Since You've Been Gone

You may have noticed my lack of posting recently, but one of the things that I've decided to do more, especially in summer, is to live life and to try to be off the internet more. I know; it is not easy! There are so many things that can suck me in! I've done a lot of blog reading here and there, but not much commenting, so I apologize for that! I am going to do a rapid fire summary of some of the things that kept me from being present in this space over the last few months and then you will also be seeing some recap posts about some of my favorites along the way. Some will be a little bit of a repeat of prior posts but I will try not to bore anyone! 

After being in Bangkok for the month of April, which meant hot hot temps and a general lethargy due to the humidity (despite or maybe also due to eating lots of good food), I was kind of ready to go home and see people and be in cooler temps! It started with a flight home on May 1st. 

May: (recap here) I had a great time with friends on our "regular 12" loop around the Marin headlands, then set off on a 10 day Alaska cruise. This is something that I would recommend to you even if you are not a cruiser. My Mom is not a huge travel fan, mostly due to the getting there and away aspect, but even she was wowed, and now talks about doing it again! We saw animals, glaciers and lots and lots of beautiful scenery. Plus I went to Glacier Bay, a new National Park!

Glacier Bay NP

Then, after visiting some friends, I headed to Tucson, where I started a 2,700 mile bike ride from Mexico to Canada. It was hard at first, and quite hot and dry, but soon I had my legs and it was so fun to see some of the interesting smaller towns and beautiful dirt road scenery of Arizona. Fun fact that most people may not know: Arizona has a lot of pine forests, not just desert! Another fun fact: Tucson public transit is free! Yippie. 

Mogollon Rim, AZ

June: (recap here) When I arrived at Flagstaff, I headed back (by bus) to Phoenix to fly to San Francisco for the World Cup. I took the Greyhound, which was not bad. Also, the Phoenix local bus system was not too shabby either. I stayed at a very swanky hotel using points, met up with a high school friend and her son, then headed to SFO. After the game there, I spent time with family, then headed to Seattle for more family time, another game, and a fun trip to Bainbridge Island (Fun fact: for $10 you can get a nice ferry ride, a great view of the skyline, and a nice wander, and plenty of options for lunch and coffee). The World Cup was fun and is something that I am really glad I did, despite the cost. 

Bainbridge Ferry, WA

After the game, and the wonderful weather of the Bay Area and Seattle, I headed back to the oven that is Arizona, and pedaled north. I visited the Grand Canyon and had a harrowing ride through the Navajo Nation before accepting a ride with a semi truck driver to Kanab UT. From there I headed north through UT, skirted Bryce, saw a cattle drive, finally had more water options and camping in the shade, and got to ride on Skyline drive (a 100 mile stretch of road above 10,000 feet). 

July: (recap here) I rode through Utah, including the Park City area, dipped into Wyoming a bit, then skirted the border of Idaho and Montana for a while before riding through a really cool section called the Magruder Corridor, which is about 100 miles of complete wilderness. I made friends with motorcycle riders, camped near some beautiful creeks, and rode up hills that I never would have thought I could (go legs!) I then popped back into Montana for the final stretch north, where I arrived at the Canada border near Roosville. Along the way, I had a nighttime encounter with a bear, but he and I parted ways amicably! 

Lots of cows (WY + everywhere)

August: (recap pending) The first half of the month consisted of hanging out with an old high school friend in Montana, then meeting up with my hiking partner, Bugsy, for some time in Glacier NP and a seven day hike in the Bob Marshall wilderness. This was great, except for the fires and smoke, and some major "bushwhacking" through downed trees due to some crazy winter microbursts. At some points we were climbing over piles of downed trees that were easily 15 or 20 feet high! 

Bugsy in the trees! (MT)

After leaving Bugsy, I headed to OH, a new state to me, to meet up with Birchie. She showed me around the state, introduced me to my new favorite beer, and made sure that when I said that I had "been to OH" before, I really meant it (not just through the airport as I had in the past). Then we set out for The Blogger Extraordinaire (TBE), a roughly 4,000 road trip from Ohio to Montana and back, with a goal to see lots of capitol buildings, national parks and PEOPLE. And that we did! We also ate good food, stayed in some interesting accommodations, learned a ton of different things, talked about everything and did some hikes and runs along the way. More recaps will be coming soon about this. Let's just say that it was good, but stay tuned for more! 

While you wait for my road trip recaps, you can read Birchie's posts: Days 1-3, 4-6, 7-9

Stay tuned for some favorite places, animals, eats and lots of fun rating systems where I rate runs, accommodation, national parks, new states and more! 

What fun things have you been up to this summer!?! Lay it on me! 

It's Not You, It's Me

This is post three of three in a series where I get a few things off my chest. Here are the other two: one, two. I actually drafted this post at the end of May and commented about it on this post of Elisabeth's! Cleaning house over here, which kind of just solidifies my point! 

I want to talk about commitment. (We've been together for a long time now, and I think it's time we take it to the next step😊! Just kidding!) 

I am an upholder, an enneagram one, an ISTJ and a maximizer. I often get analysis paralysis, and I would rather say no over and over than say yes and not follow through. People who flake, ghost, or are late are a mystery to me, and usually I have very little tolerance for them. There are obviously exceptions, such as one of my good friends, who has been a friend for years, and has a lot of great qualities and she would definitely help me hide a body and would be great at researching and planning how and where to do it. I know that if I am meeting her, I have to bring a book and a patient attitude, and know that there is a 94% chance that she will not be on time. However, she will probably show up with a full takeout dinner that she picked up for us, which is why she was late in the first place. Sigh. 

