Editor’s Note: Years ago I helped set up a trip for Album surfers Victor Bernardo and McKenzie Bowden with my go-to guide from Barra de la Cruz, Pablo Narvaez. After their trip Pablo called me and said, “Maaan, McKenzie is hilarious. Have you ever met him? No?? Maaan, you have to meet this guy, I’ve never laughed so hard in my life man.” Although we never talked directly, I’ve enjoyed following him for years on Instagram until we finally got to speak earlier this year.
It may have very well been the longest game of phone tag I’ve ever been a part of to get a story but with McKenzie Bowden, aka MrThankYouPlease, it’s never just one story–it’s a full package. We were first introduced to talk about Norway, which he traveled to with the Roark crew for the making of their cold-water adventure surf film “N0Way”.
Originally hailing from New Zealand and Australia, nowadays, McKenzie lives half of the year in Berlin, with frequent strike missions to places like Chile, Bali, France, Portugal, Morocco, and yes, even Norway, and the other half in Australia. While he may spend a questionable amount of time landlocked in Germany, there’s no doubt that he’s a surfer through and through, but there is much more to McKenzie Bowden than stylish lines, hilarious posts, trademark dance moves, and enviable curls.
SURFER:What was your early life like in New Zealand?
McKenzie Bowden: We were just like fricking gypsies bouncing around, connecting into the community wherever we landed, and then leaving. Well, it’s kind of jagged, to be honest. Because I was born there and when I was four mom and dad’s took us to Victoria and then we set up camp there for a bit, and then just after I turned 11 , we went back to New Zealand and found a little honey hole kind of paradise, and that’s when started surfing and everything. For a time there, it was just a classic scenario, we fell in love with surfing and mom and dad and brother and I were just at the beach all day, every day. Mm-hmm. So basically started on a boog, which is kind of epic. Then, yeah, we just indulged pretty heavily and really got into it from there.
Then it was like, oh, well, we’re kind of broke. We don’t really have any money. Like, we should probably all get jobs. There’s more opportunity in Oz for that and we can surf as well. And then, yeah, I guess one thing leads to another and here we are. But yeah, it’s kind of wild thinking about it…
Without knowing him, it could be easy to write him off as a class clown type, a modern-day Spicoli, if you will, but that would be missing the depth of character that’s coyly lurking behind the surface of a surfer so unhinged as to not give a damn about what others may think, unless it is to make them laugh, and who is clever enough to keep it going all the while taking the piss of himself and everywhere he goes.Since our interview McKenzie hosted a new travel series by Roark called Roadwork, it’s more classic storytelling than comedy, but you still get a dose of his trademark dancing.
SURFER: Your girlfriend Isabel is German, yeah? Is that how you ended up living there?
MB: “Well, the root of it, the reason why we’re here, basically comes in the form of a chihuahua. Yep, because there’s this little bastard, who looks like he is young and sweet and innocent, but he is a little ass ho with a heart problem. He isn’t young either, he’s actually 12, and he can’t fly over even if we really wanted. So Izzy’s gotta be over here for the end. And apparently he’s living into his twenties, so that’s kind of unfortunate, but I actually love him.”
Although his trip to Norway certainly came up time and again throughout our call–we ended up speaking for nearly 3 hours–we touched upon a lot of different themes, places, and trends within the mind.
SURFER:Do you ever get worried about how your content will land with people?
MB: It certainly comes up but I really try not to, I’m just trying to give people a laugh. You can’t dwell on it too much, it doesn’t do you any good, you know? Worrying is worshiping the problem. It’s like, the more you worry about it, the more fucking things you find to worry about.
SURFER:What about personally, you ever put yourself through hell when questioning it all?
MB: “Well, yeah, I’ve definitely been through all sorts of episodes and moments where yeah, I kind of created this online persona and whatnot and then either expected, or not expected, it to be like that, and wondering if it would be like that (or not like that) all the time. And then I’ve had low moments where like, oh, how am I even gonna get back there, like, this isn’t even funny.
Like, what am I even doing? I wish I could just do this or do this. And it’s always the classic grass is green on the other side kind of thing. It’s like, well, now fuck that. Like you set out, you wanted to do that, now you’re doing it. Now you’re having all these doubts. That’s just bullshit. Get yourself back into the headspace, the reason why I started doing it was to have someone laugh or to give one person a smile and make their day, then that’s it–remember that. That’s like my box tick, you know?”
Roark
SURFER: What were your first thoughts upon arriving in Norway?
MB: That first night really hit me because we got to see the Northern Lights. It was one of those things, like, holy shit I’m here, I’m living this and we didn’t even use the cameras because we figured oh, that must happen every night. Like, we’ll be sweet. And it was actually like the last night of it happening. I don’t remember why, but it seemed to be that day it just stopped.
SURFER: So on your first day there, it was the last day of the Northern Lights?
MB: Yeah… Which was super unfortunate but kind of awesome ’cause we could just fully indulge and enjoy it with no cameras out.
SURFER:How was the local reception of a group of surfers wandering around up near the Arctic Circle?
MB: I realize probably everyone in that culture were going, ‘what the fuck are these idiots doing?’
SURFER: No interested takers?
MB: I don’t even think they were going to consider trying. You know? I think it’s just like a certain group of people that are crazy enough to…
I actually met a guy, a young fella, in Noosa, the other week for the surf festival there. And, he’s from that part of the world, I think even further actually, like basically on the border of Russia there. He said, ‘Bro, next time you come up, there’s like six of us, my friends and I, we’re the only surfers in that area. You gotta come and visit us this time. I’ll show you all the zones.’ I was like, fuck! That sounds epic. So I think it’s just looked at like, oh, they’re the crazy guys sort of thing. And I’m sure they have their own stories, but hanging out in that local little town we were staying in was definitely a completely different lifestyle, really out there from what you and I are used to…
Related: Surf Trips Don’t Get Much Better Than This New Zealand Strike Mission