Featured Traveller: Stephanie Barthelemy – BJJ Globetrotters
Age: I am 32 years old.
Belt: A 2-stripe blue belt (I often get demoted by my washing machine, but that’s a story for another day).
Profession: I am a small business owner working in marketing, advertising, and investment.
How many years in BJJ: Only been on the BJJ train for 3 years, yet it feels like forever.
Other martial arts: Boxing and Muay Thai have both been a consistent part of my life since I was 16 years old.
Where do you live: 4 years ago, after experiencing the worst snowstorm and almost losing both my ears and fingers to the harsh Canadian winter, I decided enough was enough and packed my bags for a forever sunny location. From the crazy sub-zero Quebec Arctic to the buzzing desert. Happily living in the sunny Abu Dhabi, UAE desert ever since.
I am forever grateful that this was possible due to the flexible nature of my work. This was also very strategic, since it would allow me to travel to my favorite countries more efficiently.
Where are you from: From Montreal, Canada, an absolutely beautiful and culturally rich city, with so much to offer, whenever it’s not freezing 8 months of the year. All righty, I’m just kidding, slightly…
Montreal will always have a special place in my heart as it’s also where I first started BJJ.
Other fun or curious information you would like to share: I obsess and meticulously plan so that I can travel as light as possible and all my stuff fit into one glorious bag. It’s like a religion to me at this point, or a fun psychotic game.
Stephanie Barthelemy – BJJ gear for travelling
Tell us what inspired you to travel and train?
I travel for both fun and work. I would always visit local gyms for weight training. But when I started BJJ, I noticed that I was feeling anxious at the thought of missing training due to work travel. Then I remembered how popular the sport was globally and how awesome it would be to add BJJ to my travel routine, trying new clubs all around the world.
The rest is truly history. Now the first thing I do when I’m planning to travel to a new place is look for a BJJ gym. You know how some people love to check out UNESCO heritage sites? Well it’s a bit of a similar situation for me. I even go as far as choosing the apartment that’s closest to a BJJ gym.
Tell us about your most recent travel and your upcoming travel – where have you been and where are you going?
I was in Belgrade, Serbia last October for a friend’s birthday and we both fell head over heels with the place. Then I spent 3 weeks in Riga, Latvia for medical tourism.
The next few months should be just as hectic as I like it. I’m planning to go back to train with my new BJJ friends in Belgrade and Malaga. On the calendar there’s also Bulgaria, an Egyptian wedding, and Globetrotters camps in Estonia and Poland.
There are still so many places I want to go to. It’s been a lifelong dream to make it to Antarctica. Also would love to go back to Iceland to hike the Landmannalauger and a glacier again. Then there’s Argentina for a wine and Asado course with some tango.
There’s so much to do and such limited time.
Anyways, I digress. One thing is certain is that I get quite excited when I think about the possibility of still being able to drop by BJJ gyms even in the most remote places. Meteora (Greece) is the only place where I couldn’t find any BJJ gym so far.
Stephanie Barthelemy – BJJ Globetrotters
What are the things you enjoy about travelling?
As a history and architecture aficionado, it goes without saying that I enjoy checking out the historical landmarks and museums. I also like outdoor adventuring. That said, my travel pattern is still different nowadays. For example, my friends tease me and call me a turtle because, apparently, I travel way too slow. I tried my best to pick up the pace but with time, I finally got to understand and accept my personal travel style instead of fighting it.
If I only have one week, you best believe it will be spent in the same city. This reminds me of a guy I met in Istanbul a few years ago. He was telling me about how fast he was and how he was able to travel the entirety of Turkey in only a week. I still shiver at that thought up until today. I had no idea how he did it.
Anyways, on my side, I’m slow and I like diving into the local food as a self-proclaimed foodie. Getting to know the locals and sharing meals and drinks with new friends is my main focus and the absolute cherry on top for me.
Then when I started dropping by local BJJ gyms, my overall travel experience increased tenfold.