Reading and eating

Why am I talking about this? Well, I often feel guilt when I have committed to something and then I cannot fulfil my own expectations about completing said thing. A great example, and the one that made me start this rant, is blog reading. If I have subscribed to someone's blog, and have committed to reading and commenting, in my brain, I have to do it fully, as in read thoroughly, comment thoughtfully, check back for the response, and be fully invested. I don't skim; I don't just say "great post!" or "well said!" and move on. I always check back to see if they have responded before marking it off of my list. My other issue is that I hate reading things or doing things out of order. I cannot read today's post before I catch up on older ones! Yet some people post every day and I cannot read six other posts before I get to today's post! 

I know this is not the writer's problem; this is a me problem. The writer doesn't care (or probably even notice) if I comment out of order, or don't comment on every single post. But I care, and it makes me feel rude or guilty if I am away for a while and I have to mark everything as read. In my mind, I am screaming, "but I did NOT read them!" So they pile up, and I get behind, and then my motivation starts to wane and then I want to hide everything under the bed and tell my Mom that I "cleaned my room!" and go out to the beach for a swim. 

This is one of the reasons that I stopped writing or reading blogs for a period of time back in the late twenty-teens. I had a blog roll of multiple dozens of blogs, I felt like I just could not keep up with all of them in a quality that I wanted, plus I didn't feel like I had anything to say, so I quit for a while. I cannot do a half-assed job, so I did no job. All or none. Like I said above, I would rather just not commit, than say yes and not follow through. 

This is not just about blogging. I used to get the New Yorker magazine and I started to get behind because I could not read this month's magazine without first catching up on the four month's prior, in order, which of course did not happen, so once again, nothing happened. 

I also have this issue with Instagram. I rarely post because I want the posts to be in order and the last thing I posted was about Seville and so now I have to chronologically post about the last three months but I cannot do it all in one day so I need to space them out so that requires planning and....yes, it sounds crazy, but then I just decide to do nothing and another month passes by (*edited to add that I wrote this post almost three months ago and have actually posted three more times since then, but that also proves my point)!

So I want to apologize to you if I have not commented on all of your posts, and to let you know that I AM reading them, but I have decided that I can only dedicate a certain amount of time each day to commenting, as it requires the extra commitment of checking back to see if the person has responded etc. and I need to prioritize exercise and health and the pursuit of knowledge, and not get sucked into the black hole that is the internet, which is so, SO easy to do. 

However, I am still here, but I do want to find other ways to stay in touch that don't require sitting in front of a computer! I know I may have your email address but if I don't or if you  want to keep in touch, you can email me here with your number, or if you have my number already, feel free to send me a message to say hi! If you have WhatsApp, I am trying to lean more towards that, but I can also still use regular texting! Also if you want to have a chat, I would love that (as I can walk and talk at the same time, thankfully)! Hit me up! 📟(I was looking for a cell phone emoji, and I found this pager! Haha! Blast from the past!) 

What is your enneagram number and how does that affect you when doing tasks? Do you mark all as read and move on or do you feel like you have to actually read the item first? When you get busy, what are the first things that you let go of? 

Also, the Twenty Questions series is still going strong! Don't forget to fill out --> THE QUESTIONNAIRE!

Out of the Groove

This is the post I was writing when I realized that I had never posted this post! Sometimes my drafts get out of hand, and also it just confirms the fact that when I get out of routine, I get sloppy! (This will be post two of three in a series where I get a few things off my chest. Once they are all available, they will be here: one, two, three). 

Also, I want to apologize, as I accidentally put a jump break in my last post, which then truncates it on the main page of my blog and  on the Feedly feed. I did not mention this in my peeves post, but this is another of my peeves! When I am reading in Feedly, I don't want to have to click a link; I want to see the entire post and sometimes if they are truncated, I pass on them. So it should be fixed now! Okay, carrying on. 

I am out of the groove again. Let me explain. A couple of weeks ago, I did an eight day hike where I had no service or internet and it was wonderful. I saw some beautiful views, ate lots of ramen noodles, and got to lie in my tent with the stars above my head most nights. Before that, I was in faster travel mode, and I went to four different places in three weeks. What this means is that usually I am in the place for 3-6 days with a day of travel in between each one. This makes it kind of hard to get into a groove, as it involves a lot of packing and unpacking, sitting on buses and looking up what to do and see in each new place, but I did try to run a few times a week, sightsee a few times a week, and hit up some of the historical places. 

This is where Franz Ferdinand was shot and killed

However, this faster travel followed by the off the grid hike, along with the prep and the aftermath of the hike, has caused me to get out of the groove that I was starting to get into (you may remember from my last post that I wanted to start running three times a week; in the first three weeks of July, I did just that!). Then I returned from the hike and I have hundreds of unread emails, Feedly posts and things on my to do list to get done. Instead of tackling them head on, I feel no motivation to get started. I want to just mark all as read, but that is not really my personality (upholder here!). I have to touch it and look at it and read it, and then if I read it, I have to comment on it, and then I have to return to see if there is a reply... sigh. In addition, I am now in a new place again and so want to see the sights and try the foods and walk the streets, but sometimes it is hard to find a good mix of relaxing and exploring. 

I know this is a first world problem, and some of you have kids and jobs and real problems to juggle and this probably sounds like complaining, but it is not. It is just a comment about the lack of routine in my life at the moment, and a expression of how that can often be a little discombobulating. However, I can happily say that none of this stresses me out. I remember days when I was in my 20s and I was going to school from 7 am to 1 pm and then working from 2 pm to 10 pm and then coming home and having a glass of wine or going out for drinks with coworkers to wash away the problems of the day. I don't do that anymore. My therapy is in wandering, taking photos, sitting in a park and watching people go about their days. My therapy is in researching and learning, in being curious. I find joy in that. However, sometimes I want to do nothing, but I feel guilty about that. 

