The Winway Pilgrimage

[Jesse Bell]

http://thewinway.wordpress.com/2014/...ay-rob-mudrak/

[Brandon Mccaghren]

Hey tori, we absolutely will be stopping through golf shores I will contact you ahead of time.

If you're headed to Gulf Shores, then you gotta go through Decatur to get there! Holler at us!

[john harris & sons]

On your way back home swing by Tx & drop off some of that valuable knowledge;-)....we've got weed

[Michael Romano]

We are coming through Texas. It's actually a major concern of ours cuz its so fuckin big. But if there is weed as you say, then I seriously doubt we can pass up this opportunity.

[Michael Romano]

Up with Dope, down with Hope.

[Zach Maslany]

Up with Dope, down with Hope.

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[Jesse Bell]

So I decided that since most of you are not my Facebook friends (you should add me), I will share my journal entries on here as well. If you enjoy our adventure please visit thewinway.wordpress.com. Also we are looking for sponsors to help us continue storytelling. Keep following!

[Jesse Bell]

Sunday October 19th 2014:


As I spend my final days in my hometown Montreal I realize that now is truly the best time to leave. There is nothing to do here for me anymore. Especially as winter lurks and I'm forced to write this in a toque. What I means is the city is dead. Besides the nightly regrettable acts of the students there is nothing for an aging athlete to do. Where is the lounge with good food and progressive music? Where are the locusts of beautiful women my city is known for in cafes with wi-fi and pretentious coffee and tea selections? Well actually that's plentiful, but even that is losing steam as all women in the city retreat to anti-aging hypo-hottie-hibernation chambers where they incubate until the snow melts. Now the city is all squeegees and pub crawling hipster infants. Don't get me wrong, Montreal is a great party city, but now is the season that it turns into the dark ages. Time to change the scene. Really it's my own fault as I lost all my fun friends by not partying for two years while teaching children how to be Winjas every Saturday and Sunday morning. I'm really going to miss those little drunken hipster infants.

Leaving to Toronto to catch a bus to Rochester... No women there but grappling will distract me.

[Jesse Bell]

Monday October 20th 2014

So we decided to catch a ride to Toronto for a cheap bus to Rochester. Two hours into the trip, my brother gets a callback for an audition he did recently. So we let him off next to the highway so he could return to Montreal. Now I'm sitting in a café alone, hearing everyone speak my language and hoping my brother gets the role so we can skip the winter. I miss my city already. My family, my training partners, my ex-girlfriend, my students, everyone who knows me and knows how important this trip is to me. When I tell people about the WINWAY pilgrimage they say one of two things; "why are you doing this?" Or "I couldn't do that". Both fill my head with my own questions which makes it difficult to answer them politely. I will say that already I can sense the fears off of the people around me, especially my generation. I guess the best way I can sum it up to them is by quoting my homie Kajan Johnson, "The unknown is where creation happens. You gotta love it."

[Jesse Bell]

Tuesday October 21st 2014

Day two in Toronto. Already we are being tested. Our bus didn't allow our bags so we are forced to find an alternative, so I'm stuck here for now. Mike's audition went well, but unfortunately it interfered with ride shares so, he is stuck in Montreal for now. It doesn't help being straight in the gay village. I stand out here like a tranny in an evangelist church. Where is the part of town where pretty girls commute to the USA daily from? Anyway a miracle happened, when a guy named Carlos of Neo Jits offered me a girl Chelsea's contact for a couch to sleep on. She is on her way to Starbucks now, . I just finished trading at open mat where I got to speak with owner Elliot Bayev about the future of BJJ and even about the LGBT community. It was very enlightening. I had to be laid back on the mats to avoid injury as I have not trained in over a week preparing for this trip. Felt great being on the mats again. Life makes much more sense when you are suffocating underneath a 200 pound super athlete. Looking forward to seeing my brother tomorrow and crossing the border into Ebola territory. I'm beginning to enjoy writing this honestly as I have not written a single status about myself in over a year. Btw, I don't comment, like, share or poke anything that isn't mine. So don't be offended. Check out my brothers journal post on his Facebook... Mike Romano.