Armin van Buuren’s Hidden Passion Has Nothing to Do With Music — But It Brings Him Pure Joy

What would Armin van Buuren do if he took an extended hiatus from music production and DJ life? The “King of Trance” has spent decades traveling the world, spinning records, moving between festivals, building radio shows, and creating iconic electronic tracks. But even the busiest creatives need space to breathe, swim, explore. If Armin weren’t always in studio or on stage, chances are he’d be found chasing waves, feeling sunsets, and satisfying passions often buried under tour buses and soundchecks.

Here’s a deep‑dive into what Armin van Buuren might choose to do on a dream vacation—surfing, beach life, marine adventures—and how experiences like these could refresh the energy of even a trance legend.

The Rhythm of the Waves: Surfing as Meditation

For someone whose life revolves around rhythm, drops, and timing, surfing offers a different kind of temporal flow. Imagine Armin van Buuren early in the morning, surfboard in hand, walking across soft sand in Bali, Hawaii, or Costa Rica, waiting for the perfect swell.

Surfing demands patience, attentiveness, balance. The moment before a wave breaks, the rise, the drop—these are experiences of flow, not unlike building tension before a euphoric trance drop in one of his sets. The ocean doesn’t wait: it offers challenges to reading conditions, adapting to currents, surrendering to nature’s power. For Armin, that might be the kind of contrast needed after years of crafted perfection.

Surf trips would let him disconnect from machines—even the turntables—for a while, rely on instinct, feel saltwater, sun on skin, hearing just the roar of waves. It’s physical, calming, and profoundly grounding. Such experiences could recharge his creative battery, inspiring new tracks or simply giving rest.

Beach Life: Sand, Sun, Simplicity

If not surfing, Armin van Buuren might settle into slower moments under palms and sunsets. Picture him reading books by the sea, sketching melody ideas on notepads, or even writing lyrics inspired by tides. A beach house in Ibiza or Mykonos, a spot close to nature, sea breeze cooling after a day’s warmth, with simple joys: good food, warm water, laughter with friends and family.

Beach life offers intimacy missing from stage lights. Activities could include paddle boarding, snorkeling among coral reefs, exploring coastal trails. Maybe he’d spend afternoons cooking local dishes, enjoying fresh seafood, drinking coconut water, watching sunsets, and letting time stretch.

For someone used to travel schedules, this kind of stillness is rare. Moments without flight delays or festival obligations, breathing space to observe, absorb, let ideas float. Armin might come back to the studio not just refreshed, but with new inspirations: soundscapes informed by sea, tracks that resonate with the calm, or ambient mixes unlike his typical trance signature.

Travel, Exploration, and Cultural Immersion

When not performing, many DJs already enjoy travel, but Armin van Buuren might choose less‑touristy paths during a break. Visiting remote islands, hidden surf towns, coffee farms, or traditional music scenes in places like Indonesia, Australia, or Costa Rica could offer fresh perspectives.

He might connect with local musicians, hear folk rhythms, record field sounds—waves, birds, markets—that could later weave into compositions. Immersion in culture offers emotional texture: colors, smells, textures, stories that digital studios rarely provide. Those sensory memories could feed trance tracks or ambient interludes later.

Wellness, Nature, and Mental Reset

Beyond surfing and beaches, Armin van Buuren would likely prioritize wellness during a break. Yoga at dawn by the sea, meditation on cliffs at sunrise, long hikes in national parks, forest bathing—not just physical rest, but mental uncluttering.

These practices help with creativity: reducing pressure, allowing intuition to surface. Trance music often channels emotion, uplift, escapism. But it is demanding. To maintain authenticity, one must refill one’s emotional reservoir. Nature has a way of doing that: heat on skin, wind, salt water, open sky.

Creative Reflection: Beyond Beats and Festivals

A break would also provide space for reflection. Armin van Buuren might listen backwards in his career, revisit old tracks, experiment with stripped‑down versions—acoustic, ambient, minimal. Perhaps write new material quietly—melody ideas that don’t need major synths or festival build‑ups.

He could consult that inner voice: what music does he want to make, rather than what is expected. Perhaps collaborate with unknown artists, or produce music purely for personal fulfillment. In spaces like retreats by the ocean, inspiration flows differently than in clubs and studios. Quiet days, starry nights, bonfires by the surf—moments where music becomes organic instead of crafted.

How a Break Might Benefit His Music and Legacy

Stepping away from constant touring and production may seem counterintuitive for maintaining relevance. But many artists find that such sabbaticals refresh creativity. New influences, rhythms from travel or nature, reinterpretation of sound—these can lead to evolution that fans welcome.

For Armin, this could lead to new subgenres, ambient trance, collaborations with non‑electronic musicians, or even a conceptual album rooted in nature. His legacy as the King of Trance could expand: not just because of his past hits, but how he grows. Such balance between presence and absence might deepen fan respect and artistic satisfaction.

Fan Expectations Versus Personal Passion

One of the biggest tensions would be fan expectations. Many listeners expect Armin van Buuren to deliver his characteristic trance anthems, epic drops, emotional builds. If he steps away and makes something slower, more reflective, or even non‑trance, some fans might be surprised or disappointed.

But artists often need to serve their own passion to stay honest. If Armin truly loves surfing or being by the water or sketching melodies secretly, then giving himself permission to explore may result in better, more honest music in the long run.

Imagining the Perfect Day Off for Armin van Buuren

To visualize: A single perfect day when Armin is off: Wakes up before dawn near a beach in Bali or Costa Rica, surfs sunrise waves, then rests in a small beach café, perhaps writes melody ideas, swims, eats fresh fruit and seafood, later hikes through coastal jungle, watches sunset from a cliff, then sits by bonfire under stars, listening to ambient tracks he’s drafted that day.

These moments, detached from bright lights of stage, might feel more nourishing, more human. They might also reflect in the way he returns to music: with new color tones, quieter moments, breathing spaces in tracks where once there were only buildups and drops.

Conclusion: Does Armin van Buuren Need This Kind of Pause?

If Armin van Buuren were to pause from performing, producing, and spotlight, his passions—surfing, beach life, travel, nature—offer more than rest. They offer reset, inspiration, authenticity. They allow him to reconnect with what first drew him to rhythm, melody, lilting sounds—not just crowds.

Being a global trance icon does not mean giving up pleasure or peace. In fact, such rest might fuel the next great creative chapter. For someone whose life is defined by sound and spectacle, reclaiming silence by the sea, rhythm in waves, light in sunsets, could be the greatest remix of his own self.

When the waves crash, when sunrise breaks over the ocean, Armin van Buuren may find not just tranquility, but new melody. And when he does return to music, perhaps he’ll bring more than just trance—he’ll bring soul renewed.