Riley, how long were you in The States?
I was there for just shy of three months. I didn’t want to get stuck with the visa shit, so I was out of there before my time was up.
How was this trip compared to your last time in The States?
It was a big change. This trip was chaos. On my first trip, I went to Disneyland and Vegas, and we went out for dinner at restaurants. It was a family holiday. On this trip, I ate takeaway food and slept on the floor [laughs].
Did you skate on your first trip?
Yeah, I got my mum’s credit card and took an Uberto the Courthouse ledges. I saw Jason Dill and AVE there, but they weren’t skating. They were just sitting down.
Before you were in The States this time, I heard you met the WKND crew in a blind date situation in Barcelona.
Yeah, it was pretty scary. I’d never met any of them, but I was in a text group chat with them. I didn’t have anyone’s phone numbers, so the group chat was just all these random numbers. Someone was like, “Hey, I’ve just touched down as well. I’ll meet you at the bus stop.” I was like, “Yeah, all right,” but I didn’t know who it was. I got there, and it was Karsten Kleppan. I’m like, “Hey, how’s it going?” I was trying to make small talk, like on a date, in a foreign country. For about five hours it was just us two. We ended up sitting at a café and trying to think of shit to talk about [laughs]. Then Filip [Almqvist] was the next one to rock up, and he made the situation so chill. I felt like I’d known him for years.
How was your initiation with the WKND crew?
I definitely got hazed. Grant did some unspeakable things to me [laughs]. Nah, I’m just kidding. They were all super sick. It was so much fun. Grant is
