This seems better than keeping up with the Joneses, doesn’t it? Photo: Instagram//Screenshot
When John John Florence announced his decision to take another year off, it’s likely that a lot of surf fans were disappointed. He’s one of the most exciting surfers to watch, whether the waves are good or bad. When they’re good, we get to see what he’s capable of. When they’re bad, we get to see what he can scrape together — and he can scrape together some amazing stuff. With him off tour again, whoever the world champion is at the end of the 2026 season will undoubtedly have an asterisk next to his name. But for a competitive surfer with three world titles and just about every other surfing award there is on his mantle, stepping back to take another year off at the height of his dominance is pretty punk rock. And I don’t ever want to see him full time on tour again.
Remember Tom from MySpace? The guy who started it — your first friend on there, if you’re of a certain age — sold it for $580 million dollars, took his cash, and moved to Hawaii, where he’s now living quietly as a photographer who has more money than he knows what to do with. That’s the same feeling I get from John. Now, it’s not clear whether this is a temporary thing or a permanent one (Florence himself probably doesn’t know, either), but I hope it’s the latter; at least, I hope it’s the latter if HE wants it to be the latter.
“This isn’t retirement,” Florence said on social media. “It’s just the path I’m on for now.”
That path is a wonderful one. He’s reaping the rewards of his hard work. He bought a sailboat from Travis Rice, got married, and had a child. Last year was spent exploring the tropics with said sailboat with his family and friends, poking their noses into places unseen, waves un-surfed, and adventures un-had. Sure, there are some people who get pleasure from the act of winning (Hi, Kelly!), but John appears to prefer spending his time doing things that have a deeper importance. Yes, he likes competing — one cannot become a world champion without liking competition — but we’ve only got a few short years on this planet and John’s decision to spend the years where his body is in its prime, doing the things he loves with people he loves, is an awesome one.
“Exploring with my family we learned new ways of living, saw new places, found waves for all three of us, and woke up most days just excited to see more, and do it all together,” said Florence. “It really confirmed for us that this is our dream right now. We’ve decided to continue in 2026 with the goal of hopefully making a full lap of the world. I want to become a better surfer; I want to become the best father I can be and combine it all with nonstop adventure and curiosity.”
I’d imagine that choice wasn’t an easy one to make. He’s widely regarded as the best surfer in the world, so it’s likely that he felt some pressure to keep up with the Joneses. But the problem with keeping up with the Joneses is that the Joneses don’t have a finish line. Keeping up with them means constantly chasing something that doesn’t really exist. Spending your days with those you love is reward in and of itself, and I’d bet that John John realized that reward is far better than another world title could ever be. And hell, John’s surfing is just as good (or better) when he’s not wearing a jersey.
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