I actually wrote another post that I never published about commitment and guilt. The funny thing is that in this post I talk about my issues with doing things in order, and how I cannot read something from today without first reading the thing from yesterday, or how I cannot post something from today without first posting the thing from yesterday. Actually, now I am trying to decide whether I should post that post first, and wait on this one....but no. I will post that one out of order (the horror!) in a few days and link it here once it's done! 

So, without giving away everything that I talked about in the commitment post (coming soon!) I will just say that I am behind on all things, and I am not running three times a week and I need to book some travel but am putting it off. I am out of my groove, and I want to get back into it, but am struggling to get back on the right track. And I will end this post here, with a few questions for you. 

Do you get bogged down by "having to" complete tasks in order? Do you feel guilt when you don't want to do something, even when it is a self imposed task (or even a fun task sometimes)? Do you often feel like you need a vacation from your vacation?  

Also, the Twenty Questions series is still going strong! Don't forget to fill out --> THE QUESTIONNAIRE!

Routine Shmootine

I wrote this post a month ago, and I was recently drafting another post about a similar thing and I realized that I never posted this one! Oops! So I decided to do an extra post this week, so I can post this one now and the next one on Monday so that they are in order! This will be post one of three in a series where I get a few things off my chest. Once they are all available, they will be here: two, three.

At work we used to talk about people who would work to a deadline. You know these people. Maybe you are one of these people. These people get one project and if they have a day to do it, they will get it done in a day. If they have a week, it will take them a week. I am not one of these people. If you give me a task, I put my all into getting it done as quicky and efficiently as I can while still having it be done right, double checked and revised. If this means that I do the task in one day and then have the rest of the week to sit around, so be it. I also don't do things on a whim normally. I don't "dash out emails" or answer without thinking. Sure, do I take longer to do some things? Yes. Do I frustrate people because of my analysis paralysis or my need for things to be nearly perfect? Of course. Do I sometimes do less things because I overthink things? Absolutely. 

I am also a lover of routine. The industry I worked in had a lot of changes every day and this meant constant pivoting when it came to strategies or actions. Or maybe a client would ask for something that we had never done, so I was constantly having to learn new things or be creative. However, the general tasks around all of that were fairly routine and I would go in an hour earlier than everyone else so I could work on my checklist before the chaos ensued. 

So, why am I talking about this? Well, despite the fact that I am not currently working a traditional job, I still have these personality traits! If I get a "task" I want to get it done right away and get it off my list. And for my days, I would like to have at least a few hours where the action items are exactly the same, and I can have that "comfort zone." However, when you have more time or when you change locations a lot or when you are meeting new people with their own quirks and agendas, this is not always possible. 

Let me give you an example. The other day I met up with a woman for drinks and dinner. Let me set the scene. There is a FB group where you can link up with other solo travelers or locals, in this case it is all women. So when she said she would be where I was, I contacted her to see if she wanted to meet up. She said yes and asked if I wanted to meet for dinner that evening. It turns out she is French, and if you are not familiar, there are two things you should know about *most* French people. First, they often eat dinner a lot later than I am used to. Dinner hours in a restaurant for example, is usually 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, but they can easily spent three hours eating, meaning that if you eat at 9:00 pm, it could be finished at midnight. The other thing is that French people have a more flexible understanding of timelines than I do. For example, if you say that we will meet for dinner at 9 pm, people may trickle in at 9 pm, or maybe 9:10 pm or 9:15 pm and nobody will be offended. 

So. The French woman asks about dinner, and I, knowing how they can be, ask her what time she is considering for this. We agree on 7:00 pm. It is a 20 minute walk from my place to dinner, so I leave my house at 6:35 just in case, and of course because I like to be a few minutes early, and I do not want to be late, which in my case, would be anything after 7:00 pm. I arrive at the restaurant at 6:55 pm and I get a text from her saying that she is going to be 5-10 minutes late as something has come up. I decide to go inside and get a table if possible and order a drink while I wait. I wait for a while.

She arrives at 7:25 pm. She is a nice woman and we have a good time, and this does not ruin my day in the least, but this is a very typical example of how life is when you are constantly meeting with people who you know nothing about. My routine is shot basically, and it is hard to wrap my mind around it. However, the other alternative is to not meet up with people, and then it is too easy to get into a funk where I am alone all the time and not trying new things because I am worried that they will mess up my routine. So obviously this is not an option! 

However, these kinds of things definitely give me a bit of a feeling that I am lacking control, which of course, I am in this situation! But I don't really like this feeling, so I decided to work on some things that I do have control over so that I could counterbalance it. So have been running again. You may have assumed I was already doing this, but I wasn't really. I have been walking and hiking (average per day in June was 6.2 miles or about 10 km), but not really running (total in June was 32 miles [~1 per day] or about 50 km). *This post was drafted on July 3rd. :)

Running in Warsaw

This is not always easy, as I am sometimes moving around a lot, but this is something I feel that is important and also gives me a chance to explore a new place (even though sometimes the decision fatigue of figuring out where to go each time is real!)

I don't really need an accountability buddy, because I am pretty hard on myself as it is, but I am telling you this so it will be in print so that I cannot back off when I am feeling lazy. My goal is to run three times a week, and I am still trying to do at least 10,000 steps per day! So now you know. 

