Biggest Wave Ever Surfed

Alana Blanchard is spending (slightly) less time than normal out of the media spotlight after her pregnancy announcement in June. And when she needs her space, few locations provide a natural seclusion quite as lovely as her home island of Kauai.

“Growing up on Kauai was pretty amazing,” Alana says in the above edit, pre-baby-bump, shot by and produced by GoPro. “I grew up on a five-acre piece of land that my parents had. I feel like a lot of people on Kauai live off the land. They grow a lot of their own produce. Ever since I could remember, my dad and mom would grow bananas and oranges. I really want to start a garden, but…I’m never here [Laughs]. But when I do get to be here, I’m pretty much just chilling…No one can find me.”

And then there’s Oahu’s North Shore, which, come December, transforms into the island satellite for every blip of activity in the industry. For two months straight, you can’t cross an aisle in Foodland without spotting another pro, or a brand manager, or someone whose paycheck is dependent on boardshorts and bikinis.

“All of the waves [on the North Shore] are really fun. It’s just the crowd factor,” says Alana. “That’s what you have to deal with. You have to time your sessions in a way that you’re going to miss the crowds.”

One island chain, and yet two drastic differences between the public and private lifestyle, the here and away. So when Ms. Blanchard reveals from her own life how to do both, and with supreme grace, we listen up.

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