Featured Traveller: Maciej Grzelak – BJJ Globetrotters
Maciej Grzelak – BJJ Globetrotters
Let’s start out with some quick facts about you…
Age: 26 years old
Belt: Purple
Profession: Final year Med school student
How many years in BJJ: 4
Other martial arts: Dangerous black belt sushi sticks user
Where do you live: Bydgoszcz, Poland
Where are you originally from: Warsaw, Poland
Maciej Grzela BJJ
Tell us what inspired you to travel and train
If you want me to say something romantic, I would say it’s all about meeting BJJ people, sharing my knowledge, and taking knowledge in return. I love meeting the local people that share your passion with you.
There is also another side. Lets be honest, when you travel with such a low budget you are looking for any opportunity to lower cost as much as possible. BJJ is a great tool to meet people that can help you do this. Host you, feed you and show local areas. In return i can always share all my knowledge and good vibes. I thinks it’s not a bad thing to say – BJJ helps me to travel further when I’m out of cash.
Tell us about your most recent travel and your upcoming travel – where have you been and where are you going?
A few years ago I bought an old Volkswagen T4 and completely renovated it. I built a tiny home inside. That’s the way I was traveling for the last few times. I would just stop somewhere near the road and sleep inside. We took a month long trip all around Scandinavia the year before, and last year we travelled across the Balkans. We planned to go back to Georgia and Armenia but the engine broke down in Greece.
My upcoming travel is bit different.
I finished my Med school last year and decided to spend the next 6 months travelling around Asia. I sold some of my properties and borrowed a backpack from my friend. Now I’m buying Visas. In two weeks I should get a flight to my first destination which is Kazakhstan. I will teach there for a few days and then go to Uzbekistan which is also a place that I have set up some seminars. Okay, maybe not official seminars, but just to teach a class.
From Uzbekistan I will fly to New Delhi to people that invited me there. That’s the place I will spend some time on just BJJ and eating! There is nothing better then Indian food.
From India I will land in Sri Lanka also to share all I have with local BJJ guys. That’s the point where my plans are over. All I know is I just want to visit as many places as possible and train in the next countries which are: Indonesia-Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam-Philippines. If I still have money I would love to travel to Taiwan and China also. But again, it’s all about money! –
Maciej Grzelak BJJ
What are the things you enjoy about traveling?
Food. No doubt about it. Food!
And also creating relationships with people. It’s amazing how quick you can get a friend on the road with someone you met a few days ago at a party, or somewhere. That’s almost magical.
Can you give us some examples of experiences you had that makes it worth traveling and training?
On the one hand, there is great possibility to roll with various people from other countries. When I was in Belgrade I met Masa. Everybody knows that small Japanese wicked guy who travels all the time. Two years ago I was able to invite him to my home and mats. We got to party (but I’m not sure if he remembers that) and the next day he made us Japanese food. Some say “Hey, it’s nothing” but I think it is great. In one part of the world I met a guy from a country located 8000km from my home and two years later we spend some great time at mine. Now he has offered to help me if I want to go to Japan. How cool is that? You can have friends all over the world. Thats the point!
What has so far been the most surprising experience for you when traveling?
No doubts, how helpful people are. When I was traveling by motorbike, I crashed twice. One was in Silivri, Turkey and it was a pretty bad crash. The other time was in Georgia. In both situations people helped me with everything. In Turkey a met a guy who took me to his home and hosted me for few days. He organised everything to repair my bike, and his mom made me some amazing food. The didn’t speak very much English. In Georgia some guy with only one hand welded my broken frame. I have a lot of stories about people that just wanted to give me what they had and didn’t want anything in return. Just because I was a traveller! This is more than amazing.
Are you a budget traveller Maciej Grzelak BJJ – and if so how do you plan for a cheap trip?
Yep. My budget to Asia (flights are not included) is around 8-10$ per day. I don’t know how to do that but hope I will do it somehow. I have no plan. Just to ask local BJJ gyms if I can sleep on mats, or clean for it etc. If I’m out of cash I will try to find some quick job. But isn’t it just about taking what the road gives to you? All will be fine!
