I’ve been skateboarding on and off for nearly 40 years. I’ve never been particularly good at it, and I’ve probably spent more time away from my board than actually riding it. But somehow, skateboarding has always been part of my life. Now, at 45, I’m enjoying it in ways I never could have imagined when I was a kid.
I can’t remember a time in my life when skateboarding wasn’t something I was interested in.
That doesn’t mean I’ve been skating consistently for the past four decades. Far from it. If I’m being realistic, I’ve probably spent more time off a skateboard than on one over the last 25 years.
But even during those stretches when I wasn’t skating, I never really lost interest in it.
I still followed skateboarding, paid attention to what was going on, and occasionally found myself standing on someone’s board whenever the opportunity presented itself.
And I guess I’ve always looked like a skateboarder, even during the years when I wasn’t doing much actual skateboarding.
It’s funny how something you started doing as a kid can stick with you for so long, even when you’re not actively participating in it.
For me, skateboarding has always been one of those things.
And almost 40 years after getting my first real board, I’m still finding new reasons to love it.
My First Real Skateboard: A Powell Peralta Mike McGill
I was probably eight or nine years old when I got my first real skateboard.
It was a Powell Peralta Mike McGill Skull & Snake deck.
If you grew up skateboarding in the 1980s, you probably remember that graphic. The skull, the snake, and the unmistakable look of those old Powell Peralta boards.
To this day, I think some of those original skateboard graphics are among the best ever made.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to enjoy that board for nearly as long as I would have liked.
While we were visiting family in Niles, Illinois, someone stole it right off the front porch.
And they didn’t just steal mine. Both of my brothers’ skateboards disappeared along with it.
Three skateboards, gone.
I don’t remember much else about that day, but I definitely remember losing that board.
It’s funny what sticks with you from childhood. I couldn’t tell you what I had for dinner three nights ago, but I can still picture a skateboard I owned nearly 40 years ago.
The next board I remember having was the Powell Peralta Tony Hawk Medallion deck.
Another classic Powell Peralta board, and another graphic that’s permanently burned into my memory.
Looking back, I don’t think I realized how iconic those boards would eventually become.
At the time, they were just skateboards. They were what we rode, what we wanted for birthdays and Christmas, and what we spent our time messing around on.
I certainly wasn’t thinking about how much I’d appreciate those memories decades later.
I Loved Skateboarding. I Was Just Never That Good at It.
I continued skating into my teenage years, but I was never one of those kids who seemed naturally talented at it.
You know the ones.
The kids who could watch someone do a trick a couple of times and somehow figure it out themselves.
That definitely wasn’t me.
I could do some things, and I remember spending quite a bit of time doing noseslides, but I was never particularly advanced.
If I’m being completely honest, I probably spent more time screwing around with my friends than seriously trying to improve.
But I loved it.
And looking back, that’s probably the most important part.
Skateboarding was something to do, somewhere to go, and a reason to hang out with friends.
There wasn’t any pressure to become a professional or even to be particularly good.
We just wanted to skate.
And while I certainly would have liked to have been better, I don’t remember my lack of talent ever making me love it any less.
Growing Up Didn’t Mean Growing Out of Skateboarding
Like a lot of people, my relationship with skateboarding changed as I got older.
Once I got out of my teenage years, other things started taking priority.
Work, relationships, responsibilities, and eventually having a family.
Skateboarding gradually became something I used to do regularly rather than something I was actively doing.
But I never really left it behind.
I still followed it. I still liked the clothing, shoes, graphics, and culture surrounding it.
And if I happened to come across a skateboard while I was hanging out somewhere, there was a pretty good chance I was going to step on it.
Of course, occasionally standing on a skateboard isn’t exactly the same thing as actually skating.
And over the years, those occasional moments became pretty much the extent of it.
I’d think about getting another board or starting to skate again, but like so many things in life, it was always something I was going to get around to eventually.
That went on for quite a while.
In fact, it wasn’t until I was approaching 40 that skateboarding started becoming a regular part of my life again.
And strangely enough, I have my kids to thank for that.
The Easter Bunny Got Me Back on a Skateboard
When my daughter was six and my son was four, the Easter Bunny decided they needed skateboards.
Apparently, he also thought I needed one.
So both kids got skateboards, and I picked up a new setup for myself at the same time.
What started as something fun for the kids ended up getting me back into something I’d loved since childhood.
I wasn’t sure how interested either of them would be.