Nowadays my perfect travel itinerary looks something like: work in the morning, then a quick museum, cultural, or food walking tour in the afternoon. In the evening, I head to Gi and NoGi training… brownie points if there’s a 10th Planet around (yes I know). Afterwards I’d be hitting some of the best places to eat. Ending the day with some crafted cocktails in a hole in the wall bar lounge that only the locals know about.
Can you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth traveling and training?
I’ve been traveling for quite some time now, but only recently started to merge it with training. And let me tell you that I never fathomed this type of life-changing experience.
Back in November, I traveled to Latvia entirely alone to have a major surgery. Before the surgery, I managed to drop by Strela Riga BJJ in order to train. I still remember the pure joy I felt attending the class being fully taught in Russian. BJJ truly knows no limits. I just never expected to receive such a warm welcome and acceptance from the head coach along with the team members. After the training we all exchanged our @ on IG (how things have changed since the email days). I had only recently met these people and only rolled with them once, yet they all kept checking on me post-surgery, during my recovery and offering me their help. Up until today, I’m still flabbergasted by their kindness.
What has so far been the most surprising experience for you when traveling?
Yes, there are most certainly serial killers out there. That said, after continuously traveling all around the world, I’m determined that most people are good. And I don’t say this lightly but as a minority who sticks out like a sore thumb wherever I go.
My experience has never been short of amazing 99% of the time. It’s insane how people go out of their way to help you.
Another surprising thing is related to traveling in the modern landscape. I still can’t get used to how so many people use Instagram. I know that the platform gets a lot of hate, but I’m so thankful that I started using it this year. It has had a great impact in my life and has been a positive tool to stay in contact and nurture the friendship with all these amazing jiujiteiros/-as all around the world.
There was also that time when I was traveling through Palestine and met this lovely Palestinian girl at a local coffee shop. After talking for a few minutes, she invited me to stay over at her place so she could practice her English. She was a recent medical graduate looking for a job and was bored out of her mind. Next thing you know, my one week stay turned into 3 months and we were traveling round the region and having a blast. She also refused to let me pay back a single dime for the hospitality.
So many people with hearts of gold all around the world. I try my best to contribute and pay it forward in my own way.
Stephanie Barthelemy – BJJ Globetrotters
Are you a budget traveller – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
I’m afraid I’m not much of a budget traveler. I see myself more of medium to luxury traveler with a passion for scoring good deals. That said, most of my trips are planned ahead of time, which gives me plenty of time to research the best prices.
I guess I still have my ways to minimize cost and strike a balance. For example, I don’t mind a budget airline for shorter trips but then I would splurge on a nice apartment rental, restaurants, wine, and excursions. That said, I will almost always say yes to any adventure so I don’t mind roughing it occasionally. All in the name of yolo-ing and making lifetime memories with amazing friends.
For the sake of transparency, I also do want to add that my favorite parts of the world to travel are the Baltics, Balkans, overall the geographical Eastern part of Europe (not trying to get political here), the Caucasus, and Central Asia (Silk Road). Coincidentally, these are all places that also allow me to stretch my dollar much further than, let’s say, Switzerland, France or Scandinavia.
So that’s probably my #1 travel hack right there.
If you were to pass on travel advice to your fellow Globetrotters, what would it be?
A reminder that even if we look different or speak different languages, have different nationalities etc., we’re all social creatures who crave various level of human interaction, connection, and a sense of togetherness and belonging. I think fellow globetrotters already know this to some extent and tend to be naturally adventurous at heart.
Still, it’s very easy to get complacent or let fear cripple us, as the news only seem to get worse by the day. So let’s all keep gallivanting around the globe in our gis whilst simultaneously connecting and sharing awesome moments together. Although we certainly momentarily choose violence on the mats, no one else knows how to have a good time like my fellow globetrotters.
Looking forward to seeing you half way around the world, perhaps even RNC’ing a couple of you guys, only to enjoy a few too many glasses of wine when all is said and done.
Cheers & stay curious and adventurous my friends!
