A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

The BME World Tour Winners are..

This has been a really hard month for me. First I get crazy in the middle of the night in a hotel in Austin. I haven’t slept in days, I’m alone, it’s 30 degrees out, I’m starving and I’m out of change for the vending machines. I started to think about how I haven’t been traveling at all over the past year. I’ve noted that falling in love has this affect on me. I stop being the person that’s only home one weekend out of the month because I’m at conventions, BBQ’s, suspension events, learning/teaching conferences and I focus on being home so that I can be a supportive, attentive and caring partner at home.

I was suddenly back on the road and realizing how much I miss it and how BME suffers when I can’t be out on the road. I decided though after a lot of thought that my passport is full because I’ve traveled around the globe but that for one reason or another all of my travels were alone. The last time I went on any kind of extended trip was in 2008 when I went to the Oslo Suscon, then to BMXnet and finally to a tattoo convention in England (which I ended bailing out on!). That was 3 weeks in Europe SOLO. I submitted around 1000 photos from that trip alone and had a great time meeting people in person.

Now I’m doing it a little differently and I’m extending the amount of time that I’ll be on the road and bringing 4 people with me. I’m sure that you want to know who they are but you HAVE to understand how difficult the selection process was. First it started out with watching hundreds of videos, browsing portolios, reading blogs and writing samples and with Jen‘s help, I narrowed it down to 17 finalists. Everyone has so much to offer and all of the finalists are multi-talented. While some people shine at one particular talent more than others, they are still fully capable of doing everything else that will be required on the road.

The hardest part about choosing the 4 winners is that there are some people who aren’t getting chosen that have been helping out a ton behind the scenes. When they volunteered to help out, I told them it wouldn’t be scoring them any extra points and I had to go with my gut. The other thing that was really hard is that one of my closest friends applied for the video. Thad is an awesome photographer and a great friend but ultimately I feel like I would lean on him too much during this tour. Plus he’d let me get away with being like “I’m too tired to cope today” and I can’t have that.

Click through to find out who won!

In no particular order, the four interns that will be accompanying me on this tour are Chez, Richard, Darah and Megan.

This was a very hard decision and I have my reasons as well as where I just needed to “go with my gut”. If you are a contestant and you want more feedback on why I didn’t pick you, feel free to contact me. I wish I could have brought everyone or I could split it up into two teams so that I could bring more people but I simply can’t due to the costs involved.

Thank you go everyone who applied and for all of the hard work that everyone put in. It means a lot to me and I appreciate your support as always.

Don’t forget the sale on BMEshop is still going on until Midnight! Use the coupon code “worldtour” (without the quotes!) to get 30% off of nearly everything!

Comments

324 responses to “The BME World Tour Winners are..”

  1. Miss Mess Avatar
    Miss Mess

    I am going to respond only for the sake that I think this all is silly and arguing about this is dumb. I was simply trying to give my opinion on the matter (assuming that is the reason we can leave comments on entries), not trying to start an e-fight about it or whatever.

    The whole situation affects me very little as I am not friends with anyone in the competition, I myself did not enter, nor did I place a bunch of hope behind a certain contestant. Hell, I didn’t even watch all of the videos submitted. Enough to not agree with all of the choices but hey– I’m not putting together this dream team– you are. Therefore, you can really choose whoever you want for whatever reason you want in the end.

    Again, I was just giving my 2 cents. Oh, and I don’t know much about being in charge of things but I do know that often times you are “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. I’m pretty sure that’s just something that comes with the territory. Everyone is going to give their opinion and you will never please most people most of the time no matter what you decide. Maybe you will do things differently next time. Maybe not. Just expect a backlash of some sort no matter what you decide in the end.

  2. Miss Mess Avatar
    Miss Mess

    I am going to respond only for the sake that I think this all is silly and arguing about this is dumb. I was simply trying to give my opinion on the matter (assuming that is the reason we can leave comments on entries), not trying to start an e-fight about it or whatever.

    The whole situation affects me very little as I am not friends with anyone in the competition, I myself did not enter, nor did I place a bunch of hope behind a certain contestant. Hell, I didn’t even watch all of the videos submitted. Enough to not agree with all of the choices but hey– I’m not putting together this dream team– you are. Therefore, you can really choose whoever you want for whatever reason you want in the end.

