Name a better father-son bonding activity. Photos: IG//Screenshot
Taj Burrow has achieved the status of living legend. He’s the best surfer never to have won a world title, but it’s roundly agreed upon that he should have won at least one at some point in his long career. Even without a title, his impact of surfing is indelible. He’s done plenty without that piece of mantle hardware — enough for any father to be proud. And Vance Burrow, Taj’s father, is proud of his son. That pride was on display during a session at Surf Abu Dhabi.
My wife is expecting a baby right now. In a few months, I’ll be a dad for the first time, and I’m just starting to wrap my head around the realities of parenthood. In the past, I’ve never identified, not really, with any of those cute father-son videos you see, but I’m starting to. Not as the son, but as the father. Thinking about what kind of person I want to raise my son to be. Thinking about watching him learn things, try things, fail at things, and succeed at things. I can’t wait to watch him get good at something he loves, whatever that might be. I can’t wait to be an old man doing that thing that my son loves with my son who loves it. Hopefully, that’s surfing (and hopefully he gets better than me) and we have a million Mexico trips in the future. I’d imagine at least some of those thoughts went through Vance’s head when he was surfing with Taj.
Vance started Taj surfing early. In the 1970s, he moved to Australia with his wife Nancy from San Diego, in search of un-surfed waves. After traveling around the country in a 1950s Vauxhall for a while, they landed in Yallingup, and in 1978, Taj was born. By the time he was eight years old, Taj was already showing promise, but it’s unlikely his parents could have predicted his success. Still, though, prediction or not, they raised a surf legend, and to watch father and son have the pleasure of surfing with each other makes me even more excited to have a child.
View this post on Instagram
