Shane is this kind of person you never know were he is around the world.

First time I met this dude, it was in Australia. Really kind guy! We enjoyed a day of riding on a sunny Melbourne spot, and we finished it by talking about travelling around a pizza.

More unforeseeable, the second time was on my way back to France, during the OG Gypsy Games in Hungary. With the same energy, same kindness, same love for the riding, but way more kilometres of travel behind him.

So Shane, let’s share this experience… Please.

Where are you right now, and where have you been travelling the last year?
At this moment I’m in Brisbane, Australia enjoying the summer, the nice tropical weather & white sandy beaches! The past year has been a busy year for sure with a tonne of air miles clocked up along the way. If we’re just talking 2009, then at the beginning of the year I was living in Sweden, then travelled to Australia for a few weeks to catch some summer sun. Winters in the far north of Europe are hardcore!! Then back to Sweden for a bit, visited Oslo in Norway (it was -20 degrees during the day, so no riding!) & Copenhagen in Denmark over the next few months. Then basically hung out for a while until summer arrived & headed to Hungary where we hooked up at the OG Summer Camp (good times!) before heading to the UK for a few weeks, then back to Australia.

I just thought about it & in the past 5 months or so since I’ve been back in Australia I’ve been to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane for riding. If people aren’t that familiar with Australia it’s the equivalent of flying literally all over Europe… but in one country!

It’s been another great year of travelling, but I’m pretty keen to be in one spot for a while!!

Why did you leave this lovely Australia?
I had a few reasons for leaving Australia. Even though I didn’t know when i’d return, I always knew I would one day… I mean it’s Australia, we’ve got an awesome laid back lifestyle & perfect weather! Riding was pretty much top of the list as to why I left though: I wanted to ride in scenes with other riders that were equally motivated to ride & have the experience of living in a number of different countries. And sometimes to appreciate what you’ve got, you’ve got to leave it behind for a while – so i’m a very patriotic Australian these days haha!

How is this little world outside of Australia?
Not as big as I thought it was. Before I lived away for a long while I had in my mind that the world was huge… but now it’s not really. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing but knowing that I could jump on a flight & go anywhere is a nice feeling of freedom.

Having BMX behind me is the best ice breaker to meeting new people. I can honestly say that I’ve never had a problem visiting or living in a country anywhere – you can always meet with the riders & they’ll help you if you need it. It’s the best brotherhood to be a part of, I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I realise now how easy & comfortable Australia has it. I understand we work hard to keep our culture with tough immigration & customs laws, but when I see how lax it is in other countries & the problems they have i’m grateful we’re like that. I can remember being caught up in riots in Hungary with riot police firing tear gas & rubber bullets at protesters – I wasn’t even involved at that point either, I was just trying to get home! Where I lived at the time was near the action and I struggle to imagine something like that happening in Australia.

Travelling through countries like the Philippines & living for a while in Egypt where also amazing experiences. The way of life there is so hugely different, things we take for granted are luxuries there & it was refreshing to see how the value of wealth has a different meaning. A healthy family, good friends & a nice home are far more important than who has the biggest car or owns the most things.

Winter South Flatland Jam 2006 from colin smith on Vimeo.

Tell us how is it, travelling with your bike? Which place did you give to the riding during your travel?
Travelling with a bike is always tough & next life i’m coming back as skateboarder haha! I’ve had a lot of practice so i’ve got my system down now. I have to break my bike apart, but it’s no problem & it all fits comfortably in a rolling bag that I use. Touch wood, never any stress with airlines, it’s easy to get around & works just fine.

I have a lot of places that I like to visit, but I would say that Hungary is my favourite destination for riding. I have so many good friends there, it’s perfect in the Summer, very affordable & easy to get around. There’s a lot of history, things to do when you’re not riding – basically all the things that make it worth while & the reason I’ve been there every year since 2005!

Your worst experience?
Honestly I can’t think of a bad experience that i’ve had in my years travelling. You have a lot of challenges along the way & at the time it can seem a lot but my view is that every problem has a solution. Sometimes it just takes a little time to find it.

There’s all the normal stuff that happens: airline loses your bag, you get on the wrong train, miss your stop, someone your supposed to meet doesn’t arrive. All those things are inconveniences, but certainly not catastrophic. As I mentioned earlier, the riots in Hungary a few years back were dangerous & my first time being tear gassed, but I wouldn’t say it was a bad experience – more an interesting one! It was unfortunate it happened as it was the result of a minority of people with bad intentions that created all the mishap. Hungarians are great people, but like anywhere in the world you always get a few bad apples in every barrel.

Your best experience?
Living in Egypt was amazing. Seeing so much culture, experiencing a civilisation that has been around for thousands of years who undoubtably created one of the most amazing pieces of architecture for it’s time with the pyramids is something I still find hard to believe I was able to experience all through riding a bike.

Another good experience was when I lived in Hungary in 2006. It was crazy, I literally went from a country where I was part of the majority to a country where I was the minority. I didn’t speak the language & didn’t really know so many people so it was a great education on how to get by in life. That was probably one of the best years of my life.

August in Europe, 2009 from Shane Badman on Vimeo.

