Hola y bienvenidos
If you’re seeing this, that means you’ve opted into my accounting of potentially-ill-advised travel adventures within North America.
The TL;DR of the blog to come is this: less than two weeks ago, I took a leap of faith off an Instagram conversation with a world-class jiu-jitsu competitor and teacher. What started as an inquiry into her webinars and services led to an invitation to camp out and train with her and her partner in Mexico City and — assuming no burnout — compete together in the American Nationals tournament in Dallas, Texas.
As a Type-A person and creature of habit who rarely does anything outside a borderline-OCD routine, this was a big deal for me. Making a trip outside the US materialize in the middle of a global pandemic? Traveling and spending money to meet and train with someone I only know through blog posts, articles, jiu-jitsu videos, and DMs? Living in a different country on a different routine instead of having my usual lifestyle habits and places ahead of a major competition? Living like a ‘digital nomad’ after a reliance on a conventional 9 to 5 with office or apartment space? Being alone and away from home for 2 weeks away from my boyfriend and new dog and even farther away from my family?
None of the above seemed possible, and yet, here I am, writing from my hotel room in Mexico City on Thanksgiving Eve. But something in the DMs conversation lit me up, and I felt like I should follow the call. More on that later. Personally, this is as big a leap of faith as it gets for me — in 2020 or in general, aside from acting on any desires to quit my job to start my own business or take a creative sabbatical. More on that later, too.
So if you’re still reading, welcome and thank you. I hope you’ll be entertained by the stories, journal-ish entries, and reflections to come in the next two weeks. I’m glad you’re along for the journey.
EZ
PS: I know the name of the publication/newsletter is cheesy, but it’s essentially how I’m thinking of this whole trip, except instead of ‘Eat, Pray, Love,’ it’s ‘Fight, Write, Love.’ I’ll explain why I’m thinking of the trip in this way in future posts.
