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. Shoe Avatar
    Shoe

    YAY CHEZ!! that rhymes. hehe. congrats to everyone <3

  2. Shoe Avatar
    Shoe

    YAY CHEZ!! that rhymes. hehe. congrats to everyone <3

  3. liam Avatar
    liam

    it’s interesting that between the 4 winners they got just over half the votes that Nae got on her own….

    But hey congrats to the winners! I look forward to seeing what they come up with.

  4. liam Avatar
    liam

    it’s interesting that between the 4 winners they got just over half the votes that Nae got on her own….

    But hey congrats to the winners! I look forward to seeing what they come up with.

  5. liam Avatar
    liam

    it’s interesting that between the 4 winners they got just over half the votes that Nae got on her own….

    But hey congrats to the winners! I look forward to seeing what they come up with.

  6. liam Avatar
    liam

    it’s interesting that between the 4 winners they got just over half the votes that Nae got on her own….

    But hey congrats to the winners! I look forward to seeing what they come up with.

  7. Sergey "Tyler" Popov Avatar

    What a nice team! My congratulations to winners!
    Hope to see you in Moscow!

  8. Sergey "Tyler" Popov Avatar

    What a nice team! My congratulations to winners!
    Hope to see you in Moscow!

  9. Sergey "Tyler" Popov Avatar

    What a nice team! My congratulations to winners!
    Hope to see you in Moscow!

  10. Sergey "Tyler" Popov Avatar

    What a nice team! My congratulations to winners!
    Hope to see you in Moscow!

  11. Shannon Larratt Avatar

    A great group of people, and while great choices, they’re not the obvious/safe choices, so I especially look forward to seeing what comes from this project. Good luck to all.

  12. Shannon Larratt Avatar

    A great group of people, and while great choices, they’re not the obvious/safe choices, so I especially look forward to seeing what comes from this project. Good luck to all.

  13. Shannon Larratt Avatar

    A great group of people, and while great choices, they’re not the obvious/safe choices, so I especially look forward to seeing what comes from this project. Good luck to all.

  14. Shannon Larratt Avatar

    A great group of people, and while great choices, they’re not the obvious/safe choices, so I especially look forward to seeing what comes from this project. Good luck to all.

  15. amy brown Avatar

    Congratulations guys! I look forward to seeing what comes of this trip.

    (Also, my voice is far, far lower than Justin Bieber’s)

  16. amy brown Avatar

    Congratulations guys! I look forward to seeing what comes of this trip.

    (Also, my voice is far, far lower than Justin Bieber’s)

  17. amy brown Avatar

    Congratulations guys! I look forward to seeing what comes of this trip.

    (Also, my voice is far, far lower than Justin Bieber’s)

  18. amy brown Avatar

    Congratulations guys! I look forward to seeing what comes of this trip.

    (Also, my voice is far, far lower than Justin Bieber’s)

  19. That Other Guy Avatar
    That Other Guy

    Congratulations to the winners. I’m more than a bit dissapointed though, that Nae didn’t win a spot. Out of all the people, she’s the one I felt had not only the best presentation but the best presence. I’m sure you have your reasons for the choices you made, but keep in mind that if you are doing this to create a final product that will get people’s interest, the person most voted for is a clear indication of who they feel most drawn toward, comfortable with, and ultimately want to see interviewing people, writing, etc. For what it’s worth I think a lot of us would love to see Nae in a future BME production.

    Best of luck to everyone. Have fun on the trip.

  20. That Other Guy Avatar
    That Other Guy

    Congratulations to the winners. I’m more than a bit dissapointed though, that Nae didn’t win a spot. Out of all the people, she’s the one I felt had not only the best presentation but the best presence. I’m sure you have your reasons for the choices you made, but keep in mind that if you are doing this to create a final product that will get people’s interest, the person most voted for is a clear indication of who they feel most drawn toward, comfortable with, and ultimately want to see interviewing people, writing, etc. For what it’s worth I think a lot of us would love to see Nae in a future BME production.

    Best of luck to everyone. Have fun on the trip.

  21. That Other Guy Avatar
    That Other Guy

    Congratulations to the winners. I’m more than a bit dissapointed though, that Nae didn’t win a spot. Out of all the people, she’s the one I felt had not only the best presentation but the best presence. I’m sure you have your reasons for the choices you made, but keep in mind that if you are doing this to create a final product that will get people’s interest, the person most voted for is a clear indication of who they feel most drawn toward, comfortable with, and ultimately want to see interviewing people, writing, etc. For what it’s worth I think a lot of us would love to see Nae in a future BME production.

    Best of luck to everyone. Have fun on the trip.

  22. That Other Guy Avatar
    That Other Guy

    Congratulations to the winners. I’m more than a bit dissapointed though, that Nae didn’t win a spot. Out of all the people, she’s the one I felt had not only the best presentation but the best presence. I’m sure you have your reasons for the choices you made, but keep in mind that if you are doing this to create a final product that will get people’s interest, the person most voted for is a clear indication of who they feel most drawn toward, comfortable with, and ultimately want to see interviewing people, writing, etc. For what it’s worth I think a lot of us would love to see Nae in a future BME production.

