Last summer i paddled out at our local spot with my two sons. First time, all three of us in the lineup together.

My oldest is 12. He's been surfing for a while, getting comfortable, starting to read waves on his own. A bit too careless for my taste but hey, what can you do. The other one is 9. Sport is his thing, still a little scared of the bigger sets, but he wanted to come. So we went.

There's this moment when you're sitting outside with your kids, waiting for a wave and nobody's talking. You're just bobbing there, three boards, three heads, the cliff behind you. And I thought: this is perfection. Four years ago, this was a fantasy I had in a meeting room in Herzogenaurach.

We moved to Ericeira in 2023. Bought erlich textil back from Calida the same year. Quit a 14 year career at adidas. Moved a family of five to a surf town near Lisbon where we didn't know anyone. Tons of risks, so many unknowns. Could have easily gone wrong.

Sometimes i have friends or family ask me: was it worth it?

I never really know how to answer that honestly. Because the honest answer is complicated.

Ok, here's what I gained: I surf with my kids on a Friday afternoon. I run a brand I co-own, not one I manage for someone else. I build something where my decisions actually matter, where equity means I feel every win and every mistake in my stomach. I live in a place that allows me to connect with nature. I built deep new friendships with humans who inspire me.

Here's what I lost: My professional network in Germany got thinner. Some people who said "let's definitely stay in touch" didn't. Some friendships that I thought were real turned out to be proximity friendships.

I also lost the safety net. Not just the paycheck and bonuses but also the structure. At adidas, someone else worried about the legal stuff, the tax stuff, the "who’s doing marketing when i’m on vacation" stuff. Now that's all me. And Julia. And a very small team sitting in cologne.

Here's what surprised me: the kids adapted faster than we did. My youngest son has a crazy portuguese accent when he speaks to his friends in football. The best mate of my older son is from lisbon. My daughter, who's 3, thinks that playing by the beach is just a normal everyday thing.

And the business - aka running erlich textil from 2,000 km away - it works. Not perfectly and not without friction, especially in Q4. But it works because we were forced to build systems that don't depend on me or someone else being in an actual room together. That constraint turned out to be a gift. I know that sounds counterintuitive. But when you can't just walk over to someone's desk, you write things down, you make decisions async, you trust people more. Or you fail.

We didn't fail. Actually it’s looking ok, even in this crazy market. On some days more than on others. But as a DTC brand without a strategic investor, failing is always there as a real option.

Sitting in that lineup on Friday, watching the boys catch waves and hearing them yell at each other to go, I didn't think about any of this. I didn't think about erlich, or revenue, or the newsletter I'm writing right now. I just sat there.

That's the part that's hard to explain to someone who's still in the meeting room. It's not about Portugal and it's not about surfing. It’s also not about working less, since we’re here i’m actually working way more hours. It's about building a life where Friday afternoon with your kids isn't something you have to negotiate with your calendar or a train which runs late.

Was it worth it? Ask me again in three years. For now, I'm going back out.

Have a wonderful day everyone,

Philipp