Call of the Valley: Ramblin' Man Bill Altork settles in Swannanoa

Over the years, Swannanoa resident Bill Altork has modified his balancing act dealing with an    abiding wanderlust. As a youngster living in the Key Biscayne area of Miami, he began by simply assuming he was part of a restless generation.

“On the surface, conformity was built into our life, based on what was expected of us," he said. "But like others, personally I felt rebellion was built inside me. I remember in elementary school the teacher’s comment on the back of my report card said, ‘Billy has a don’t care attitude.’ I was rather proud of that.”

But there was no way to vent this feeling until he reached high school when one of his buddies came up with a surfboard building kit. Together with three other friends they decided to convert a garage into a surfboard production center.

“The fantasy of something out there through surfing just hit me smack dab in a way that told me I simply had to try,” Altork said. “I didn’t plan it or study it or consider the practicality of it. I just had to do it. Eventually all four of us surfed up and down the Florida coast while we were still in  school. Back in those days, South Beach was cozy, lazy and quiet. When surfing close to the shore, I couldn’t help noticing the retired people sitting over there in their hotel rocking chairs. They were just gazing at the ocean or playing mahjong, and I knew I had to go out and keep experiencing more. Always active and exploratory. That sense of risk propelled me.”

Soon enough, he and his brother packed their surfboards and traveled to the greater waters of the Pacific in Half Moon Bay south of San Francisco. That experience transported him into yet another zone of consciousness. Befriending other surfers down the coast to Carlsbad and an apartment on the beach for $20 a month apiece became a way of life. When he got low on money, Altork would get a job for a while and then continue to carry on. At a certain point, he found himself at the outer banks of North Carolina, fell in love and shortly afterwards traveled with his wife to Idaho.

“I recalled a camping trip there as a youngster with way less people and way more untrammeled nature — rivers and deserts and vast open spaces," he said. "Nature was the big draw. Always has been and always will be. The two of us fell into a job managing cabins off a dirt road into the mountains with the Boise River running free. This unknown surrounded by nature led to backside skiing.”

Eventually, this all was followed by a newfound joy back in South Florida initiating a thriving home-inspection service. Over a decade later, the pull of creating a home and memory of this area after having attended Montreat College many years prior came into play. His partner, Su Temesrisuk, bought property in Swannanoa and he built a place atop a graceful rise.

“To be back in the mountains of North Carolina amid the closeness of nature, the lure is more than enough,” he said. “We have a little creek out back with the mountain up behind us. Animals and birds all around let me settle in. Given my age, instead of the great adventures, I’m offered a walk amid all this space. True I’m about to take off again, but I’m not moving.”

Thinking it over, Altork realized he never had this awareness in his youth. He just instinctively took off. Now he has a home base with a partner he loves in a natural, domestic setting. In a sense, it  gives him permission to still dream and wander a bit. He’s outfitted his truck so that he can hit the road again and continue to have that spirit of adventure.

“It’s a bucket list, but for short periods of time while I still can," he said. "Explore those roads less traveled. But spiritually the need to be able to come home becomes more important as we get older. It’s the best of both worlds within a true down-home community here in this valley amid kind people who support our special sense of place.”