Girl Gone Wild: Brook Power

I met the stunning Brook Power a few months ago during a photoshoot for the magazine I was an editor at and developed a serious girl crush. The model, surfer and skateboarder is intimidating at first (after all, she’s incredibly beautiful), but as soon as you start chatting with her you realize she’s full of quirks and she makes you feel so at ease. Maybe it’s her Hawaiian upbringing, or the fact she’d rather spend money on her horse than on a new pair of shoes. Naturally, she’s the type of girl I’ve stayed in touch with from time to time.

So, I caught up with Brook to chat about her outdoor life and paying homage to her Dog Town skater dad:

Hey Brook! You grew up in Oahu, which most people dream about visiting. What’s the best and worst part about living there?

I did! It’s really one of the best places to be a kid because you live without any fear and so many aunties and uncles to surround you with love…and Spam musubi’s haha. I grew up so at ease with the ocean, even on its wild days—it’s like my baby blanket. Growing up in Hawaii you are fairly free from superficial things. I still don’t have any desire to buy expensive things and I think it’s because I grew up never even thinking about cars or clothes or shoes. All I wanted was my Roxy bikini and my Hello Kitty backpack. The down side of the island life, especially on O’ahu, is how overpopulated it’s become. Traffic is terrible and they have been constructing these horrifying plastic dollhouse housing developments all over the island. It’s sad really. I hope that Hawaii kids will never be jaded because of the malls and department stores and will stay barefoot as long as possible.

What kinds of outdoor activities do you love?

I live by a national park at the moment so I ride horses out here and hike around waterfalls and mountain bike. I can hike to the highest peak in the Santa Monica mountain chain from where I live. I’ve been surfing Malibu a bit lately, too, and in the winter we go to the sulfur hot springs. 

I remember you saying one time that your dad was a Dog Town skater back in the day. Did he try and get you to skate a lot when you were younger?

He never pressured us to start a sport, he would just show us pictures or home videos and that was enough to spark our interest. He grew up in this neighborhood in Playa Del Rey that the LAX airport had condemned because of liability reasons. So they would sneak in there and skate in the empty pools and party in the houses…hooligans. My uncle claims that he skated a pool first before any of the Z Boys. I just bought a house in that neighborhood and I’m actually really stoked to skate around where my dad used to skate.

You’re also a surfer. Have you found a bikini that actually stays on when you’re out there?

No! But now that I live in California I wear my little spring suit every time I go out so I don’t have to worry about slipage. But in Hawaii the bikinis are so small these days that girls don’t really have to worry about it—everything is already out there! 

Why should more girls learn to skate and surf…or at least spend more time outside?

Girls really don’t handle stress well—it’s like a fact. And we talk too much sometimes. Surfing and hiking and spending time outside heals my stress and quiets my mind. You can organize your priorities; I learn so much out there. Not just mushy, peaceful meditation stuff either, but how harsh nature is and how brutal it can be, and how different human nature is from that of animals. It reminds me to be kind to people and to appreciate how lucky I am. Does that make sense? It keeps me creative.

Of course! Now spill—we all keep one luxury item on us even when we’re dirtbagging. What’s always in your pocket?

I always have my Smith Rosebud Salve with me. I’ll just put it on anything and everything: Lips, cuts, bites…all of it!

Thanks so much Brook! What do you think about this Dirtbag Darling? Tweet me @dirtbagdarling!