Making the Most of Travel

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast – Psalm 139:9-10

The location for the opening scene from Fantasy Island

When I first began to travel on business it was exciting. I went to different cities and saw new places. However this wore off as our family grew and I spent more times in hotels, in market research facilities, or on convention floors. The time I got to “experience” these locations often involved the sites I viewed on my trip from the airport to the hotel.

Travel is also a challenge since it is hard to be away from my kids, miss special dates, or maybe that parent teacher conference.

Another spectacular view from Kauai

However, I am FULLY AWARE that it’s even harder for my wife who has to take care of the 4 of them!

Travel and Training

Once I began running and realized I needed to continue training while on the road, I started to pack and plan differently for my trips. Now my suitcase always has my sneakers and other running gear which varies depending on the location. I’ll usually research some places to run on-line as I have learned the hotels idea of a run normally involves a 2-3 mile loop around the property. While this definitely beats running on a “Dread”-mill, it lacks the ability to truly see a new location.

Puerto Rico Sunrise

My last post was inspired from my most recent trip to Hawaii. Despite being there for 6 full days, I probably had less than 16 hours of time to myself. However this didn’t stop me from getting on some trails which would have required over 30 hours to cover if I had been hiking according to the local maps.

This realization made me think about other recent trips to Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and San Antonio where I saw more of these cities in the early morning hours than some see on their entire trip. This was especially true in DC where I was able to see almost every national monument as I ran around the capital before any crowds had yet to arrive.

Views from Puerto Rico

These memories have been captured in many of the pictures on this blog. These are images that I have taken during runs and remind me of places I may have never seen if I had not been running.

Become An Explorer!

You may not have a chance to get outdoors if you stay at a hotel that is in an airport or if your schedule lacks any free time. However, I would encourage you to make your running gear as essential as your business attire, your toothbrush, and other toiletries.

You may have gotten to a point where traveling for business isn’t as fun as it once was. Maybe  you equate vacation with time to “check out”. However visiting a new destination should not be an excuse to get lazy but rather to keep moving!

Keep Running and Traveling Mercies,

Nick

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