Getting my balloons together

Two things that I need to be the "Balloon Biker" are balloons and my bicycle. These past years since I rode my bike everywhere have also meant that my balloon kit has become more and more elaborate. As my balloon skills increased, I found a great need to have almost every balloon imaginable in a score of colors and shapes. It's a long cry from the single bag that I carried cross-country.

I love my suitcase full of  balloons, but it isn't always the easiest case to carry around!
Back when I was traveling, I didn't just carry around my balloons, I also carried all of my most important possessions as well as the balloons, which meant that I was carrying about 100 pounds of gear at any given time.

Fully loaded bike, with  random panda-person!
Since coming back to Washington State, I haven't biked like I used to. I went through some dark times and felt like a different person. But in the past few months, I've been getting back into bicycling. While I don't want to just jump back into fully-loaded bike touring again again right away, I do want to bicycle with balloons some more.

Yesterday I took the time to put together a balloon kit that I can carry by bicycle that has everything I'd want for a gig. I found the picnic basket at a local Goodwill and re-purposed some other balloon holders to keep it all together, and I am pretty happy with the result!




It's so great having everything I need for a short gig or for busking right there on my bike. I'm hoping for some nice weather in these last days of fall to try using this new case. It should also work well on public transit too since it's just the one case and I don't need a table since it stays at a workable height with the bike, which could easily hold a pannier with anything else I could possibly need.

If anyone knows of some good community events that could use some balloon entertainment, please let me know!  I'll also be teaching a beginning balloon twisting class Thursday, October 4, 6 P.M. at Honey at 1322 Fawcett Ave, Tacoma, WA 98402.

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