We had the good fortune of connecting with Banna Bazzarie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Banna, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
Some habits that I have that help me succeed are sleeping at least eight hours a night, having a healthy/balanced diet, physical exercise (for me it’s surfing 3-5 times a week), having an organized schedule (I love my Bullet Journal), and allowing time for my personal hobbies/interests outside outside my busy schedule.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Being that PaliSurferChicks is not even a year old yet, I’m stoked that we’ve been able to reach surf crowds from all over the world- especially those in the MENA region. I’m thrilled to connect with Palestinian surfers from all over the world as well as serve as the local ‘land to water bridge’ for Palestinian women that want to surf. I am most excited to continue our work with sponsoring an incredible friend/surfer in Gaza by helping her establish a woman’s swim (to surf) school. We are still in the early phases of our collective, so I think the real challenges are yet to come. Despite what might come up, anything is possible if you set your mind to it. The most important thing is to surf and have fun doing so!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
All of my friends that visit should be prepared to see multiple beaches and basically expect to spend the whole day at said beach. Whether that’s San Onofre, Encinitas, Sunset Cliffs, or PB. They know I’m not one to galivant around town. I like to keep it simple and slow down here in San Diego. Wake up, go to a nice coffee shop (if we’re lucky), pack up the car and yup you guessed it! Hit the beach. Surf for an hour or two and if it’s nice out, lay out on the beach and eat have some post-surf fruit. At some point the post-surf hunger will hit and we’ll make moves, But I love taking my friends to Tourmo on a saturday morning so they can get a glimpse of the parking lot in it’s prime. Sunshine, someone playing live music on the side, crusty old surfers watching the surf from dawn til dusk, people grilling, surfers coming and going, skaters cruising up and down the lot, palm trees swaying, mini-garage sales (if we’re lucky some local vendors), people chit-chatting and just overall in a great mood because hey, look around- how could you not when you’re here?

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give a shoutout to my dear friend Nour Salhoub. She was the spark to my surf flame. Her stories about her surf experience in Costa Rica were so inspiring and she’s the reason I took up surfing. Nour paddled out with me for the first time ever back in 2017. It was a beautiful sunny day in the heart of Wilmington, North Carolina. The simplicity of just sitting on the board in the warm sun amongst the dolphins was enough to pull me in. It was just so damn magical. I didn’t expect to catch any waves that day. I had never been out past the break but I was so excited. It caught me by surprise that I even got up on my first try, so I chickened out and threw myself off the board. It’s safe to say I got hooked. Thanks Nour!

Website: www.bannarchy.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/palisurferchicks

Image Credits
Image Credits: Roy Fotis Bourgazas Mohamed Abed Rama Amer Omar Jamaludin

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