186
(chamada para rede móvel nacional –
call on national mobile network)
info@almadopaco.com