    Again, I was just giving my 2 cents. Oh, and I don’t know much about being in charge of things but I do know that often times you are “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. I’m pretty sure that’s just something that comes with the territory. Everyone is going to give their opinion and you will never please most people most of the time no matter what you decide. Maybe you will do things differently next time. Maybe not. Just expect a backlash of some sort no matter what you decide in the end.

  3. Miss Mess Avatar
    Miss Mess

    I am going to respond only for the sake that I think this all is silly and arguing about this is dumb. I was simply trying to give my opinion on the matter (assuming that is the reason we can leave comments on entries), not trying to start an e-fight about it or whatever.

    The whole situation affects me very little as I am not friends with anyone in the competition, I myself did not enter, nor did I place a bunch of hope behind a certain contestant. Hell, I didn’t even watch all of the videos submitted. Enough to not agree with all of the choices but hey– I’m not putting together this dream team– you are. Therefore, you can really choose whoever you want for whatever reason you want in the end.

    Again, I was just giving my 2 cents. Oh, and I don’t know much about being in charge of things but I do know that often times you are “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. I’m pretty sure that’s just something that comes with the territory. Everyone is going to give their opinion and you will never please most people most of the time no matter what you decide. Maybe you will do things differently next time. Maybe not. Just expect a backlash of some sort no matter what you decide in the end.

  4. Miss Mess Avatar
    Miss Mess

    I am going to respond only for the sake that I think this all is silly and arguing about this is dumb. I was simply trying to give my opinion on the matter (assuming that is the reason we can leave comments on entries), not trying to start an e-fight about it or whatever.

    The whole situation affects me very little as I am not friends with anyone in the competition, I myself did not enter, nor did I place a bunch of hope behind a certain contestant. Hell, I didn’t even watch all of the videos submitted. Enough to not agree with all of the choices but hey– I’m not putting together this dream team– you are. Therefore, you can really choose whoever you want for whatever reason you want in the end.

    Again, I was just giving my 2 cents. Oh, and I don’t know much about being in charge of things but I do know that often times you are “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. I’m pretty sure that’s just something that comes with the territory. Everyone is going to give their opinion and you will never please most people most of the time no matter what you decide. Maybe you will do things differently next time. Maybe not. Just expect a backlash of some sort no matter what you decide in the end.

  5. MG Avatar
    MG

    Peoples opinions should be respected.

    “Technically, you do not have to hold yourself accountable to the BME community. This is YOUR project, and we’re just along for the ride.”

    My opinion – I have to disagree with this statement a bit. You’re not “just along for the ride.” If that were the case there would be NO ride. Without the community support, there would be no investors or interest to even take one team.

    It saddens me to see clearly active and caring members of the community give their opinions and be disrespected by the “OMG, this is SOO hard. Leave me alone mean people and just do and think like I say.”

    Pfffft.

  6. MG Avatar
    MG

    Peoples opinions should be respected.

    “Technically, you do not have to hold yourself accountable to the BME community. This is YOUR project, and we’re just along for the ride.”

    My opinion – I have to disagree with this statement a bit. You’re not “just along for the ride.” If that were the case there would be NO ride. Without the community support, there would be no investors or interest to even take one team.

    It saddens me to see clearly active and caring members of the community give their opinions and be disrespected by the “OMG, this is SOO hard. Leave me alone mean people and just do and think like I say.”

    Pfffft.

  7. MG Avatar
    MG

    Peoples opinions should be respected.

    “Technically, you do not have to hold yourself accountable to the BME community. This is YOUR project, and we’re just along for the ride.”

    My opinion – I have to disagree with this statement a bit. You’re not “just along for the ride.” If that were the case there would be NO ride. Without the community support, there would be no investors or interest to even take one team.

    It saddens me to see clearly active and caring members of the community give their opinions and be disrespected by the “OMG, this is SOO hard. Leave me alone mean people and just do and think like I say.”

    Pfffft.

  8. MG Avatar
    MG

    Peoples opinions should be respected.

    “Technically, you do not have to hold yourself accountable to the BME community. This is YOUR project, and we’re just along for the ride.”

    My opinion – I have to disagree with this statement a bit. You’re not “just along for the ride.” If that were the case there would be NO ride. Without the community support, there would be no investors or interest to even take one team.

    It saddens me to see clearly active and caring members of the community give their opinions and be disrespected by the “OMG, this is SOO hard. Leave me alone mean people and just do and think like I say.”

    Pfffft.

  9. Alexis Avatar

    Good points. Perhaps I went a little far with that statement, but all I really meant was that there’s not much I can do if Rachel chooses not to disclose certain information.

