A Certain Former POTUS Seems to Really Enjoy His Time Kitesurfing With Richard Branson

The concerns of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue seem like a distant worry for President Barack Obama, who has been enjoying some R&R after concluding his second term in office just weeks ago. Richard Branson called it a “huge honour” to host former President and First Lady Michelle Obama to the British Virgin Islands recently, in a trip that clearly allowed 44 to enjoy some of the things he couldn’t do in office.

This morning, Branson’s YouTube page uploaded this video of the former Commander in Chief competing against the Virgin Group founder during their vacation. While Obama leaned how to kitesurf — something he certainly never got to do while POTUS — Branson tried his hand at foilboarding, a variation of a surfboard and hydrofoil.

Branson writes for Virgin:

One of the first stories Barack told me when he and Michelle arrived on Moskito Island was how, just before he became President, he had been surfing on a dangerous break in Hawaii. When he came in from an exhilarating session, the new head of his security team turned to him and said: “This will be the last time you surf for eight years.” For the next eight years he didn’t have the chance to surf, enjoy watersports or do many of the things he loved.

The video shows the President managing himself pretty well before taking at least a few spills into the blue Caribbean seas.

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