Australian surfer Mick Fanning first contemplated taking a break from the sport two years ago.
The three-time world champion will only compete in a handful of events on the 2016 tour after an emotional 12 months in and out of the water.
Speaking after a successful opening round heat at the Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast on Friday, Fanning revealed the circumstances of the past year weren't the only motivators behind his decision to take some time off.
"It was a long time coming," Fanning said.
"I'd probably had the first conversation in 2013. It was just one of those things, it had been building you know?
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"Just explore a bit more of the world. I've been doing the same tour and been booked up for the last 15 years. A bit of my time, bit of long service leave, it's good."
Fanning's decision doesn't appear to have affected his competitiveness.
Up against fellow Australians Wade Carmichael and Matt Banting, Fanning secured a third-round berth with a comfortable heat win at Snapper Rocks on Friday.
The 34-year-old scored an 8.87 and 8.37 for a two-wave total of 17.24 out of 20 to win by 1.24 points over Carmichael.
The hometown hero wasn't the only Australian to celebrate success on Friday.
Matt Wilkinson claimed a major scalp by defeating American legend Kelly Slater in their heat while 19-year-old Mikey Wright took down world champion Adriano de Souza in his first appearance on the world tour.
Tour veteran and former event winner Taj Burrow is also safely into the third round.
Joel Parkinson, coming off the back of his worst championship campaign last year, made a solid start by winning the final heat of the day against American John John Florence and Australian Jack Freestone.
Last year's runner-up Julian Wilson didn't have a great start to the year, finishing third in his heat and will need to come through a sudden-death second-round heat to stay alive in the competition.
De Souza's loss was a rare setback for the leaders of the Brazilian brigade with defending event champion Filipe Toledo and 2014 world champion Gabriel Medina winning their openers.