Regarding these experiences, could you give a few “travel tips”?
From experience, the most important things I find are to keep an open mind, always stay positive, be polite & use your head. Getting to know people on forums from other countries is a great way to learn about where you’re going before you get there & also gives you someone to show you all the local riding spots & if you’re lucky enough, help you out with whatever you need.

My laptop, iPod & my video & still camera are the things i’ve found most useful. The laptop especially as you can take basically you’re entire music library, video collection, photos & whatever anywhere. And with the internet you can stay connected to everyone, anywhere in the world, book all your flights & so on. Seriously it is so easy to travel & live abroad these days.

So with all the travelling that you’ve done did you find a place where you could live permanently?
I’m not sure to be honest. I mean Australia is always home & I love it here more than anything… but I still love travelling & I love Europe a lot. Every country i’ve ever lived in i’ve made a lot of friends for life there & it’s always in the back of my mind that I need to get back there to visit everyone again.

The other thing is it’s always that “grass is greener on the other side” situation where no matter where you are you always think of another place that is slightly better. But for now being back in Australia is perfect for me. After nearly 4 years of constant travelling & living in different places all the time it’s nice to just be in one spot for a while. At one point the only things I owned in my life where a laptop, video & still camera, phone, my bike bag, backpack, some clothes & my passport… I have minimalist living dialled!!

Shane Badman Winter 2008/9 from Shane Badman on Vimeo.

Finally, what did this travel bring for you? What are your projects now?
It totally opened my eyes to so many things that I know I would never have seen if I had stayed at home doing the same thing. I think it’s made me a better person & has definitely made me appreciate living in Australia with the quality of life we have. Not to mention all the awesome countries I’ve had the opportunity to live in, the great people I’ve met along the way & the wild adventures that are gonna make awesome stories when I’m older haha!

From a riding perspective it was the best thing I could have done. Riding with other people that are equally motivated & love flatland definitely motivated me to ride harder & progress myself in different ways. It’s definitely given me a more long-term motivation too for my riding.

I’ve always got a lot of projects either in my head or underway – I just love being busy! Being on the Colony team has given me a lot of opportunities to get many of these off the ground. The biggest goal that I have these days is to grow & promote flatland in Australia as best I can. The sport has been really good to me & allowed me to do stuff I wouldn’t have thought i’d get a chance to do. Now i’d like to give those same opportunities & more to the next generation. The Flatland Australia News Blog was one project that I’m psyched to see went well & the opportunities that came from it, my involvement with DownUnderground is another & most recently has been the launch of Newcircle: Australia’s first & only flatland specific shop & now the home of all the news & media from Australia. I’ve always got a lot of things going on in my head so the world will just have to wait & see what’s coming!

I guess you have seen plenty of flatland scenes all around, so as an “ambassador” and with hindsight now, how would you describe Flatland in Australia?
Flatland is developing. There are a few areas that we really need to work hard on as do every scene around the world. Events like jams & contests are what keeps scenes alive & (love it or hate it) the internet. Forums, websites – the ease to get photos & videos out quickly has never been easier. For Australia because we have so much distance between scenes it makes it incredibly hard. I mean I flew from Brisbane on the East Coast to Perth on the West Coast about a 5 hour flight…. & I was still in the same country! If you did that over any other continent in the world you could maybe pass over 2-3 countries or more…

So because of the distance you have to do things a bit differently & rely on other mediums to keep the scene alive & moving. So far we seem to be doing a good job, but like anything there’s always room for improvement. I’m a bit of a perfectionist so I like to keep polishing & developing things.

You told me you really want to do something for the Down Underground National Contest Series. Can you tell us a bit more about it, and what is your wish for the Australian scene?
I think it would be great to have it on a much larger scale where it is being held in major events with bigger audiences but it’s absolutely necessary that it still keeps it’s ground level feel. I’m all for promoting flatland, but in the right way & in the hands of the riders as much as possible. Getting bigger sponsors on board with bigger budgets for promotion & prize money would be great & ultimately I’d love for Down Underground to be a stop for the Flatland World Circuit. That’s a long way off & would need a huge amount of work, but you have to start somewhere so here we are.

For the scene I hope that it continues to grow & unite like it has been over the past few years. There will always be politics & opinions but for the most part as long as we’re all generally going in the same direction then it can’t be too bad. Once upon a time I was totally against politics, but i’ve had to grudgingly agree that perhaps it has it’s place.

Any words/thanks, secrets or morals?
There are so many people to thank who’ve supported me along the way. Clint Millar at Colony has been a huge influence over the years. He’s always supportive; from when I was just starting out as a 14year old kid in a tiny country town to working with me on my own signature Colony parts – thanks mate! Ross D Lav for everything over the years & being a great person to work with on Newcircle. Andras at OG Bikes in Hungary for giving me so many insights into the industry & now being one of my closest friends & letting me stay at his house whenever I visit, i’m stoked to be on factory Pentek – koszi! Then all the riders & everyone: Effraim & Flatmatters in the UK, Jay Forde & Penny, Trev, Marcel, Mario & all the TGM crew & can’t forget Mum & Dad for everything they’ve ever done – thanks! And to everyone else that i’ve ever hung out, ridden, partied or travelled with – cheers!

Treat everyone as you would want to be treated cos if there’s one thing i’ve learnt in my life is that what goes around comes around.

Thanks Shane and you are welcome in France as are all the Aussies!

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