The South Bay is Redondo, Hermosa, Manhattan… all those pockets along the coast in between LAX and Palos Verdes that kind of blur together when you grow up there. It’s the same streets you ride down every day, the same people you recognize at the beach, the same smell of salt in the air . It never felt fancy or dramatic, just comfortable.

Surf culture is just part of the background. You see boards strapped to cars before school, wetsuits hanging on fences, people walking into coffee shops, barefoot and still dripping from the ocean. Even if you’re not out surfing, it shapes the way you think. Everyone’s a little more relaxed, a little more patient, a little more connected to the beach without even thinking about it.

For me, growing up there was just easy. Long days, warm light, friends running around from beach to beach, that whole slow coastal pace that sticks with you way longer than you expect. It’s a simple place, but it leaves something on you.