Laird Hamilton is one of the most unique humans to ever ride a wave. It’s just a fact. He’s an ultra-talented athlete who’s created a life routine around surfing waves in unconventional ways. He became an uber-expert at riding big, scary surf, trading in guns for tow ropes and jet skis long before it was en vogue. Big wave tow surfing became a thing, Laird moved onto playing with foils, and however many years later everybody else jumped on that bandwagon too.
You can imagine living with the guy is never boring. Enter Gabrielle Reece, who made an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience earlier this week and, yep, Laird’s obsession with surfing came up in their convo.
“It’s very interesting to live with,” she admits. “Sometimes Laird’ll say to me — because he’s aware of time going by — he’ll be like, ‘You know, I have a lot more waves I need to ride.'”
As it turns out, Laird even got his better half on a jet ski with him once, outrunning 60-foot bombs: “I don’t know why he would go towards that, though…This is what he does so I’m like ‘Ok, I trust him more than I’m afraid.’…and then you turn and there’s a six-story building behind you moving. And you just think, how is that fun?”
Listen to the rest for yourself. Rogan spends a good chunk of time laughing at how ridiculous it is to chase 50-plus-foot waves or look at a hydrofoil and see a flying surfboard. But above all, hearing Reece’s genuine appreciation for what Laird sees as his life’s purpose is something to admire.
