Reverend Ken's Blog: April 3

Post 790, Day 93 of 2013
- and 824 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I am not certain when traveling lost its charm for me.

In my late teens, with a car and some independence, I would travel by any means at the mere suggestion of fun. I criss-crossed the country by car and jet, at one point maintaining two apartments - one in San Francisco, one in the Bronx. Every trip was an adventure to be relished. Planning wasn't necessary, just desire. Considerations of comfort were secondary-to-nonexistant.

I started my 20s with a job as a sales rep driving around the greater Northeast - from Ohio to Massachusetts and Maine to Virginia. I had a fair amount of success, but being continually on the road took a toll - I was losing touch with my friends, and also living in different socioeconomic strata. Even though it is during this period that I did the greatest amount of International traveling, and I still found traveling all over exciting and adventurous, I began to get tired. Burned out. I was also not taking good care of myself physically. The end result was, that after doing that for four years, making a half-dozen international trips during that time, as well as more local vacations, one day I decided I just couldn't come back to the job from vacation. The job had become something I loathed.

But not traveling.

In my late 20s I started a job at IBM (after spending two months in Negril, Jamaica) and moved to Duchess County, 60 miles North of New York City. At first, I would drive the two-and-a-half hour roundtrip on an almost daily basis. I didn't mind (it was still actually just a really long commute). As I settled into my new life in the corporate world, I also found time to go to Europe and the Caribbean, although my visits were more time-constrained than I had been used to. Still... traveling was something I did for fun.

In my 30s, I started a family and moved to North Carolina. twice a year, I would travel with Alex to the Northeast to visit friends and family. It was, to me, a magical time. Traveling with Alex was actually quite pleasant, enjoyable. At least, for me. I don't really know how he feels about it. Once Nell was out of the picture, things got a little tight in the traveling area. After she died, it was even more difficult. But still, when I did it, it was pleasurable.

Sometime in my fifties, travelling became less comfortable, more of a chore. Certainly, the post-9/11 Patriot Act security rules ruined any pleasure you might get from flying (so did airline's need to tighten up seat space and reduce all other amenities). Flying has become more and more of a hassle over time.

Traveling these days also entails a lot of planning. There is no longer such a thing as pick-up-and-go on a whim. Work schedules, band schedules, etc. have to be considered. I also am more in need of creature comforts during the actual transit part of a trip. When I drive, it isn't so bad, but I have to take more stops to accomodate physical needs, and I don't enjoy driving for ten hours a day, at all any more. There was a time when that would have been part of the adventure, now it is something to be endured. The destination has far more allure than getting there. Cunard ("Getting there is half the fun!") is long gone.

Part of it is that I travel alone, all the time, and that used to not weigh on me. Now, it does.

It takes a lot more preparation to travel now: I take a handful of vitamins and medication twice a day, I have to pack that for any overnight trip. I am more careful about having the right clothes, and enough clothes. I am particular about the hygiene products I use. These are new considerations for me.

I have different ideas about how to spend my time when I get to my destination, too. Less time is spent just 'hanging out' and more on 'doing stuff'. And, I pay more attention to what I eat than I used to, and that makes for some interesting new experiences, at the expense of having to do still more planning.

In short, I have made it more complicated, it has become less spontaneous and more... functional.

The travel part of my retirement plan is seen by me in that way. I am on an adventure, certainly, but the transportation-heavy part of the journey to find a residency overseas is part of the overhead. There's no joy in it.

What a shame.

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Food and Diet Section

First-half year 2013 daily weight

Today's Weight: 207.2 lbs

Yesterday's Weight: 206.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain: + 1.0 lbs

Diet Comment

Did well yesterday, but still gained some back. Oh, well.

Food Log

Breakfast

Cocoa-kale-hemp-chia protein shake: Almond milk, kale, cocoa, hemp seeds, chia seeds, a large egg, vanilla whey powder (24g protein), cinnamon, vanilla, psillium and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch
At Ruby Tuesday's.