This week I explore the fascinating life of Swedish freerunner Oliver Nordin - also known as Mr. Bail! I ask him about his biggest falls, and what makes him so tough. He also talks travel tips, and his 'Blind Man Parkour' video that went mega-viral. 

 
So, what I’m interested to know first is… how did the nickname Mr. Bail come about?

I got that name early on. Ever since I started training in 2007 I have pushed myself to the edge of capabilities and people instantly recognised me as the guy with a sketchy style. I bailed a lot, a friend started calling me Mr Bail and it caught on.

I watched your bail sampler, and what’s crazy is how you make each fall look so comical, despite going for really difficult and awkward things! How do you do that?

Hmm, I don't know... Could it be because I'm almost always quick to get back up with a big smile on my face? :P

Yeah. Two times come to mind. My well known scorpion bail in Bangkok (last clip in bail sampler) where I overextended my back until my feet hit my head (I was going for a diveroll gap and slipped in the take off which made me loose distance). I was just able to take myself to the hospital where they, to my surprise, sent me home after a quick check up. I wasn't even able to lift my legs over the 10 centimetre border of the hospital bed. I spent the next week mostly in the hotel bed where it would take me several serious attempts, almost to the point of me crying, to get me out of bed. It took 2-3 months until I was back in training and my back was fully recovered soon after that.

I don't remember seeing any worse bails than those in person.

It hasn't affected my confidence. However I have changed my approach over the years. Back in the day, if I found something cool I would go for it straight away. Nowadays I try to break down tricks into smaller steps as much as possible to minimize the risk. That could mean finding somewhere to do the same trick, but with less risk and practice that until it feels safe. Best case it makes you avoid an injury, worst case you lose a couple of minutes. But I still really enjoy doing hard stuff and I still take more risk while training than the average practitioner.

Why do you think you enjoy attempting hard things, and taking risks so much? Have you always been like that?

I think I was born with it. I liked pushing the boundaries from an early age and I didn't mind much if I failed. In school I always balanced on the two back legs of the chair. The first 50 times I fell everyone in the class turned around and wondered if I was okey. After that they stopped turning around, they know it was me and they knew I was okey.

Obviously I want to go to places with great spots. I also like if there is access to skyscraper rooftops, as well as cool architecture and design over all. I like nature and adventure, so places with cool mountain hiking, waterfalls, surfing, cliff diving and stuff like that. Climate is important. Like most North European people I prefer to escape the cold winters. I try to avoid too warm places like south Asia in summer. It's a plus if the cost of living is low.

I also enjoy visiting new cultures. I think it's beneficial to see life from different perspectives. I like to have freedom when I travel. It's great for me to travel in Europe because I don't need to think about visas and I can enter countries without having a return ticket. It makes me less likely to go to places like China where I would need to provide information about where I would stay every night of the entire trip before entering the county.

It's nice if other people are training in the city. I love to train with new people and get inspiration from their styles. If someone invites me to the city I'm much more likely to go there.  

What are a few specific things that you do to get the most out of the destinations you travel to?

I always go to Tripadvisor.com and search for things to do in the city. Then I go to Google and search for "Things to do + the city" to see if I missed anything. Often I also do Instagram research. I go on Instagram and search for the hashtag of the city, or combinations of the city+insta/igers/ig/photography to find cool photo locations. For some big cities like Hong Kong and Los Angeles it works even better to go to YouTube and search for city+instagram and you will find lots of cool photo locations.

If I don't know anyone within the parkour community in the city I usually go to Facebook and search for city+parkour and I often find something. I that doesn't work, try searching on YouTube.

I almost always try to learn at least a few basic phrases in the local language, which makes it easier to connect with the locals. You can use Duolingo, podcasts or YouTube. In new cities I usually go by foot to where I'm going if it takes less than an hour or so. I see it as an adventure. You can often find places to train, other cool things or just see more of the culture. 

I try to live like the locals as much as possible. For example eating and traveling like them. This will expand your comfort zone and you will experience more of their culture. The locals usually have good reasons for doing things the way they do. I always travel light. I only bring a small backpack of maximum 30 liters which gives me much more freedom.