Does meeting new people come easily to you? What does "being on time" mean to you? Do you have any step or fitness goals at the moment? 

Where's Waldo?

I still have some more wrap up and list type posts, but I am sure you are all getting bored of those! So today, I will talk a little about where I am and what's happening, since I feel like I have been pretty lax in doing that over the last couple of months.

First of all, can you find me in this photo? I will try to make it big enough that you can try! 

Mur de Canuts (photo credit: Bugsy)

In case you are wondering, this is the Mur de Canuts in Lyon, which is a mural depicting the silk workers. The history of this is facinating, and it began in 1466, when King Louis XI set up a national silk working industry in Lyon, consisting mostly of Italian workers, who were known for their silk making skills. However, it gets even better, as in 1834 the workers revolted against their employers, starting one of the first general strikes in an industry anywhere in the world. There was a whole life around this industry for years, and you can still see the remnants of this today, both physically and politically. 

But I won't bore you with too much history! Let me give you a quick update on where else I have been besides Lyon!

Coming Home. In December, I went home from Seattle and spent some days seeing friends before heading up to my parent's house for Christmas. Despite me thinking that a week would be plenty of time to be with the family, I felt like it went fast, probably because in between playing games and visiting, I worked on packing, getting some photos scanned, and seeing a friend whose Dad is quite ill. 

Ornament made by my Mom

Beginning to Travel Again. On Christmas day, my brother and I drove back to the Bay Area, where I stayed with my friend K for the night. On Boxing Day, we flew out of SFO to Frankfurt Germany! We ended up getting a place in Wiesbaden, which was perfect, as we could easily get into Frankfurt, Mainz or other outlying towns from there. We visited Heidelberg, Koblenz, Wurzburg and Rothenburg and had a lovely time wandering and eating and showing the kids how taking the train is fun! 

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

We saw tons of castles, took a train on the Rhine river, and had a great time. The only downside was that it was freezing, literally! The weather was in the 20s while we were there, and it even snowed a little. That did not stop us, it just meant more hot chocolate was needed! I also kicked off my running season on January 1st with an early morning run with L, my friend's 10 year old daughter. She and I were up early every day and usually we would hang out in the warm kitchen, but she was game to take a run on one of the freezing days, so we went and it was great! 

My early morning running buddy

Marzipan piggy

Flying Solo. After the girls left, I headed to Strasbourg, France, where I had a great time buying pastries and wandering around. If you have not been here, I highly recommend it! However, once again, it was in the teens and twenties and snowed, so maybe if you go, go in April, May or October! I continued my running game, and am trying to go a few times a week, and I did that, even in the rain! It is nice to be in a place where I can go back and get warm, which was not always the case when cycling. However, I kind of am jealous of the folks with bikes, as there are tons of canals and bike lanes to enjoy! I may need to get a bike at some point. 

Petit France, Strasbourg

After Strasbourg I went to Dijon. It is a nice little town that I would also recommend. I started to get in a groove, found a good bakery where I could get my daily baguette, and found a nice running path on the Burgundy canals, where I even did my longest run in a LONG TIME, 11 miles! I love being able to pair running with exploring a new place; it really makes the miles go by so much faster. 

Dijon + Notre Dame Church

Lunch Buddies. After Dijon, I went to Lyon. I had a couple of friends meet up with me in Lyon and what did we do? EAT! Lyon is known as the gastronomic capital of France and it currently has five two Michelin starred and twelve one Michelin starred restaurants! The ones we went to were called Bouchons, which are the typcial working class restaurants of the silk workers, and the food was very good! We also did a walking tour, looked at lots of old building, ruins and churches, climbed lots of stairs, found plenty of pastry shops and had a great time wandering around Les Halles (the food market). 

Oeuf mayonaise

So many treats!

Praline tart

Now my friends are gone again, and I am on my own. I have been enjoying trying out the local bike share, getting my bearings a little, wandering around the Croix Rousse neighborhood and checking out the views from the top of the hill (my apartment is near the river). 

Basilica de Notre Dame du Fourvière 

Roman Theater

Plans include lots more wandering and a Saturday market (or three). I am also trying to get at least 10,000 steps (about 5 miles) a day, stretching for 10 minutes a la Nicole, doing daily pushups and getting back into my running routine! I am also doing at least 10 minutes a day of language lessons and I may also go to a weekly French conversation meet up if I can get my act together! It is still cold, in the 20s and 30s, but at least it's not raining! 

À bientôt! Bonne journée!

Have you been to Wiesbaden, Strasboug, Dijon or Lyon? Have you ever been to a Michelin starred restaurant? Do you like marzipan? What daily routines are you doing this year? 

This Is The Story of My Life

One of the 36 questions that Elisabeth, Belle and I answered when I was visiting was to tell your life story in four minutes in as much detail as possible. I thought that there was no way I would need four minutes, but lo and behold, I guess my life is long enough (and full enough) that I actually did not even come close to being finished! For me, the issue was not that I did not have enough to fill four minutes, it was that I was shy of speaking out loud about myself for that long. 

And this, I guess, would be the number one thing that I should tell you if you are just getting to know me: I am shy. Not to confuse the two, but I am also an introvert. As I mentioned in this post, I am a social introvert. I do like being around people that I am comfortable with, but I do need to recharge alone, even when the company is fabulous. However, getting back to the shy part, I still am hesitant to talk about myself, I hate being the center of attention, and I get tongue-tied when I am put on the spot. Writing it out is way easier and much more comfortable. You can read it and judge me and I will never know, and I don't have to look at anyone's expressions or worry about what they are thinking about me. 

