Skate Shop Addict

Lots of tourists are into museums and art galleries but skateboarders aren’t into that boring stuff. Unless you can skate them of course! Whenever I travel to a new city, all I want to do is track down anything to do with skateboarding. I’m always keen to check out the nearest skate shop.

Skate shop mementos

If you’re into skateboarding like me, you can’t pass by a new skate store without going in. When I find a cool new skate shop I usually spend ages there. I check out skateboard wheels and skateboard trucks, then the longboards & skateboards. I always buy some sort of skate gear when I’m travelling because then I get to enjoy it back home and it becomes kind of like a memento of my trip.

Skate decks in my suitcase

But you need to have lots of room in your suitcase. Or don’t take a lot of skate clothing with you and then you don’t have to worry. You can go buy a load of new stuff, whether it’s skate clothing or skateboarding hardware or whatever. Once I managed to fit two skate decks into my suitcase – it was damn tricky but not impossible.

Skate clothing for a growing guy

When I’m travelling I’m always on the lookout for new skate clothing because I seem to outgrow my clothes so quickly. Or I wear them out – especially skate shoes – so I always need new stuff. And because I skate most days, I’m often in need of new skateboard trucks, or skateboard wheels and skateboard bearings.

Better tricks with my new skateboard trucks

On my last trip to New Zealand, I got some great skateboards trucks that I couldn’t resist putting on my skateboard deck straight away – even though the ones I already had on there were good as. You know what it’s like when you get something new – you can’t wait to try it out. Those new skateboard trucks made such a difference – some tricks I was trying to land were that much easier.

Where to skateboard

I asked a guy at the skate shop where I bought the skateboard trucks from where to skateboard and he told me about the Vic Park skate park so I headed straight there. Turned out to be super close to where I was staying.

My new skateboarding trucks were the bomb and the park was mean too. So I stayed at that skate park heaps – basically every day from about lunchtime ’til dark. Would’ve stayed longer but it was basically too dark to skate.

New skate shoes required

I still did massive skating and pretty much wore out my skate shoes in the process. Which gave me a great excuse to go shopping for more skate gear – not a good look to turn up at the airport wearing majorly thrashed skate shoes and looking like a wreck after getting up at 5:00 AM. They’d probably eye me suspiciously and get the sniffer dogs on to me quick as!

DC shoes or skate clothing?

So I was still tearing around the skate shops like a maniac right up until the day I had to fly out. I’m fussy about skate shoes and I was down to my last bit of cash. Luckily that’s when I spotted some wicked DC shoes and a totally mean looking skate t-shirt. But I didn’t have the dollars for both and I needed to get on that plane. Should I go for the DC shoes or skate clothing? Nah, the skate shoes won my vote dead easy.

I’m still wearing those DC shoes now. They remind me of my trip to New Zealand which is kinda cool.

Online skateshop

Usually when I get back home from a holiday, I do the online skateshop thing and stay connected to the skate shops I like that way. I sign up to get their newsletters or special offers on skate clothing or skate gear that can be shipped easily. If they’re on Facebook, I sign up to that too.