    Best of luck to everyone. Have fun on the trip.

  23. Jen Avatar

    I don’t know who Justin Bieber is. I feel confused.

  24. Jen Avatar

    I don’t know who Justin Bieber is. I feel confused.

  25. Jen Avatar

    I don’t know who Justin Bieber is. I feel confused.

  26. Jen Avatar

    I don’t know who Justin Bieber is. I feel confused.

  27. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Jen, count yourself as lucky.

  28. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Jen, count yourself as lucky.

  29. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Jen, count yourself as lucky.

  30. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Jen, count yourself as lucky.

  31. trip Avatar
    trip

    the 4 chosen to embark on this trip of life time (much like in the lord of the rings) the group will gather together and embark on an amazing journey to battle off hordes of orcs and to return the ring…… hah!. hopefully rachel who likewise will play Gandalf doesn’t fall down a dark hole to battle a huge gigantic demon. while the rest of the chosen ones tread onwards to destroy the one ring. sorry i turned this into a bit of lord of the rings but it just seemed funny to. i hope rachel has chosen the 4 who will make this trip one amazing and interesting to read about in the end. congratulations to the 4 winners. i too am a wondering a bit why Nea didn’t win or get placed in the tour but it was up to rachel final decision.

  32. trip Avatar
    trip

    the 4 chosen to embark on this trip of life time (much like in the lord of the rings) the group will gather together and embark on an amazing journey to battle off hordes of orcs and to return the ring…… hah!. hopefully rachel who likewise will play Gandalf doesn’t fall down a dark hole to battle a huge gigantic demon. while the rest of the chosen ones tread onwards to destroy the one ring. sorry i turned this into a bit of lord of the rings but it just seemed funny to. i hope rachel has chosen the 4 who will make this trip one amazing and interesting to read about in the end. congratulations to the 4 winners. i too am a wondering a bit why Nea didn’t win or get placed in the tour but it was up to rachel final decision.

  33. trip Avatar
    trip

    the 4 chosen to embark on this trip of life time (much like in the lord of the rings) the group will gather together and embark on an amazing journey to battle off hordes of orcs and to return the ring…… hah!. hopefully rachel who likewise will play Gandalf doesn’t fall down a dark hole to battle a huge gigantic demon. while the rest of the chosen ones tread onwards to destroy the one ring. sorry i turned this into a bit of lord of the rings but it just seemed funny to. i hope rachel has chosen the 4 who will make this trip one amazing and interesting to read about in the end. congratulations to the 4 winners. i too am a wondering a bit why Nea didn’t win or get placed in the tour but it was up to rachel final decision.

  34. trip Avatar
    trip

    the 4 chosen to embark on this trip of life time (much like in the lord of the rings) the group will gather together and embark on an amazing journey to battle off hordes of orcs and to return the ring…… hah!. hopefully rachel who likewise will play Gandalf doesn’t fall down a dark hole to battle a huge gigantic demon. while the rest of the chosen ones tread onwards to destroy the one ring. sorry i turned this into a bit of lord of the rings but it just seemed funny to. i hope rachel has chosen the 4 who will make this trip one amazing and interesting to read about in the end. congratulations to the 4 winners. i too am a wondering a bit why Nea didn’t win or get placed in the tour but it was up to rachel final decision.

  35. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Everyone needs to stop asking why Nae didn’t get picked and congratulate the winners. Hell, even Nae herself was polite enough to do that!

  36. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Everyone needs to stop asking why Nae didn’t get picked and congratulate the winners. Hell, even Nae herself was polite enough to do that!

  37. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Everyone needs to stop asking why Nae didn’t get picked and congratulate the winners. Hell, even Nae herself was polite enough to do that!

  38. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Everyone needs to stop asking why Nae didn’t get picked and congratulate the winners. Hell, even Nae herself was polite enough to do that!

  39. Valentine Avatar

    I wish I fit the requirements to go soooo badly. But, at least another Dara gets to go! Congratulations guys, have a great time!

  40. Valentine Avatar

    I wish I fit the requirements to go soooo badly. But, at least another Dara gets to go! Congratulations guys, have a great time!

  41. Valentine Avatar

    I wish I fit the requirements to go soooo badly. But, at least another Dara gets to go! Congratulations guys, have a great time!

  42. Valentine Avatar

    I wish I fit the requirements to go soooo badly. But, at least another Dara gets to go! Congratulations guys, have a great time!

  43. Jackee Avatar

    Congrats Chez!

  44. Jackee Avatar

    Congrats Chez!

  45. Jackee Avatar

    Congrats Chez!

  46. Jackee Avatar

    Congrats Chez!

  47. Jackee Avatar

    And Richard, Darah and Megan!

  48. Jackee Avatar

    And Richard, Darah and Megan!

  49. Jackee Avatar

    And Richard, Darah and Megan!

  50. Jackee Avatar

    And Richard, Darah and Megan!

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