So let me tell you my story. Let's start at the very beginning, which is a very good place to start (name that tune!). My parents met in a small California mountain town, the birds and the bees happened, and I was accidentally conceived (PS the rhythm method DOES NOT WORK). They had only been together for mere months when this happened. Not only that, but they were just babies themselves; my Dad was 20 and my Mom was 22. My Dad went on a finding-himself road trip to Canada and my Mom probably sat at home and fretted that he would never return. Spoiler alert: he did return and eight months later, at his parent's house, my Dad decided to try to deliver me at home. Typing this out, I wonder what my Mom was thinking; was she really going to let a 20 year old kid do a home delivery with no experience!? For her first baby!? That sounds very 70s to me. However, I was stubborn from day one, or day one minus one, and after hours of nothing happening, they went to the hospital and I was delivered happy and round-headed via C-section, on Mother's Day! 

Mumsy, several years later

When I was growing up, my parents owned their own business in the small California mountain town. It was a summer resort nestled in the mountains next to a river that had cabins, RV spaces, camping, fishing, inner-tubing, rafting, kayaking, a gas station, a general store, a restaurant and a bar. This meant that (a) most of the money we made went back into the business, (b) my parents were on call 24/7, (c) any vacations we had were usually during the winter. And since (a) my parents are frugal and (b) most of the money went back into the business, these were very budget vacations. For example, we had a super old RV that broke down all the time and we would drive it to Yosemite, Death Valley, Big Sur or The Grand Canyon. We would park in a Walmart parking lot or on the side of the road and sleep, and we would wake up early so that we could see the sunrise (I hated this, but of course am now a big fan of sunrises. Go figure). We would play cards and eat sandwiches in the back. My little brother would be a pest and I would ignore him by reading a lot. Actually this was the only way to ignore everyone in those days!

A typical day at the beach: lots of beer and playing with Broski

I suppose this started my love of travel. This also started my love of figuring out how to get the best bang for your buck and also created a resiliency in me for budget friendly travel, sometimes known as roughing it. I also worked for my parents from as early as I can remember. I started by rolling quarters or crushing cans or pumping gas and I made $0.25 per hour. You can read more about that here. I saved these quarters and when I was 11, I used to go stay with my aunt and uncle in the Bay Area and we would go school clothes shopping and I would buy myself school clothes with my hard earned cash. However, for the most part, I saved that money for later. Also despite, or maybe due to, working in a customer service oriented industry, one of my favorite things to do was to be alone and read. I would hole up in my room reading, even sometimes when my brother and cousins were all out playing. However, I would never pass up a trip to the beach and we went nearly every day in the summer. 

I consider myself lucky because growing up, my every day life was most people's vacations. One of the other 36 questions was what you would wish was different about your being raised, and my answer to this was hard, as most things that I didn't like at the time I realize now have shaped me to who I am now, and I am happy with that. Thanks Mom and Dad! You guys were a pain in the ass when I was younger, but I understand now! 

Lucky we had winters free!

In the interest of time, let's fast forward a bit to college, where I worked at Nordstrom to pay for college, but still made it a priority to save for both retirement and for travel! My first trip abroad (excluding Canada) was to France, and I did everything wrong. Since then, I have been back to France several times and have traveled to almost 60 countries, oftentimes by myself. In the 25 years to follow that trip, I have taken a sabbatical or quit my job six times to move or travel abroad (I talked more about this a little in this post). Luckily, for about ten years, I worked a contract job and could kind of come and go as I pleased, which really made it easier to travel without having to be afraid of starting completely from scratch when I got back. Additionally, the contract job was around the US, so I would live and work in a place for several months at a time. Doing this gave me the opportunity to live in Florida for eight months, Louisiana for about six years on and off, Missouri for a few months and Iowa for about eight months. I liked getting to know these places not just as a tourist, but as a resident of sorts. You can find more about where I have been on my Around The World page. 

The social introvert strikes again: making friends at the cricket in Adelaide, Australia. 

During this time, I became a runner, and have completed many road and trail races, from 5k to 100 miles. I also spent a lot of time backpacking, and one of my favorite things each year was the annual summer backpacking trip, often in the Sierra Nevadas, but also in places like Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Peru and Europe. One of the places I want to go back to is Mt. Everest base camp, as my trip got cut short (but that is a story for another day). 

Donner Lake, Marin Headlands, Dolomites,
Wind River Range, Tetons, Redwood Park (Oakland)

I recently realized that there are many mountains to climb (and cities to see, and people to meet and sunrises to see) and not enough time, so at the beginning of this year, I quit my ten year long Bay Area job in finance, sold or got rid of all of my things including my house, and set off by bicycle to see more of the US and Canada, which is what I am doing now. After I finish this trip, I plan to start traveling the world again, most likely as a slow traveler, where I will stay in one place for about a month a a time. 

Marshall Beach, Golden Gate Bridge and Marin Headlands

And now you are all caught up! Tune in tomorrow when I will be talking about some ways to save or make money with very little effort! Now it's your turn!! 

Do you have any questions for me or do you want to know more about any one topic? What is one word you would use to describe yourself? Tell me three things about yourself that I may not know! 

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

You Can Do It!

The most common thing that people say to me, aside from where I am going or where did I come from, is that they wish they could do what I am doing. I always say to them that they can, and I do believe that is true. For those of you who don't already know, I am currently riding my bike around the US and Canada, mostly camping, and trying to stay off the paved roads. 

I wanted to break down this comment a little; do these people really mean that they wish they could do it? Or is this just a figure of speech, an automatic response, a compliment to me, or a placation? 

