Kiribati (pronounced Kee-ra-bas) is an island nation comprised of 33 atolls and reef islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Not known as a surf destination, its most well-known for the fact that it is the first place the sun rises on Earth. Perhaps one of the standouts for this trip was the children, paddling out into the surf with little more than scraps of wood trying to catch waves, and joyous in the waves. In the high paced life of a travel photographer, I must constantly remind myself to slow down and appreciate the timeless relationship between humans and the ocean. Sometimes it takes a trip around the world to realize that, but ironically, what inspired this thought on this trip, thousands of miles from my home in Central California, was a scene I could find right at home, children splashing around in the surf.