Shaun White is carving out some quality time with girlfriend Nina Dobrev.
On Oct. 27, the five-time Olympian enjoyed a date night with the Vampire Diaries alum at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Gala, where he was presented with a lifetime achievement award. While the award comes just eight months after his retirement from competitive snowboarding, Shaun exclusively told E! News there's still "so much to achieve in my life," including seeing the world with Nina.
Recalling how the actress had previously encouraged him to make a list of his post-retirement plans, the athlete continued, "After the Olympics, I told her, 'Let's go for it. Just lay it out there. I just want to go. I want to travel.'"
However, Shaun noted that a trip down the aisle isn't in the immediate future. "Time will tell," he teased. "Things are great with Nina and I, and I am so excited to focus on our relationship and my relationship with other friends and family."
Still, Shaun and Nina—who have been dating for more than two years—are hard at work "checking off that list" together. "We've done a lot," he shared. "After the Olympics, there's always like this emotional comedown, even if you win, and I was able to fill that time doing things with her, traveling around the world, seeing friends and family."
Their most memorable adventure? A trip to France to visit Nina's mother. "It was just the best," Shaun remembered. "These are those moments. You can have the glitz and glam of it all, but real family quality time with people is what I want for the most—and now I am doing that."
So instead of a white wedding, Shaun has his sights set on Whitespace, the active lifestyle company that he founded just before his retirement.
"After years and years and years of working with brands, I finally decided at this point in my career...that I really wanted to do this and now is the time," he explained. "I can take all the expertise from working with these brands, the knowledge of snowboards themselves and product development and put that all into my own thing."
Looking to the future, Shaun hopes that he can continue to make an impact on the sport of snowboarding—even if he's not actively grinding on the halfpipe. "We are talking to some really talented young riders in this space and I am hoping to get them on the program and really help their careers," he shared. "That would really just be the full circle for me."