I would like tomatoes as plentiful and as delicious as my brother's. However, the truth is, I don't want to spend the time prepping and planting and watering and I definitely don't want to spend my summers harvesting and canning and preserving. So I leave that to him and I go off and ride my bike and when I go home, I get to go to his house and eat delicious sauces. I think most people who make this comment just want to go home and eat delicious sauces, or in the case of a bike, have it ready to go for when you want to do a few mile, preferably driving to the best spot and enjoying the best part of the ride, with good weather and views around ever corner. 

To do new things, it takes work. You have to get out of your comfort zone and cede some control to other people, the unknown and life in general. I literally do not know what's around the next corner most of the time, and this is hard. I am a type A planner, but in this case, I am often going day by day, because (a) you will just disappoint yourself if you have too high of expectations or you try to control every moment and (b) it's actually part of the fun. I sat in Tim Hortons the other day talking to an old local man, but I really really needed to charge my phone and book that night's accomodation, which is why I went in there in the first place, and afterwards I needed to go grocery shopping, and it was supposed to start raining soon. However, we had a great chat and this will be a story that I tell later, and it did not really take away from my day, except that I got rained on a little and arrived at my accommodation later than I wanted to. But! It was still light and I had plenty of time to set up and eat and enjoy the sunset, so really it did not change my day for the worse at all. 

However, people, including me, have a hard time doing new things because we do lack that sense of control and we do have unknowns lurking, just waiting to hit us when we are down. However, I think the positive unknowns outweigh the negative ones by a long shot. 

So, people, I am here to say that you CAN do it! Two years ago, I had only mountain biked once in Bolivia, and they did not provide me with any instructions, so basically you could call that a non-event. I had never owned a mountain bike. I had never ridden any bike, mountain or non, more than 40 miles. I had never done any bike maintenance but change a tube. 

I get embarrassed easily; I am afraid of looking or feeling stupid. I know this has kept me from trying some new things. Puedo hablar español pero tengo vergüenza cuando hay la gente circa me! I listened to a podcast with a writer from Outside magazine, who is in his 50s, and he said he is going to try all kinds of new things, and be that 50 year old looking stupid, and also help those 50 year olds who want to try new things but have fears that it is too late or that they will look dumb or embarrass themselves. It is not too late, but it is not as easy now as it was when we were 20 and fearless. 

For this trip, I had to learn a lot of things, and I had to have some bad days, and I had to fail before I could succeed sometimes. I've definitely used a lot of swear words, many more than I did in years past where I was living a more comfortable known life. But I can do it, and am doing it, and you can too! 

Here's a photo of me fixing my eleventh flat tire on the side of the road in Wisconsin (I think. I may have lost count):

On the flip side, here are a few beautiful sunrises! 

And when I say that you can do it, I don't just mean riding a bike. I mean all of those things that you really do wish you could do. Starting a side hustle, growing beautiful tomatoes, raising kids, learning Spanish. You can do it if you put your mind to it (or your back into it, if you are Ice Cube) and embrace the unknown, and the fear, and the lack of control. and once you are done, you will look back and say, hey, that wasn't so hard after all (right?)

What thing have you always wished you could do but haven't tried yet? What new things have you tried lately? What's your trick for getting over the uncomfortable parts of a new venture?

Looking Back: Books + Life

I am a bit behind on updates, so I thought I would put it all out here in a kind of "Currently-esque" post with a touch of "Recently" sprinkled in. So without further ado, here is what's going on both with my adventures with #bobthebluebike, and with life in general. 

Currently I am reading the first book of The Expanse on ebook, and am listening to In The Woods by Tana French. I enjoyed the last book I read of hers but it was in print and for some reason this one is seeming more slow paced to me. Recently my favorite reads have been The Indifferent Stars Above (thanks for the rec Engie et al!), Ken Follett's Never and Maame by Jessica George. However, I DNFed about seven books over the last two months; the most recent few were Us Against You, Recursion and Sure I'll Join Your Cult (should have known just from the title). It's a shame because I really enjoyed Beartown, and Recursion had a 4.17 on GR. The last one was a read by the author audiobook by a comedian I have never heard of and I found her to be super annoying. 

Currently I am eating too much junk food! I am not a huge fan of sweets, but I've sure had a lot of candy (Haribo for the win!) and ice cream over the last few months. I fear that as soon as I stop riding the bike my stomach is going to swell like one of those little dinosaurs we used to put in a cup of water. I have no self control. Recently, I have tried several gluten free pizza places. My favorite is still Pizzeria Otto's in Portland, but the Rocket Pie GF pizza in Canmore was so good that my wheat eating friends ate my pizza and we had to order another GF pizza after that to share! 

Currently I am listening to the air conditioning unit in my room. After a super hot and humid ride through Southern Wisconsin, it cooled down a lot, and got less humid and last week the highs were even only in the 60s/70s. However, it's getting a tad warmer again! I actually don't mind it, but am not a fan of rain or high humidity. Dry is key! Nobody wants chafe in their nether region! Nobody! Recently I've been listening to the No Borders podcast with Brian and Carrie. They are a couple who have a YouTube channel about early retirement and travel that I've been following for a couple of years. They recently launched a podcast and I find it useful and of course it helps me dream! 

