Monthly Archives: September 2015

Travel

Dont be THAT Guy!!!

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I don’t know what has been up over the last few weeks but I have been running into some real pieces of work on my travels recently. I am sure you know the types of people I am talking about, the folks who we share the road with who just need to let a few things go and get their priorities back in order.  Who do I mean?  I mean folks like;

two-businessman-talking-on-phone-at-urinals

Cellphone talking in the bathroom guy:

OK, what can possibly be so important that you cannot either a) pause the conversation and call them back or b) put them on mute?  I will never understand the gentleman at the urinal talking about his weekend to his friend while relieving himself.  Really?  I am always sure to flush a couple extra times just to be sure the person on the other end knows exactly where this guy takes his calls from.  However please understand, this guy is completely different from Guy who goes to the bathroom in the Middle of a Conference Call.

gate crowding

Needs to be first guy:

Every flight I ever take, literally every single one, there is at least one and usually a group of people who are in Group 4 or 5 of the boarding process who line up at the gate before the plane has even arrived.   I guess they think that by being at the gate early that they will be able to board earlier.  My favorite are the ones who when the gate agents call for the elite level travelers to board, join right in, only to be immediately cast aside and made to wait in front of all for their “appropriate boarding group”.   All the while, clogging the 2 foot wide pathway to get to the jet bridge.  Not so ironically, these are usually the folks I also see falling into our next category.

Refuses to put anything under his seat guy:

I get it, you bought a ticket just like everyone else on the plane and yes, you have the “right” (show me in The Constitution where overhead space is protected) to put your stuff up above but if all you have is a bag from the HMS Host store in the boarding area, put under your feet in front of you.  Seriously people.

Oh and by the way, you are not allowed to complain about either the boarding process or the deplaning process if you choose to place everything overhead.  You are the reason that one person who has a CPAP machine in their bag or the person in 7F who placed their bag above 33D is holding up the process.

it will fit

Mr. Spatially Unaware:

So this version actually comes in two varieties.  The first is the one who has no concept of how geometry works.  This is usually best displayed as they attempt to place a 9x14x22 inch bag into a 3x7x22 inch space.  No really, keep trying.  I am sure you can make it fit.  Much like this guy

The second version is the guy who does not understand that the arm rest actually represents the type of force field between your seat and mine.  It should be treated like a kindergartner treats the “lava” if they fall of the carpet.  It is to be avoided at all costs.  Of course the one who really takes the cake in this category is Mr. I am Going to use your Shoulder as a Pillow Guy (yep, it really has happened) much like this classic

Married to my seat guy:

So I saved my personal pet peeve for last.  That is the person that is so attached to their seat that they are unwilling to move for any reason.  I was recently on a flight where a father and his 5 year old son were assigned to two window seats IN FIRST CLASS that were not in the same row.  The gentlemen in the aisle seats of both of the rows refused to relocate.  Let me remind you, THIS WAS TO ANOTHER FIRST CLASS SEAT!!!  I literally could not believe it.  I turned to the gentlemen next to me after seeing this dad settle his barely grade school aged son in the row behind him and asked “Are you married to that seat?” – fortunately he was already thinking exactly what I was thinking.  We immediately gave up our row so this father and son could sit together.

RoadWarriors please here me.  If you see a family separated on the plane, regardless of the seat assignment, if you can switch and make it better for them, DO IT and yes, I have sat middle in coach so families can sit together.  I feel so deeply about this I think we should start a Whitehouse.org petition to make it a Federal Law.

The lesson in all this?  Well, Pope Francis got an ovation on the floor of Congress for mentioning it, you may know it as the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have done unto you.  Christ told us the greatest commandment was to love one another as he loved us.  Somehow I do not see Jesus saying – “Nope, I need the window seat”.  Now to be fair, he would probably make every seat a window seat but that is a whole other post.

So how about you RoadWarriors?  Who are some of the people I forgot to include on the list?

Here is to hoping you are able to avoid them all on your travels.

City Reviews, Diet, Fitness, health, healthy living, restaurant, restaurants, Travel

A Tale of Two Lists – What makes a good RoadWarrior Restuarant

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Earlier this week my wife forwarded me a great list that Men’s Health had put together listing the “Coolest, Healthiest Restaurants in America”, a summary of the top 18 restaurants around the country that are not only dishing healthy eats but food worthy of top praise.   You can read their recommendations here

Suddenly – I have a new To-Do List!!