  10. Alexis Avatar

    Good points. Perhaps I went a little far with that statement, but all I really meant was that there’s not much I can do if Rachel chooses not to disclose certain information.

  11. Alexis Avatar

    Good points. Perhaps I went a little far with that statement, but all I really meant was that there’s not much I can do if Rachel chooses not to disclose certain information.

  12. Alexis Avatar

    Good points. Perhaps I went a little far with that statement, but all I really meant was that there’s not much I can do if Rachel chooses not to disclose certain information.

  13. brute Avatar

    Just a silly rhetorical question from bumbling me, but–have we really evolved beyond the capacity to calm down, consider any and all sides in play, and feel happy for the winners? Even if it’s just a forum on the internet, your words are still yours.

    Then again, some have called me naive. Ho-hum.

  14. brute Avatar

    Just a silly rhetorical question from bumbling me, but–have we really evolved beyond the capacity to calm down, consider any and all sides in play, and feel happy for the winners? Even if it’s just a forum on the internet, your words are still yours.

    Then again, some have called me naive. Ho-hum.

  15. brute Avatar

    Just a silly rhetorical question from bumbling me, but–have we really evolved beyond the capacity to calm down, consider any and all sides in play, and feel happy for the winners? Even if it’s just a forum on the internet, your words are still yours.

    Then again, some have called me naive. Ho-hum.

  16. brute Avatar

    Just a silly rhetorical question from bumbling me, but–have we really evolved beyond the capacity to calm down, consider any and all sides in play, and feel happy for the winners? Even if it’s just a forum on the internet, your words are still yours.

    Then again, some have called me naive. Ho-hum.

  17. Joshua Avatar

    How do we know when you will be in each city? Im in sydney 🙂

  18. Joshua Avatar

    How do we know when you will be in each city? Im in sydney 🙂

  19. Joshua Avatar

    How do we know when you will be in each city? Im in sydney 🙂

  20. Joshua Avatar

    How do we know when you will be in each city? Im in sydney 🙂

  21. Hannah Avatar
    Hannah

    Ho-shit. This turned into a right scene.

    And I won’t say anymore, as giving people giving their 2cents is what started this.

  22. Hannah Avatar
    Hannah

    Ho-shit. This turned into a right scene.

    And I won’t say anymore, as giving people giving their 2cents is what started this.

  23. Hannah Avatar
    Hannah

    Ho-shit. This turned into a right scene.

    And I won’t say anymore, as giving people giving their 2cents is what started this.

  24. Hannah Avatar
    Hannah

    Ho-shit. This turned into a right scene.

    And I won’t say anymore, as giving people giving their 2cents is what started this.

Latest Tattoo, Piercing, and Body Modification News

  • Twelve Points to the Sky
    There’s a particular kind of magic that happens at your first big suspension gathering when you arrive with nerves, an open heart, and the quiet hope of flight. Guided by the encouragement of mentor Lynn Loheide and driven by the quiet confidence of belonging, Alex… Read more: Twelve Points to the Sky
  • Ontario SusCon 2025
    In March 2025, BME attended the Ontario Suspension Convention in Hamilton, hosted by the Kevin Donaghy and the Ontario Suspension Collective. We had the pleasure to take part and help document the event, but also run a booth to sell a bunch of old (but… Read more: Ontario SusCon 2025
  • Welcome Back to Body Modification Ezine
    Dear BME Community, We’ve been gone far too long, but BME is back to give people a voice, a space, a community. With time everything evolves, and BME may be different than you remember. Our goal is to stay true to Shannon and Rachel’s values… Read more: Welcome Back to Body Modification Ezine
  • BME Social Media
    Word of mouth has been our method of reuniting the community, and it has brought a substantial amount of us together. I am inspired by your loyalty and I want to remind more people of BME’s existence. In 2020 we gained control over @bmezine on… Read more: BME Social Media
  • BMEShop
    Despite the hurricanes in 2015 which destroyed almost all of what Rachel owned, she managed to save the original inventory from BME. We have relisted some of the stock on BMEShop.com with the hopes you may be interested.  Our first drop includes a selection of… Read more: BMEShop
  • Rachel Larratt 1980-2022
    Unfortunately, when we lost some of the ModBlog content, it included the post about Rachel’s passing. (Original Post) Rachel passed away on June 22, 2022. She died in her sleep. Even now, it’s extremely difficult to write this post. Rachel meant so much to so… Read more: Rachel Larratt 1980-2022