Currently, I'm spending a lot on accommodation. The option to wild camp is not as prevalent in the Midwest as it is in the West, and the established campgrounds are expensive. The last state park I went to in WI charged $35 for tent camping and some of them are closer to $50! (FYI usually Forest Service sites are ~ $15, and you can even get a site in Yosemite for ~ $27) The best thing I spent money on recently is a flight to Portland. Usually I go every fall to house and pet sit for a friend and although I considered skipping this year, I decided that I could work it in as a cycling break, which I think I will need by then! Plus it will give me a chance to send myself some things, since I will not be on the move for once! I've also enjoyed springing for a croissant or a coffee or lunch for those I've been meeting up with (and for those of you who wouldn't let me, thank you too!), since I feel so happy to have gotten to meet them and some of them have even fed and housed me! I definitely got the better end of the deal here! 

Currently I'm feeling a little under the weather. I caught a cold on the Amtrak and can't shake it. It's not horrible, but it just won't quit! Also camping with a stuffy nose is not super fun as I can't breathe and so I have to prop up my head with my backpack and then sleep on my side or back, which is not my preferred method. 

Currently I'm missing my weekly visits with the girls (A & L). I feel like I was really getting to know them more of a day to day basis, whereas only seeing them every few months is just not the same. 

Currently I'm looking forward to being back in Canada! I should be back there in the next few days, this time in a different province. Although, I've been to Ontario before, I haven't explored it much, so I am excited to see some new parts of the province. 

What are you reading? Eating? Looking forward to? 

TGIM

I thought I would jump on the TGIF wagon, except that now that I don't have a normal work week, I actually dislike the weekends. Funny, eh? However, they are busier and it takes longer to go grocery shopping and there are more people on the roads and the trails! So now, Monday is my new Friday. However, today is Victoria Day in Canada, so it may still be a bit busier than normal. However, I thought I would do a quick TGIM post anyway. Happy Victoria Day everyone! 

The high of the last week was: My birthday was a great day. I am not really one to celebrate, and I hate being the center of attention (please do not sing to me). However, this day was perfect. I got up naturally, had a nice coffee and breakfast, tackled a nice easy 2% grade uphill, had good weather, then a very smooth downhill with excellent views. It was not too hot, I got into town early and treated myself to lunch, I got like 6 errands done in only a few hours and I had a chance to relax! It was excellent. The only thing I did not get was my free Starbucks drink, as the town I was in was tiny and did not have one. However, my anonymous friend, who reads this blog, and is a very nice dude, gifted me a SBUX gift card so that I could get my "free" coffee whenever I wanted it!! Isn't that just the cherry on top!? Thanks B-man! 

Coming down the hill into Grand Forks, BC

The low of the last week was: I had one day where I had a section of single-track which was sandy and rocky, and was skinny and was right next to the Columbia River, with a wall on one side and a drop off on the other. It.Was.Hairy! Plus there were a lot of steep ups and downs and I ended up pushing Bob a lot. Plus I fell a couple of times, luckily not serious, but it was a frustrating day for sure. To top it off, I was going to camp, but it was an extra six miles past town so I decided to just get a room, but I was hot and frustrated and I accidentally booked one at the top of a hill, so when I got into town I had to go a mile uphill to get to my hotel and it was not even close to a grocery store! I caved and walked to a pub across the street and drowned my sorrows in baby back ribs. 

Bob fell and got a booboo

Something I marked off my to-do list was: Gah! The health insurance has become a fiasco. I got global health insurance right after I quit my job with the understanding that I was going to be traveling to several different countries, but my first two would be the US and Canada. First they tried to get me to give them a domicile in Canada, but I reiterated that I would be constantly traveling. They said that was fine, insurance was approved and I thought I was good. Then a month later, they asked me to give them a domicile in the US. I reiterated that I am traveling and they did not reply. Then a week later I got a notice "confirming my cancelation" of my insurance and thanking me for being a loyal customer. After a big back and forth with the company, who is based in the UK, I finally got it reinstated. Phew! 

The book I am reading is: I am still reading the Outlander on eBook, which is taking me a while because I mostly listen to audio and really only read for about an hour at night in my tent, and this book is also long. However, I do not mind, and I am enjoying it. On audio, it changes every day, but I am reading one called Open Season by CJ Box, which reads like a book written by a man who maybe used to be in law enforcement or the military. It is so-so. 

The best thing I spent money on was: FOOD! I love food! I actually went whole hog for my birthday week last week and I ate out three times! Normally on any given week, I may eat out once, but more likely I would just get groceries (ahem, ice cream) from the store and eat them instead. My favorite thing was a double bacon cheeseburger with a wiener on it! I had to take the wiener off and eat is separately and then split the sandwich in two and eat two open face sandwiches in order to get it into my mouth, as it was so big (insert wiener joke here?)! 

Weiner burger + poutine fries!
(GF bun in case you are wondering why it looks so funny)

Good stuff!

My plans this week include: Pedaling, looking at stuff, taking photos of stuff, eating. 

My favorite photo from the last week is: This one! I have been riding a lot of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail (KVR) and I completed the entire thing (some parts are washed out but I did all that was possible) and got to mile zero! After that, I went on the Columbia and Western Rail Trail (C&W) and I also completed the entire length of that one too! It feels so satisfying, even though I have many miles left. 

Butt and Gut Update: I have been lucky that since I started, I have not had any saddle sore issues. I was quite worried about that, as there have been long days in the saddle. However, KNOCK ON WOOD, I have only had a little bit of chafe from time to time, but nothing serious at all. For the gut, I have basically had no bloating, except for one time that I had a banana and beans in the same day. However, I have even tried eating a couple of slices of sourdough with no issues and I did have a few beers too. I am still staying basically gluten free and am not really eating beans, garlic, onions or high sugar/fiber fruit. It seems to be working! 

What are you reading? What was the high/low of your week last week? What have you crossed off of your to-do list lately? 

