Jakob Santos is one of the most motivated riders out there right now. I say that because he is constantly traveling. I know what some of you are thinking, “All pro’s travel.” No, they really don’t. All pro’s wish they could travel, but they can’t. Why? MONEY. I wish we lived in a better world that allowed people to pursue the things they wanted to without the fear of going broke, but we do not. It costs money to travel. Even if you drive like Santos does a ton, you still have to contend with Gas money. It cost a lot of money in gas to get anywhere. Some sponsors will cover the occasional trip here and there, but for the most part they won’t fund every trip that you want to take. Sometimes the Pro’s have to pay for their own expenses. Which means when a pro is traveling he is losing money. This isn’t skateboarding; pro’s are not getting huge checks every month from their sponsors. Some of the pro’s in FGFS don’t even get checks, they just get free shit. Don’t get me wrong, getting free stuff isn’t a bad thing. The only problem is that they guy working at the gas station will not fill up your tank for a set of handlebars and a crank set. As a Pro you end up having to find a way to pay rent, all of your other bills, and still come up with enough money to travel and film. That’s why with a lot of riders all of their edits are filmed around where they live within about 3 cities. Most Northern California riders never travel down to So Cal and vice versa. That’s why I get hyped when riders like Jakob Santos basically go broke trying to bring us new footage from new places. You gotta respect the hustle.
