Livin Enviably

Vlogs, selfies and personalized jackets may not be hallmarks of the traditional professional surfing career, but Koa Rothman couldn’t care less—he’s too busy having the best time ever

“They let their surfing do the talking” has long been considered one of the highest compliments we, as a culture, can bestow upon a surfer. It implies a kind of humble disinterest in the spotlight of surf stardom, as if to say that how we ride waves is all that matters and the rest is just white noise.

Over the past year, Koa Rothman’s surfing has done plenty of talking, with mind-blowing performances in kegging reef passes all around the world. But, then again, Rothman has had no problem letting his talking also do the talking.

Rothman’s vlog, “This is Livin’”, started from a simple idea: pro surfers live wild lives, striking out across the globe in search of surf, often getting into all kinds of misadventures along the way—why not film it all and post it to the internet in real time?

First and foremost, “This is Livin’” aims to entertain, and it very much hits its mark. It isn’t just a video journal of threaded tubes, it’s a behind-the-scenes look at a most-unusual lifestyle. Rothman is getting spit out of Tahitian pits, but he’s also cruising around SURFER Awards with his posse wearing audacious jackets with their names printed on them. He’s eating donuts with world’s best Pipe surfers in the yard at the Weedmaps house during the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout. He’s hanging out with Aquaman.

“This is Livin’” is a new take on professional surfing, designed for a generation that doesn’t just want to see the hero shot, but everything that led up to it as well, and Rothman has no problem taking up that mantle and putting himself front and center. “All I post are selfies now, that’s what the world’s come to,” he jokes.

Or at least we think he’s joking.