Slow Travel: Week One

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend and maybe even are out doing something fun with the kiddos this week! I am feeling much more motivated and organized than I did last week! A quick update before I jump in, just to let people know how everything is going; it is going well. I have started the grand depart for the Bikepacking USA and Canada Adventure and am currently spending some time with some friends in Oregon. But I don't want to just talk about all of my bicycling woes all the time (although I did used to do that a lot with running!) so I will probably put out a bike centric post every few weeks or once a month. 

Currently here

Also, I am rounding up questions for future posts, and I need your help. If you don't mind, can you please go here and ask a few? I will sing your praises in all future posts if you do!

Now onto the beef. My first week of retirement was spent at my parents' house. So basically, I am living with my parents again. Yup. In a van, down by the river. The fun thing is that my brother also showed up to help my Dad with a job and so it was actually the whole family there at the same time. We all lived under one roof for several days and did not even kill each other even though maybe we wanted to sometimes. 

So long sucka!

Seriously though, it was so "real life." You know how sometimes when you are with family or friends for a special occasion, or only one or two days, you feel the need to behave, aka hang out and entertain and do the things you may not want to do? Well this was just regular days, with each of us flitting in and out on our own timelines, while still spending time to eat breakfast and dinner together most days. It's those low pressure visits that are really more my style. I love being able to read my book even though other people are in the room and not feel rude, like I am using up precious time. My Mom would nap, and I would read, or go for a walk, or go and play with my bike, or pick my nose. It was great. 

Spring has sprung!

I also accomplished a few things. Thanks to all of you, I got out of my reading rut! I did not mention these books on my last post as I was not finished with them yet, but I can also add A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking (4.5 stars), Then She Was Gone (4 stars), The Cover Story (3.5 stars) and Die With Zero (3 stars) to my March reads and none of them sucked! In case you think 3 stars means I did not like it, that is not true; it means I thought it was good but not great, which is what I would say a 4 is. 

I also now have some great songs for my Pick Me Up playlist! Thanks to all of you for contributing! There were some great adds, such as System of a Down from my friend E, who likes bands with names like Dead Fetus, so this was actually a very tame suggestion from him (I also added some White Zombie, Deftones and Korn, which all remind me of a certain time in my life, although I do not listen them as often any more.) I know many of you (including my parents) are cringing right now, but never fear, I also added Maneater, both the Hall and Oates (thanks Nicole!) and the Nelly Furtado versions, and of course a little bit of Pitbull. It was so fun hearing all of the different suggestions and so many of them were so different. I have stopped in my tracks several times over the last few days to check my phone to see what the song was. 

Case in point, the song Rasputin by Boney M. was suggested to me by my brother. I was on a run and I wanted to run on my tiptoes when the song came on and so I stopped running to see who it was. Turns out, this band is from the 70s and when I just now went to YouTube to get the link, I saw the video, and they are so groovy! You cannot help but want to dance. Also, if you listen to the lyrics, it talks about how the Russian Rasputin was feared by all but apparently was a great womanizer! It made me giggle. 

He ruled the Russian land and never mind the Czar

But the kazachok he danced really wunderbar

In all affairs of state he was the man to please

But he was real great when he had a girl to squeeze

Other than collecting books and songs, I knocked a bunch of things off of my list. Due to working in the finance industry, we were required to keep any investment accounts with our company, so the first thing I did was open new accounts and have my accounts transferred over. I also rolled over my 401k, redid all the paperwork (transfer on death designations, beneficiaries, etc.) and had to reinvest some of the accounts due to items not transferring over. I had to change my address on a buttload of things, even though most of my stuff is paper, and this of course caused issues with opening the new accounts because not only am I now not working, but what IS my mailing address? It turned out to be easier to just put my old address on the application and then call them to tell them that I need to change my mailing address. However, I had already forwarded my mail by then so I really did not want anything going to my old address!

 I also opened a new credit card that I will use to pay the contractor who is working on the house so I can get some points out of the deal (yay!), even though the points value will be a slight fraction of what I will be spending (boo!). I also sold my car, which was fairly easy, except the dudes showed up about three and a half hours later than the 6:00 pm appointment, which as you know, is way past my bedtime. Luckily the family stayed up with me and played Quirkle with me to try to keep me awake. I even finished my taxes and did lots of fiddling with Bob (wow, that sounds kind of kinky, but it's just #bobthebluebike)! 🚲

Bob is raring to go.

The one thing I left for last was health insurance! I know waiting until the last minute is not a luxury that everyone can afford, but I am still dragging my feet. Most companies will honor your health insurance until the end of the month that you resigned. In our case, we actually get 20 days, which works out better as long as you quit after the 10th, which I did. So I basically have until April 4th to decide. My conundrum is this. Most USA insurance will not cover other countries, so you would need to get travel insurance for the period you would be out of the country. Most international (or nomad) insurance only covers the USA in case of extreme emergency or for a very short period, like 30 days. There are other options, but I am still looking into them. The bottom line is that any of these options are cheaper than Cobra, but the coverage is hit and miss. For example, for Cigna Global, they will only cover inpatient hospital visits, unless you tack on an extra $150 per month for outpatient. Anyway, I will probably leave it right until the last minute. Anybody have any input here? 

I am also still working on getting the house ready for sale, and could probably write an entire post about that, so I will save it for later! 

Have you ever played Quirkle? Anybody have any good postal service/mail snafu/moving stories? If you are married, and you changed your name, in how many different places did you have to update things? (I feel this would be way harder than just updating an address, but YOU TELL ME!)