In order to really get to know a place, you must interact with people.  Yes, overall people annoy us too but give it a try.  If you have hobbies or interests that lend themselves well to regular gatherings or congregations, you can branch out more than you have been doing on your vacations.

What follows is a perfect example of seeking out your own interests that also leads to meeting people and getting to know better the local culture, stimulating the local economy, and developing deeper connections with your vacation destination.

Antonio practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a martial art that combines grappling and ground fighting.  He has an academy he frequents at home and he also participates in online forums, etc.  (Don’t judge!)  Whenever he plans a trip (or let’s be frank, whenever his wife plans a trip), he seeks out a local Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy if possible. 

Through these academies, he has met and maintained relationships with surfers in Santa Cruz, California at Claudio Franca BJJ, members of the famous-in-jiu-jitsu-circles Gracie family at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, CA, conservative Christians in Sevierville, Tennessee at the Fit Factory, and even Chilean BJJers in Santiago at Chile Jiu Jitsu.  What, you say, no Brazil?  That’s next on the list, according to Antonio.  I don’t think he’ll have a problem finding academies there.

In addition to spending a few hours doing something he loves and meeting new people who let him in on local treasures he wouldn’t otherwise know about, some of these links have led to even more unexpected benefits. 

While practicing jiu-jitsu in Tennessee last summer, one of his fellow grapplers was a woman who happened to own the locals’ favorite breakfast joint, Red Rooster.   After hearing the raves from folks at the academy, Antonio and his entourage of 7 other adults and children decided to try it out.  It was there they tasted the most delicious and peppery biscuits and gravy in the South, not to mention the banana pecan pancakes, omelettes galore, and all other manners of fat-laden, juicy breakfast food you can imagine.  And, the owner was so jazzed the group had come that she told them the bill was on her!  Just icing on the cake, or gravy on the biscuits, as it were.

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Tags: Biscuits and gravy, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Red Rooster, Santa Cruz, Tennessee, Torrance

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 at 2:09 pm and is filed under North America, Sermons, Socially conscious tourism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.