By JAYDEE LOK
alltherage@thestar.com.my

EVER dreamt of getting paid to travel the world to make videos of yourself skating with your friends? If so, you’d be envious of Richie Eisler then.

Voted the top blader (or in-line skater) of the year (alongside fellow pro-blader Franky Morales), Eisler stopped by Malaysia last week to flaunt some of his chops in Putrajaya, Subang Jaya and Shah Alam, Selangor as part of his globe trekking adventure.

Like many other Canadians, the 32-year-old began to play ice hockey as soon as he could walk and then took his skating skills to the streets. He made pro about 10 years ago and today, he has his own line of skates under Europe-based label Universal Skate Design.

Richie Eisler thinks his full-time career as a pro-blader had a late start because he was busy getting an education. He has a Masters Degree in International Business.

“The reality is this (travelling pro-blader career) should have happened before I got so deep into school and because there are a lot of politics, for whatever reason, I was overlooked when I really should have been in this position eariler. I kinda gave up on it and worked on my real life,” said Eisler.

Evidently, Eisler wasn’t fated to continue living his “real life”. After gaining a degree in film and a masters in International Business, the bad boy blader got into some visa trouble when he was teaching business in Sydney, Australia, and was deported from the country.

“The sponsors had always said ‘If you would move to Europe, we would pay for you to live there,’” shared Eisler. “So, I wrote and said ‘Hey, my life just got flipped upside down’ and we talked and worked things out. It was an option for me when I had few options.”

Leaving behind his career in Australia allowed Eisler to live in Barcelona, Spain for a year, something he’d always wanted to do, where he lived in a house making videos and entertaining the other skaters who moved in and out of the house at different times.

From Spain, he then toured the rest of Europe, before continuing his journey to other regions of the world.

“The coolest place I’ve ever been to is Machu Picchu (in Peru),” said Eisler, as he listed his best travel experiences. “I was with several friends and we hiked for three hours along a train track in the dark, through the pouring rain, to get there.

“Somehow, I think those types of hard times make the end result more exciting. It’s a good analogy for the path I’ve taken to reach this point in my blading career as well.”

On the outside, it may seem like Eisler is living this glamorous life, but the reality is, he is a homeless man living out of a small backpack, and has suffered physical injuries for his passion. So far, he has cracked his skull and has lost track of the number of cars he’s been hit by.

“There are a lot of misconceptions about my life,” said Eisler, who believes he has achieved the “fame” without the “fortune”.

“The main one being that it is lucrative and that I make a lot of money. The truth is, if I were to stop travelling, I would need a second job to make this work.”

Life on the road can be exciting and lonely at the same time, and Eisler knows that only too well.

“It’s kind of a gift and a curse. I would really love to have a home, a girl, a routine and all of those regular things, but I feel the opportunities I have are too valuable to pass up. All those other things will come when they come. I’m in no rush.”

Eisler believes he has learnt more about life in the last few years being on the road than he did in his seven years of formal education. The simple life has taught him how to “make the most out of the least” and put up with various types of people.

So, if you think you’re ready to leave it all behind and live a life of adventure, Eisler has some sound advice.

“For people who want to travel like I do, the main thing is to get a mobile job. Learn web design or something you can do on a laptop from anywhere. For me, this is part blading, part video work.

“Once you can work from anywhere, the next part of the equation is replacing your rent and car payments with plane tickets.

“The world is not as scary or as dangerous as you would be led to believe.”

Pro-blader Richie Eisler gets paid to travel the world and skate wherever he goes.