Barack Obama Is Having the Time of his Life Kite-Surfing in the Caribbean

Date February 8, 2017

It hasn’t been too long since Barack Obama left the White House, but it’s clear he hasn’t looked back for a second.

First we saw him wearing his hat backwards alongside Michelle Obama in Palm Springs last week. Now he’s back at it again with the cool-ex-president vibes. Newly retired Obama is currently in the Caribbean with billionaire friend Richard Branson, and he’s having a hell of a time. Obama was photographed on a kite-surfing adventure on Branson’s private island. In a blog post, Branson wrote that Obama spent two days learning how to stay upright and figure out this whole kite-surfing business.

Barack Obama took a well-earned break from Washington this month, spending time at Virgin founder Richard Branson's Necker Island, a private and, by all accounts, idyllic tropical escape in the British Virgin Islands. He was spotted kitesurfing up in the azure waves. Read more on TIME.com. Photographs by @gettyimages and @reuters. #obama #barackobama #kitesurfing

A video posted by TIME (@time) on Feb 8, 2017 at 4:51am PST

Former President Barack Obama sits on a boat during a kite surfing outing with British businessman Richard Branson during his holiday on Branson's Moskito island, in the British Virgin Islands. Obama is trying some new and dangerous water sports that the Hawaii native had to miss out on for safety reasons while serving in the White House. Obama, whose eight years as president ended last month when he was succeeded by Donald Trump, learned to kiteboard while vacationing last week on a Caribbean island owned by British billionaire and adventurer Sir Richard Branson, who published an account of their trip on Tuesday. Photographs and video on the website of Branson's Virgin Group show the former president, a life-long surfer, figuring out the increasingly popular sport in which people ride a board while being pulled behind a kite. "Being the former president of America, there was lots of security around, but Barack was able to really relax and get into it," Branson wrote. Obama and his wife, Michelle, were spotted last week in the British Virgin Islands, and people posted photos of them on social media. Branson owns 120-acre (48-hectare) Moskito Island, which is part of the archipelago. Jack Brockway/Virgin Handout via REUTERS #obama #lifeafterthepresidency #branson #holiday #vacation #barackobama #kitesurfing #reuters #reutersphotos

A photo posted by Reuters (@reuters) on Feb 7, 2017 at 7:44am PST

When he first arrived on Moskito Island, Obama told Branson about how he once had been surfing on a dangerous break in Hawaii. When he was done with his session, his security team told him that that would be the last time he would do water sports for eight years. Now that his presidency has ended, he can do the things he used to enjoy.

The huge smile on his face tells us that his worries are long gone and we don’t need to worry about him. Perhaps we all should have jumped on a jet and followed him—clearly panicking about the state of the world is not his main focus as it is ours.

? #Obama #WSHH

A photo posted by WorldstarHipHop (@worldstar) on Feb 7, 2017 at 6:25pm PST

“It was a huge honour to be able to invite President Barack and Michelle Obama down to the British Virgin Islands for a complete break after Barack finished his second term as President and the family left the White House,” Branson wrote.

“Being the former president of America, there was lots of security around, but Barack was able to really relax and get into it.”