"What's that? You'd like to pay me to go and surf? You're thinking Costa Rica, maybe, or Indonesia? Well obviously I'm keen . . ."
Sadly, though, when I got an early call to write a piece on something that has become a passion, it wasn't time to sling a pair of board shorts in a rucksack and make a dash for Heathrow.
Instead, I was off to somewhere a little more mundane and closer to home, but arguably no less intriguing. I was heading to Boscombe beach in Dorset - the site of Europe's first artificial reef break.
If, like me, you adore surfing but still love a good moan about Britain's lack of consistent waves, it might just be time for us to reconsider. Just.
The new £2.7m reef on the edge of Bournemouth is attempting to offer a panacea for the UK's often unpredictable waves; and it could even work.
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Putting on my wetsuit and paddling out to the break, which lies about 250 yards offshore, I was already grinning, for two good reasons.
First, I'd parked by the beach without a land shark (also known as a traffic warden) waiting with a parking ticket by my van, and second, despite the conditions being far from perfect, I could still see occasional sets of 3-4ft waves breaking ahead.
On reaching the reef it quickly became clear why most local surfers already seem to have given it the big thumbs up.
Even on a poor swell, a steep, punchy wave was being pushed up as it hit the submerged structure of sandbags that forms the reef, and we were catching short but fast left- and right-handers that wouldn't have existed without it. Fantastic news, surely?
However, there may be disadvantages. For one, overcrowding is likely when the surf is really pumping, and that could lead to a lot of irritable surfers who may have travelled big distances, only to find there's little point in paddling out to an already packed peak.
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Also, on days where there's a big swell, I suspect lifeguards will be dealing with a long list of injuries if a busy line-up means unsuspecting surfers smash into each other or the reef.
That said, though, if there's an appetite for more consistent, better quality waves - and locals clearly indicate there is - then artificial reefs can only be a good thing.
And if an early dawn surf proves to be the best tactic to ensure some space yourself, then so be it.