Featured Traveller: MacKenzie King – BJJ Globetrotters
Age: 27
Belt: Blue
Profession: It’s complicated
How many years in BJJ: 2 years
Other martial arts: Kickboxing
Where do you live: Queen Creek, Arizona, United States
Where are you from: Mesa, Arizona
Other fun or curious information you would like to share:
- I coach the little kiddos at my gym!
- I am starting a women’s athletic clothing line.
- I have crowd surfed at every camp that was not in my home state (3/3) and would like to keep that streak going *cough cough.*
MacKenzie King – BJJ Globetrotters
Tell us what inspired you to travel and train?
I initially did the November 2021 Arizona Camp. I loved everything about the experience. At the March 2022 Arizona Camp I met this super cool guy named TJ who pushed me to go to Heidelberg Camp (thanks, TJ). Before that, I really didn’t think it was that feasible for me to travel overseas. But I did it – and now here I am 6 camps in, ready to hit 10 by year’s end! It’s amazing to be able to get to train with so many new people that have so many unique styles.
Tell us about your most recent travel and your upcoming travel – where have you been and where are you going?
I just got back from the Caribbean February 2022 Camp. I can’t begin to explain how beautiful St Barths is. This camp is different from the training-packed camps I have attended. There was surfing, beach time, and a LOT of eating (okay, that last one was on me but if you follow my instagram you know I have an entire highlight reel devoted to #MacKsandHerSnacKs).
Upcoming I have Maine 2023, Beach Camp Estonia 2023, Summer Camp Heidelberg 2023, and, of course, Arizona Camp 2023. While in Europe for Estonia and Germany, I plan on staying there for 3+ weeks to attend both camps and visit people and places.
MacKenzie King – BJJ Globetrotters
What are the things you enjoy about travelling?
The people, seeing new places, and even the challenges of getting around somewhere you may not be familiar with. The memories that can’t be bottled up are worth the headaches of planes, trains and automobiles (but also I have met really cool people on the plane rides, so bonus talk time).
Can you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth traveling and training?
If you know me, you know I love making friends. Everywhere I go, I collect new stories and new experiences through my interactions. I love meeting fellow Globetrotters (you guys are like really, really cool) and it’s amazing to see my friendships in the community grow and change. I also love meeting the locals and random strangers while I’m out and about. This last camp, I met a man named Paulo, who spoke almost no English. His native tongue was Portuguese. I speak a decent amount of Spanish, but it wasn’t entirely helpful (he understood my Spanish more than I his Portuguese). But between a glass of wine, wild hand gestures and lots of laughs, an entire hour had passed before I knew it. I honestly can’t remember what we even talked about other than him visiting his family the next day, but it puts a smile on my face. This recent trip also landed me on a beach around two in the morning at a techno concert surrounded by locals. My legs were scratched up and almost everything hurt the next morning, but the crowd surfing (apparently I give off a “carry me over the crowd” vibe that I am perfectly happy with) made it all worth it.
Seeing new places is kind of a “well, duh”/given when travelling, but I can’t begin to explain the tranquillity you feel while looking at the clear blue waters of the Caribbean with the ocean mist splashing in your face and the sounds of laughter in your ears when your surrounded by like-minded people as you attempt to surf for the first time; or the smell of hops in a German bar with your shoes sticking to the ground from the (sadly) spilled beer as the music plays too loud for you to hear those around you but the slurring smiles let you know everyone is having the best time; or the moments when you’re alone staring at parts of a once-whole castle wondering what it looked like in its prime while the sun beats down a little warm but not uncomfortably so and you find the perfect tree to sit in contentedly while others move about and you write in your journal. It’s something you can’t replicate. But these images and feelings and sounds are burned into my brain.
What has so far been the most surprising experience for you when traveling?
How willing people are to help. I cannot tell you how many times I have looked like a silly tourist having to ask directions because I am too stubborn to turn on my data and pay the $10 (?!) a day. I have only been met with smiles or, if there is a language barrier, confusion but still a willingness to help as I type out the name of where I am trying to go in my notes app or point to my desired destination on an insane map of 40 different colored bus lines that were faded by the sun and nearly impossible to distinguish. People want to help. I do not enjoy feeling like a silly tourist. But in order to get past it, I have to be willing to ask and learn, or really push through the discomfort. Why not both?
MacKenzie King – BJJ Globetrotters Camp in St. Barts
Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
I am not but I need to be. Oh well. Always time to make more money. Never time to make more time.
If you were to pass on travel advice to your fellow Globetrotters, what would it be?
Talk. Talk to people while you’re visiting places. I have never run into a time that I was wanting to make conversation and someone outright turned me down. The laughs and occasional confusion are worth it.
Stop. Stop and take the time to soak in everything around you. Even if it is just ten seconds of standing off to the side and watching people smiling and laughing or dancing to the music off beat. These ten second bits are what my brain holds on to.
Be silly. Be silly and do what you want. Life is too short to worry about what everyone else is thinking. I know it’s cliché, but it also holds true. We are often far too serious because we assume people will think we are weird. Let them. Be weird. Do fun stuff. Live a silly life.
I love you guys. Thank you for accepting me and all my weirdness and loudness and everything else-ness that has made me feel like I am “too much.” I love my silly life and I love that you’re in it.
