Skip to main content

About Me

My photo
my many faces
My name is Romeo Barnes. I'm an author and a BJJ black belt with cerebral palsy. This blog is about my life balancing existence in two worlds. My latest book, My World is now available Amazon.com. Glad you're here, enjoy the journey.

Travel for BJJ

Happy New Year to all. I hope you enjoyed your holidays. With 2020 now upon us let’s talk about something the BJJ community rarely talks about, travel, and how to do it effectively.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am the true definition of a homebody. Therefore, when I travel it must be related to something I’m interested in or work of some sort aka a seminar or the tournament circuit. Otherwise I’m just not going to be motivated enough to do it. Long car rides and 8-hour plane trips without some sort of re-up or compensation on the other side just isn’t appealing to me. As ruthless, cold, and business-like as that sounds it’s the truth.
So how do we do it:
1) Plan Ahead- Don’t spend hours in your car to end up somewhere with nothing to do. You’ll only end up walking around aimlessly or in your room and let’s face it you can be in your room at home. My mom has this issue of planning trips with nothing to do which is why I am the way I am. At least that’s part of the reasoning. This is the reason I have the rule- handle business then reward yourself.

2) Use plastic- Honestly, these days there’s no need to carry cash at all. Credit cards are your friend. Inform your lenders(credit card companies) that you will be traveling and where to and for how long. This gives them the ability to make proper decisions related to purchases and fraud. Credit cards can be replaced, refunded and frozen. Cash is never returned.

3) Pack only essentials- No to lug multiple suitcases everywhere. ID/Passport, your phone, needed medications, attire, grooming tools. That’s it

4) Pack multiple Kimonos-If you’re like me then you have Kimono for training, competition, and travel which are all separate. This also means you wash a lot less at home because they are all somewhat interchangeable. In which case you’re good. Otherwise, you may want to invest in a sewing kit before you begin heavy travel.

5) Sleep- This allows your body to adjust to a new time zone and avoid stiffness after long travel. Our bodies don’t actually like being stuck in one position for any extended period of time. We are meant to be in motion.

6) Find the local gym- As BJJ artists we don't travel for the pictures or the food. We travel for exposure to new technique, new body types, etc. There's literally no reason not to do this. Choosing not to is wasting an opportunity to learn and means you will take longer to get back into your rhythm when you get home.

Disability specifics

1) Inform someone of needs specific to you- Hotels, Air BnBs it doesn’t matter where you stay, they want to help you simply because they want your money. Do you have problems with turning knobs? if so, the classic shower setup may be a problem. Need a walk-in shower? Say so.

2) Take your medications at the same time that you would at home-This applies for travel that changes your time zone. Continue doing this until your body adjusts to the local clock.

Traveling can be fun if you’re actually prepared. Hopefully this short guide helps you out with your preparation.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why Physical Therapy sucks

Years ago, maybe 2010 I don't actually remember, I posted a short post here called "Why." That post was about why I prefer to fight able-bodied opponents as opposed to fighting opponents with disabilities. To sum the post up, I do it to prove a point. In that post I mentioned that Physical Therapy(which will be referenced as PT for this post) sucks. This post will explain why. Let me preface by saying PT isn't bad and is in fact a necessary medical service as it's great for pre-surgery, post-surgery, and injury situations. That doesn't change the fact that PT is grossly misused. That's because PTs attempt to make your body work "normally"; what they should do is enhance the way your body already functions. Let's assume you're a cerebral palsy patient who has never walked on your own power and you use a wheelchair for mobility. Instead of putting you in a walker or on crutches and "going walking" around the room. They should p

Guest Blog- A new direction for 2011

This post is for all the aspiring writers out there. It was written by my friend and fellow author Kandie Delley. Kandie is the author of Curtains: The Collective Works, which is available on her website www.kandiedelley.com Although getting a book published is definitely a dream come true, I have to say, I'm extremely excited about this turning point in my literary career. In 2011, I will move into fiction with screenwriting and novel writing- a move that has been challenging yet fulfilling. Novel writing allows you to dive into your characters: the back story, the story arc, plots, and subplots -grabbing details about their surroundings and expressions- showing versus telling. It means having narrative that is just as engaging as the dialogue. Creative Writers also need to learn to write tight. On the other hand, screenwriting affords me the chance to focus on the action, the urgency of dialogue and the transformation of words from script to screen; taking storytelling to a new