Steve Belkin doesn’t actually live out of a suitcase — it just seems that way. Belkin, son of legendary Cleveland concert promoter Jules Belkin, has a taste for travel that goes well-beyond typical tourist attractions, as clients of his travel business Competitours can attest to.
Created by Belkin in 2009, Competitours is a like The Amazing Race with more emphasis on creativity than physicality. Ten two-person teams take on a series of challenges over 11 days as they crisscross Europe. The University Heights resident directs the competition as the teams follow a mysterious schedule and perform unique, hands-on activities that take them out of their comfort zones — all in an effort to take home a cash prize and have fun doing it.
“You’d be surprised what you’re capable of doing,” says Bay Village travel journalist Laura Watilo Blake, who won the competition in 2014 and directed the Competitours documentary Tripped Up, screening at the Cleveland International Film Festival April 10 and 11. “You have to totally rely on this one person (Belkin) for the whole trip and he’s constantly throwing in mini-challenges that are a total surprise.”
Watilo Blake, a Kent State University alum and founder of Cleveland visual media company el.Bee Studio and travel site Far-flung Travels, says the globe-trotting Belkin “puts my travel to shame.” She talks with us about Belkin, the competition and the making of Tripped Up.
Q: What makes Steve Belkin the ideal person to run this competition?
A: Like all of the Belkin family, Steve is an innovator. He started out by paying his friends to collect their air miles that he was able to use. I met him when he was just starting Competitours. It’s a very unique niche that he takes to a whole new level. This takes a lot of planning and Steve changes it up every year. Steve’s sister Jamie, brother-in-law Jerry and mother Fran (executive producer) all competed when we filmed this in 2015.
Q: Other than the first place prize money, what do participants take away from this experience?
A: Everybody needs a little adventure in their lives but no one needs to kill each other over $3,000 (laughs). After going through this crazy experience together it really bonds you. I partnered with a total stranger who wanted to try this. This is not going on a bus tour, it’s doing a variety of things you would never normally do on vacation, like building a glockenspiel. By the end, everyone has become friends. Seven of the teams from the film are coming into Cleveland for the festival.
Q: You’re an accomplished travel writer but this was your first film. What did you learn?
A: Well, I learned how to really make a film. I once worked for the Cleveland International Film Festival and I interviewed a lot of filmmakers over the years. I applied some of their tricks to this. I have a lot of fun telling these stories and I’d like to make more films.
Tripped Up is showing Tuesday, April 10 at 7:20 p.m. and Wednesday, April 11, at 2 p.m. during the Cleveland International Film Festival.
Steve Belkin Plays Gamemaster In Travel Doc Tripped Up
The documentary film follows University Heights resident as he sets up Amazing Race-style competitions for adventurous travelers.
