Journal

2017 Cuba

  1. – The ride El Oriente

    Cuba, the Ride

    Thirty-four days from Holguín through the Oriente and back, in their notes.
  2. Slackshop Mayarí

    Mayari

    A park nobody mentioned, fruit falling from the trees, and an immigration officer who shuts the workshop down.
  3. Slackshop Baracoa

    Baracoa

    A rest day, a visa extension that took ten minutes, and a workshop. Gabriel, from the circus, keeps the line.
  4. Slackshop Santiago de Cuba

    Santiago De Cuba

    In the Plaza de la Revolución, the Equipo de Discapacidad Escolar took a line, including world champion hurdler Leonidas Leon Maso.
  5. Slackshop Media Luna, Cuba

    Media Luna

    On the first Cuban beach, a church group from Manzanillo talked the riders into setting up a line, and then would not let them take it down.
  6. Slackshop Gibara

    Gibara

    Nobody here has seen a slackline in person. The workshops begin on the 28th, when Ray arrives.
  7. Slackshop Holguín

    Holguin

    Logan lands in Holguín ahead of Ray. Ray follows on the 28th, into his own search at the airport.

2016 Myanmar

  1. Announcement Printed for Myanmar

    T-Shirts Are Up!

    The first Balance Odyssey shirts, printed to help buy the slackline rigs given away in Myanmar.
  2. – The ride Myanmar

    Myanmar, the Ride

    From Yangon to the south, nine lines left along the way, in Logan's notes.
  3. Slackshop Dawei, Tanintharyi

    Dawei

    The ninth line, left for anyone who wants to use it.
  4. Slackshop Hpa-An, Karen State

    Hpa-An

    One of the nine communities where a slackline was left.
  5. Slackshop Yado, Kayah State

    Yado

    Saint Patrick's Day at Sacred Heart Church with Father Matthew, and a permanent rig in the church forest.
  6. Slackshop Loikaw, Kayah State

    Loikaw

    Greeted in the morning by the Mad Hatter. Padaung village, and a slackline workshop.
  7. Slackshop Taungtha, Mandalay State

    Taungtha

    Likely the first Buddhist monks to slackline, then a 25-kilometer ride at 10pm, because foreigners may not sleep in a monastery.
  8. Slackshop Yenangyaung, Magwe State

    Yenangyaung

    The last day of school at Light of Love, Eric Trutwein's free school, and a rig for the children.
  9. Slackshop Ann, Magwe State

    Ann

    Probably the best workshop yet. All ages, a big crowd, and Thuy takes charge of the line.
  10. Slackshop Ngapali, Rokhine State

    Ngapali

    A line on the beach just before sunset. Mein Au So, the boy in blue, kept slacklining into the dark until dinner.
  11. Slackshop Gwa, Rokhine State

    Gwa

    Workshop number one, at the school in a fishing village on the western coast. None of the kids had ever seen a slackline.

2013 Burning Man

  1. Project Burning Man

    Slackline Oasis

    Born at Burning Man in 2011. By 2013, the largest interactive slackline park on the playa.

2012 Central America

  1. – The ride Mexico to Guatemala

    Central America, the Ride

    Kirk, Logan, Daniel, and Ray, from El Potrero to Guatemala City, in their notes.
  2. – Dispatch Central America

    Balance Odyssey 2012

    Their film of the first ride.
  3. Dispatch On the road

    Aventura sobre ruedas

    The CNN en Español segment that aired the day Logan wrote the declaration.
  4. Dispatch On the road

    La Declaración

    The day a CNN segment aired, Logan wrote what the odyssey is for, in Spanish.
  5. Dispatch Guatemala City

    Guatemala City

    Todo directo, a Taco Bell, and William's face when four bicycles pull up instead of two.
  6. Dispatch Utila, Honduras

    Utila

    Two eagle rays, a tank of air, and Logan trying to say what the sublime is.
  7. Dispatch Lanquín, Guatemala

    Semuc Champey

    Clear pools over a cave river, and the trailer ride back up that nearly ended the tour.
  8. Dispatch Lanquín, Guatemala

    El Retiro

    Logan and Ray teach the line on the riverbank. Daniel is presumed competent. He is not.
  9. Dispatch El Remate to Cobán

    Hitch-biking

    A thumb, a smile, and a truck that can take three bicycles. Five of them, to Cobán.
  10. Dispatch Tikal, Guatemala

    The Tikal-ian Job

    Hammocks in the jungle, howlers overhead, and sunrise from the top of Temple IV.
  11. Dispatch On the road

    Ten to Fifteen Dollars

    Logan on what a day actually costs when the shelter is a hammock and the engine is a bicycle.
  12. Dispatch Belize

    Let the Bicycle Tour Begin

    Caye Caulker to San Ignacio. The pannier hits the pavement the moment Logan says it begins.
  13. Dispatch Caye Caulker, Belize

    The Split

    Ray's line at the end of the island, up for a week, and a bucket of money he didn't ask for.
  14. Dispatch San Ignacio, Belize

    San Ignacio

    Diana offers the terrace. They set a line by the river and share it with the town.
  15. Dispatch Cancún, Mexico

    Crashing Cancún

    A stolen bike, a totaled Volvo, thirty-six hours in jail, and the ferry toward Ray.
  16. Dispatch Tepeji del Río, Mexico

    From Chaos to Credence

    After Mexico City, Manolo gives them the penthouse and his mother gives them a Virgin of Guadalupe.
  17. Dispatch Yucatán, Mexico

    Chichén Itzá

    The carvings, the cenote over the fence, and a slackline taken down before it was tensioned.
  18. Dispatch Mexico

    Stopped by Mexican Police

    Three stops in a day. Daniel on estatales, federales, and the Charles Dickens defense.
  19. Dispatch Hidalgo, Mexico

    El Potrero

    Kirk on La Posada, the first multi-pitch, and Gallo shutting the fiesta down at four in the morning.