It all started with Kuba Kaczmarczyk & Steve Forstner going back and forth about doing a OJ Wheels and Grey Area collaboration. Later in the talking i got a phone call, asking if i would like to join the trip. Well, on that day there wasn’t really a set in stone destination but i personally was already feeling very strong about going to Croatia, since that was on the table. So, i vouched for Zagreb.

Photos & words by Daniel Pannemann.

Fast forward a few weeks and i found myself on an airplane to Paris just to go on another airplane from Paris to Zagreb. In this very airplane i have heard a man (or should i say legend) asking for my name from the back-rows. Even though we both had a mask on we were easily to identify, since there are not too many people going from Zagreb to Paris for skating and i was obviously carrying my board and so did he. Eniz Fazliov was the person, and he remembered my name. I was kind of in shock until i realized that we have met each-other on a few occasions. Still, he did THIS! And i couldn’t stop thinking about it.

One Minute after this photo was taken we found a wallet on the ground. In this wallet there was a bit of money, a few credit cards, a student card and the person’s ID. I immediately looked for the person’s name on IG, found her, sent a short direct message with a location and just about ten minutes later she arrived in a car and had it all back. Bottom line is – social media isn’t all that bad. Or is it?

There is something so mellow about Croatia that i personally seem to really enjoy and Antonio Pekovic had to deal with this slow way of how things are going all his life. Therefore he decided to move to Vienna, to begin a new chapter of his young life. Antonio is born and raised in Zagreb, and he was not only showing us around but also the outstanding talent on this trip. Still waters run deep. Can’t wait to see more of him in the near future.

In general this trip was very harmonious. Maybe it was the Polish people, the Croatian hospitality, the Finish-Macedonian calmness or the positive way of seeing things of the only American on this trip. Either way, it was a pretty good mix of people and i was feeling unusually comfortable at all times.

Tom Remillard was the only American Pro on this trip and i have nothing but love for this guy. Tom will care for each and every person, talk to everyone about everything, will pretty much have the energy to skate every spot on every day and on top of that, he is funny. Although he is not that old, in my opinion he has the style of a person that has been skating for decades and he probably has. One day i asked him if he skates every day and he just replied with a “Yes, every single day.” But then again it is his chosen career path and he is successful, so of course he is skating every day.

Now, sit back and enjoy Kuba Kaczmarczyks new video “We Have it on Camera” for his ongoing project Grey Area & OJ Wheels.