Surf Travel Changing Again

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fi-surfboardfees22-2008aug22,0,2880131.story

This article from the LA Times talks about the continuing increase in fees that airlines charge for surfboards. It makes me think about the evolution of surf travel. As a disclaimer, I am a lightweight when it comes to surf travel. The first time I got on a plane to surf was in this decade, so I'm not much of an authority on the subject. But, nobody reads my blog so I don't expect to get any negative comments. :P

Back in the day of wooden kook boxes it seems like just getting to the beach was surf travel. Later, in the early 60's guys could sleep on the beach at Malibu and eat seafood from the cobble reef. To me that sounds like surf travel. California surfers rode steamships as a cheap way to get to Hawaii. I remember a movie with Greg Noll flying to Mazatlan, MX and finding surf. The Endless summer had Bruce Brown and company traveling by plane and auto all the way around the planet searching for surf, asking for directions, and finding so good waves.
The 70's was a time of tune in, turn on, and drop out. Feral Aussie surfers posting up in Indo breaks risking malaria and starvation for barreling waves the likes of which I've never seen. California surfers exploring Baja and mainland Mexico. Travel down every path that looks like it leads to the ocean.
The 80's seems like it was a time of more access, more travel, more magazine coverage but still an inequality of information.
The 90's and the internet brought the ability to research and pass along information on a massive scale. No longer did someone have to overhear a conversation, search for a map and bit's of travel information. The internet allowed one slip of the lip to result in 100s or 1000s of other people learning. Then they could search for more info on the net. The golden age of surf travel (unless you were one of the older crew who worked hard to find remote surf spots that now all of a sudden everyone knew about!)
Then the turn of the century, 2000! Not long after I jump into the surf travel scene with a trip to Puerto Rico planned perfectly between two great winter swells. Waist high waves for 5 days strait, me with my 6'4" potato chip and I could hardly catch a wave. A few years later was Panama. Better waves but harder to get to. The waves weren't better than what I had left behind but the water was warmer and seeing how people from another country lived really opened my eyes and changed my perspective forever. (I'm digressing)
So on to today. USA is in a recession leaving less money in everyone's "travel account", gas prices have jumped leading to increased costs for flying. The base tickets are more expensive, now they are gonna charge you for a pillow and a cup of soda. And to top it off, up to $300 per board per direction! Are we headed towards the 70's again? Are we going to have to take local buses through mainland Mexico and walk the last 5 miles to camp on the sand and live off hermit crabs and coconuts just to surf somewhere else?
Anyway, my surf travel account is only large enough for me to make it to the nearest beach once a week so the rising cost of bringing a board on a plane doesn't really affect me. :)