Kids go through phases. One week they’re obsessed with something, and two weeks later they’ve completely forgotten about it.
But my daughter ended up taking a real interest in skateboarding.
And that changed everything.
At the time, we were living in the Chicago area, and she started taking lessons at a local skatepark.
We’d head over to the park, and I’d skate with her whenever we had the opportunity.
We also started spending time at the House of Vans in Chicago, which was an incredible place to be able to skate.
Suddenly, skateboarding wasn’t just something I remembered doing as a kid.
It was something I was doing with my own kids.
And that made it even better.
I wasn’t worried about learning difficult tricks or trying to skate like I did when I was 15.
I was just enjoying being back on a board.
Even better, I was getting to share something that had meant so much to me growing up.
Moving to Las Vegas Changed Everything
A little over six years ago, our family moved from the Chicago area to Las Vegas.
And in many ways, that move opened up a whole new chapter of skateboarding for us.
For starters, we no longer had to deal with Chicago winters keeping us indoors for months at a time.
Living in Las Vegas meant we could skate outdoors pretty much year-round, although the middle of summer certainly has its challenges.
We also found ourselves traveling to California regularly.
And because my daughter had become so interested in skating, we started looking for opportunities for her to take lessons and skate at different places whenever we traveled.
What started with a couple of skateboards from the Easter Bunny had turned into something much bigger.
Skateboarding was becoming part of how we spent time together as a family.
We weren’t just going somewhere to shop, eat, or do the usual tourist activities.
We were looking for skateparks, skateboarding events, and opportunities for my daughter to continue learning.
And along the way, some pretty incredible things started happening.
Meeting the Skateboarding Legends I Grew Up Watching
One of the coolest parts of getting back into skateboarding has been meeting people I grew up watching.
And the funny thing is, none of it would have happened without my daughter.
Over the past six years, we’ve had opportunities to meet, and in some cases skate with, some of the biggest names in skateboarding.
People like Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, and Tony Hawk.
And those are just a few of them.
Think about that for a second.
When I was a kid, I was riding a Powell Peralta Tony Hawk skateboard.
Nearly four decades later, I’m getting the opportunity to meet Tony Hawk himself because my daughter took an interest in skateboarding.
That’s pretty crazy.
The same goes for Lance Mountain and Steve Caballero.
These are guys I grew up watching. They were part of the generation of skateboarders who helped shape the sport and culture that I loved as a kid.
Back then, meeting any of them would have seemed almost impossible.
Now I’ve had the opportunity to meet them through something my daughter loves doing.
And as cool as those experiences have been for me, what’s even better is watching her have those opportunities.
I think that’s something I never really considered when we bought those skateboards all those years ago.
I thought I was introducing my kids to something I enjoyed growing up.
I didn’t realize that one day my daughter would be the reason I was meeting some of my childhood skateboarding heroes.
That’s been a pretty incredible experience.
Somehow, We Ended Up With a Mini Ramp in the Garage
Another thing I never would have imagined when I was younger is having my own mini ramp.
But that’s exactly what we have now.
There’s a mini ramp sitting in our garage here in Las Vegas.
For someone who grew up skateboarding, that’s a pretty cool thing to be able to say.
When I was a kid, having your own ramp was the ultimate dream. Back then, our ramps were made from random pieces of wood we “found” and hammered together. I remember skating a makeshift quarter pipe that we kept in the parking lot of a friend’s apartment complex.
It probably wasn’t very safe, but we didn’t care. We had something to skate. Now, nearly 40 years later, I’ve got an actual mini ramp in my garage.
Of course, having a mini ramp doesn’t suddenly make me a great skateboarder.
I’m still very much the same guy who loves skating but never quite developed the skills to match his enthusiasm, but I feel like I might actually try more now.
And at 45, I’m certainly more aware of the consequences of falling than I was when I was 15.
But I still enjoy getting on a board.
I still enjoy trying things, even when they don’t work out.
And there’s something pretty satisfying about knowing that skateboarding has become enough of a part of our family’s life that we actually have a ramp in the garage.
I don’t think eight-year-old me would have believed that one.
Skateboarding at 45 Is Different, but Some Things Never Change
One thing I’ve learned about skateboarding as I’ve gotten older is that falling doesn’t get any easier.
Actually, it probably hurts a little more at 45 than it did when I was 15.
But falling has always been part of skateboarding. If you’ve spent any real time on a board, you already know what you’re getting yourself into.
