Getting in Shape / Trip Analogy

Moving In May (yes, from Flylady) has begun! 

The plan:  1 mile per day for each week of the month (max 3 miles), in our hiking boots. 

Why:  So we'll be ready for the hiking and biking 

How're we doing?   (embarrassment motivates!):

Results: 

Week 1:  1 Mile- Final Score:

I don't remember (ahem!):  I think we all did about 2x.  I'm sure the kids will correct me if they did more.  :)

Week 2:  2 miles - Final Score:

1. 7x:  Jazy (wow!) 
2. 6x:  Charles
3. 3x:  Lia
4. 2x:  Tessa
5. 1x:  Ned

Week 3:  3 miles - Final Score:

1. 6x:  Jazy (Tie)
2. 6x:  Charles  (Tie)
3. 4x:  Tessa
4. 3x:  Lia
5. 1x:  Ned

Week 4:  3 miles (in progress):

As of Thurday (1 chance this week):

1. ?x:  Jazy
2. ?x:  Charles 
3. 1x:  Tessa
4. ?x:  Lia
5. ?x:  Ned

The big motivator is that you can only watch TV while you're doing the treadmill *IF* you did the treadmill the previous day.  You lose a TV time for each day you miss.  This is the kids' only chance to watch TV on a school night.  Haha!

Exercise is also good for:

• brain chemicals / attitude / (important for teenagers!)
• sleep
• feeling good about yourself

Trip Analogy:

Planning a trip is like building a house:

You can throw the basics together and then wing it: 

• House:  Just give me 2000 square feet with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths
• Travel:  I'll just go to these 5 places 

OR: you can plan it down to the details: (and get a better product): 

**For a house:  tailored with planned storage for your favorite things

**For travel, a carefully crafted approach includes:

• researching activities available at each location
• planning an itinerary so you get a sense of your travel - will you get to see what you want to see in the timeframe and travel style that you've plotted?
• following others' blogs to gain from their experience
• reading travel novels from those who have gone
• studying travel guide book info and applying it to your itinerary (tours, restaurants, cultural aspects, places to stay, fun)
• researching resources of an area's tourism focus and uniqueness
• getting "friends of friends" contacts to enjoy their company when you get there
• preparing your communication systems in advance
• packing prep- having exactly what you think you'll need - and knowing where and how you'll carry it 
• transportation- is it in exceptional shape and road service (or reseraching inter-country travel options before leaving)
• important documents- copies of everything that could possibly be needed, emergency numbers (family, consulates) 
• kid travel- researching others' good ideas, insuring they have school and reading material and are involved in the planning
• organizing- can you find all the stuff and info quickly while on the road?
• gifts- taking easy-to-pack gifts for your new friends (seed packets, polaroid pics, deflated soccer balls, TX postcards, etc)

So it's not like we won't be *ready* to go, we just could use more time to prepare our *exceptional* travel.  Of course, one's "feeling of competence" before they start is another's "overkill." 

When does one feel "ready to go"?  There is always more that can be done.  But when we waited 3 months for Lia's Travel Approval to China, I was definitely ready to go.  Maps were memorized!

Now, we've done far more planning than we were able to before last summer's trip -I anticipate a better trip too (although we had a blast).

Regardless, even in the "dream about a trip" stage you can begin accomplishing many of these steps. 

And I highly recommend it - start today by reading some good books!