Up until four years ago, pro surfer Mike Todd and his family were like gypsies, wandering around mainland Mexico, Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Australia. Mike was forced to learn the fundamentals of surfing at heavy spots such as Puerto "The Mexican Pipeline" Escondido and Honolua Bay on Maui. This gave his surfing career a very solid base to grow from. After watching Mike surf with his powerful rail-to-rail style on a recent trip to Costa Rica, I couldn't believe he wasn't more than a mere eighteen years old. Thanks to having vagabonds as parents, this man-child is one of the most mature young surfers in the world today.

What was it like travelling around as much as you did growing up?
It was pretty cool, but it was hard dealing with meeting new friends so I had to hang around old people a lot (laughs). It was cool though 'cause I got to go surfing a lot and got to check out a lot of cool places. I think I've got a better understanding of what I need to do in life to succeed. I think I got to see a lot more of what the world is about before a lot of people my age normally would.

Are there any surfing experiences in particular that stick out in your mind from when you were traveling around with your parents?
There're waves I can remember from growing up in Mexico, in Puerto Escondido. It's just little things that stand out from when I was travelling. Like my first wave, my first of-the-lip, my first barrel, my best barrel.

Did you have any heavy experiences travelling through Mexico?
My parents got in trouble for having pot a couple of times. Both times they got off. But when you're fourteen and that kinda stuff happens you're so bummed. It's just really turned me off of pot. My dad grew pot in Hawaii for a living and when he'd harvest I couldn't have friends over until he got rid of it all (laughs). So it's not that cool to me.

Growing up in places like Puerto and Hawaii, did it make you feel more comfortable in bigger surf?
I used to kinda think that. I think that if you spend enough time anywhere you will be comfortable there. When I moved to California I didn't think I could do anything in small waves. I've been there four years now, and I think from not surfing big waves as much I've lost a lot of confidence in them. But I've gained a lot in smaller waves

Do you think you feel more comfortable travelling on the tour than most would at your age?
It's kinda second nature to me. But I kinda already dread travelling. I'm eighteen and all I wanna do is hang out at home and surf and cruise. I just have the desire to compete and I wanna do well. So I think that keeps me really motivated. I'm ready to go on the road and do what I gotta do. Plus, I guess it has always been a dream of mine to be World Champ. I don't know how realistic that is anymore, but it's there, it's a dream. I'm gonna still try and reach for it.

So are you gonna strictly concentrate on doing contests this year?
I'm gonna try and do as many as I can without going overboard, and try and get a good seeding for next year. I'm gonna try and focus on qualifying next year. But it has been fun travelling with all the guys and seeing Bobby (Martinez) and Fred (Pattachia) and the Hobgoods and Ben (Bourgeois)all the young guys my age doing a lot better. It's like we're not the groms anymore! We're just one of the boys.

You're the grom on this trip though! (both laugh)
I know.

I've noticed that you're surfing really powerful. You remind me of a young Tom Carroll, or someone like that. Who were some of your surfing influences growing up?
I definitely looked up to Tom Curren

Who?
(laughs) Some weird guy's brother. Umhim, Occy for sure. Occy was probably my favorite. I really looked up to Potter a lot. I liked Brad Gerlach. I liked Carroll but he wasn't radical enough.

Those guys are from my era though.
Those were my heroes when I first started surfing. And then with, kinda your age group, it was like, obviously Kelly, Shane Dorian and Rob. Those were the guys from the new school. But I think I kinda looked up to Occy the most because I could relate to what he was doing. And it seemed easier to go that way than to do what Rob was doing because of my build -- I've been getting bummed at myself though 'cause I haven't really been doing airs. I wanna try to incorporate doing airs with the influence of what Occy's doing. I think that would be a good mix.

I agree.