It’s something I’ve always tried to teach my daughter.
You’re going to fall. Sometimes it’s going to hurt. Sometimes you’re going to get frustrated and want to quit. But you have to get back up and try again.
Of course, it’s a lot easier to give that advice than it is to follow it yourself.
I’ve taken some pretty heavy slams over the years, including a few where the last thing I wanted to do was get back on my board. There have definitely been moments when I would have been perfectly happy calling it a day.
But then I think about what I’ve spent years telling my daughter.
How can I tell her to get back up and keep trying if I’m not willing to do the same?
So, assuming I’m not actually injured, I get back on my board.
And honestly, I think that’s one of the most important things skateboarding teaches you, regardless of your age.
You’re going to fall. You’re going to fail. You’re going to spend ridiculous amounts of time trying to do something that might only take a few seconds once you finally land it.
But when you do, there’s nothing quite like that feeling.
At 45, I’m certainly not trying to keep up with teenagers at the skatepark, and I’m probably a little more selective about what I’m willing to attempt.
But I still want to learn. I still want to get better. And I still enjoy the challenge of trying something I haven’t done before.
Sometimes that means working on something on the mini ramp. Other times it means just cruising around or skating with my daughter.
You don’t have to be particularly good at skateboarding to love it. But you do have to accept that falling is part of the deal.
And so is getting back up and trying again.
That hasn’t changed since I was a kid, and I don’t imagine it ever will.
It’s About More Than Skateboarding Now
When I think about everything that’s happened since we bought those skateboards for the kids, I realize how much skateboarding has influenced our lives.
It’s given us something to do together.
It’s taken us to places we might not otherwise have visited.
It’s introduced us to people we never would have met.
And it’s given me an opportunity to reconnect with something that was such a big part of my childhood.
That’s probably the biggest difference between skateboarding now and skateboarding when I was younger.
Back then, it was mostly about hanging out with friends and trying to learn tricks.
Today, it’s about spending time with my family, sharing experiences, traveling, and just enjoying something I’ve always loved.
And the funny thing is, despite all the years that have passed, I don’t think my actual skateboarding abilities have changed all that much.
I’m still not particularly good.
But I’m having just as much fun.
Maybe even more.
Why Skateboarding Will Always Be Part of Board in the World
When I started Board in the World, skateboarding was a big part of the idea behind it.
I’ve always loved the combination of skateboarding, traveling, and exploring new places.
And over the years, those interests have become increasingly connected.
Our travels have taken us to skateparks, skateboarding events, and places we might never have considered visiting otherwise.
But Board in the World has also started evolving.
I want to spend more time outdoors, go camping, get back into fishing, and explore more places closer to home.
I’m also continuing to document our travels, including our recent trip to Japan.
So while the channel and website are expanding beyond skateboarding, I don’t want to lose the thing that helped inspire them in the first place.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve created the Board Life section of this website.
It’s a place to share stories about skateboarding, snowboarding, the people we’ve met, the places we’ve skated, and everything else that comes with being part of skateboarding culture.
Some articles will be about our experiences.
Others might be about equipment, getting older, or just things I’ve learned after spending most of my life interested in skateboarding.
I’m definitely not going to pretend to be an expert.
But after nearly 40 years of being involved with skateboarding in one way or another, I figure I’ve got a few stories worth sharing.
Nearly 40 Years Later, I’m Still a Skateboarder
Looking back, it’s pretty amazing how things have come full circle.
I started with a Mike McGill skateboard when I was eight or nine years old.
That board was stolen from a front porch in Illinois, and eventually I ended up riding a Tony Hawk deck.
I spent my teenage years skating with friends, never becoming particularly good at it, but loving every minute.
Then life happened.
I spent years barely skating, although I never really stopped being interested in it.
Eventually, my kids came along, the Easter Bunny brought them skateboards, and I found myself getting back into something I’d loved since childhood.
Now I’m 45.
I live in Las Vegas, there’s a mini ramp in my garage, and I’ve had the opportunity to meet some of the same skateboarders I looked up to when I was a kid.
And almost all of those incredible experiences happened because my daughter fell in love with skateboarding too.
It’s pretty funny how things work out.
I have no idea how much skating I’ll be doing when I’m 55 or 65.
But considering I’ve managed to stay interested in it for nearly four decades, I don’t imagine that’s going to change anytime soon.
I might not be the best skateboarder, and I probably never will be.
But I think it’s safe to say I’ll always be one.