I am a sucker for lists like this.  Give me the top 20 or so ‘place experience here’ and I am all about trying to get them checked off as done.  This latest list reminded me of another that at one time I had the goal of working my way through and just how much things have changed over the last 6 years.  That old list?  The top 50 burgers in the State of Texas (you can find that one here and I really cannot recommend Dutch’s burger highly enough – it was phenomenal).

I used to be so bad about eating burgers that my boss stopped checking my expense reports:

“Andrew – why would I check your report?  Wait – let me guess.  Cheeseburger and a beer at Pappa’s Burgers in the airport for $18.68.   Shocking.”

It was one of those wake-up call moments in life.  I think I made it about ½ way through the burger list before getting serious about my health and focusing on what I put in my body when I am traveling.  It has become such a focal point that I made it Rule #5 of getting and staying RoadWarriorFit.

Finding the local burger joint is easy –the good, healthy and appealing alternative is usually not quite as ubiquitous.  This new list makes me ask the question – what makes a good RoadWarrior restaurant?

Local Flair:

One of the very few perks to traveling across the country every week is I do get to experience some great food.  With a little preparation and/or a trip to the concierge desk of the local full service hotel (you know you don’t have to stay there to ask a question, right?) you can find fantastic options to meet every taste preference.   Skip the familiar chains and head to a locally owned treasure to support the local economy.   Most of the time you can practically taste the love in the food in the local hot spots.  Oh, and don’t forget to ask the wait/bar staff of your hotel where they eat after getting off shift, I have found some of my favorite dining eating experiences that way.

The smell of smoke:

Grilled is always better.  Period.  (Says the guy who grills just about every day I am home).  Yes, there can be arguments made for specific dishes as to their health benefits vs. grilled but in general, grilling is a safe way to go with your meals.  So if you are standing at a crossroads and one way smells like smoke – head that way.

A bent towards whole foods:

We all know that the less processed the food, the more likely it is to be better for you.  We focus on buying the best for our families when we are at home, why would you change on the road?  Check the menu for the preparations and techniques (you know how I feel about fried foods on the road already).  Heck – take a walk through the restaurant real quick and just glance at people’s plates.  See lots of brown and white?  Keep looking.  Plates look like rainbows?  Time to have a seat.

So there you go.  That is what I look for when I am evaluating restaurants on the road.  Hope it helps and look forward to seeing you on the road.

Family, Fitness, My Favorite Things, RoadWarrior, Travel

What’s on your Bucket List?

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This past Sunday I had the pleasure of catching up with a friend at church.  His wife is currently training for her first full IronMan and was out training in the Texas heat by riding 65 miles.  Like I am sure the spouse of any endurance athlete feels every once in a while if they are being honest, he mentioned he was ready for the race to be done so the training could end and it would no longer be on the bucket list.  So I asked him

“Well, what’s on your bucket list?”

His answer was not what I had expected at all.

“I have pretty much done mine.  Martial arts – check.  Hockey – check.  Bass guitar – check.”

That got me really thinking.  If your bucket list is done, what is left?  Simple – adding more items to the bucket list.

Ok Andrew – what is on your travel bucket list?  What the things you want to accomplish around your fitness goals and keeping sane on the road?  So here are the top 5ons my RoadWarriorFit bucket list.

Swim in both the Atlantic and the Pacific on the same day.

I am never sure whether to cry or get excited every time I think about completing this one.  I am the kind of traveler that if I am in sight of the ocean, I have to get salty.  So much so that I have been known to take the last flight out of Miami just so I can hit the beach for an hour or even squeeze in a 30-minute run next to big blue.  I have had the opportunity to complete this one slip through my fingers on 4 different occasions that I can remember.  The challenge here is it usually means I am getting up way early to swim before meetings and staying up way late to swim after my plane lands.   Throw in a 5+ hour flight and that is one really long day.  Going to have to happen though.

Complete a RunDisney event.

If you are unfamiliar with these events, you need to check them out at rundisney.com.  I have registered and paid for 3 different RunDisney events over the last 5 years, including the Inaugural Star Wars ½ Marathon.  I have even gone so far as to train (including the long runs) to be ready and something has come up to prevent me from going.  EVERY.  SINGLE.  TIME.  I am so into this that I even know what my running costume will be if (when, I mean when) I will be able to check this one off.  For a great read on how to really maximize this goal, check out my friend Jennifer’s blog here.

Visit all 50 States:

Last I checked I think I am at 42 states that I have visited for work (43 in total).  I have the sick desire to visit all 50 on work trips.  I know it is a basic bucket list items but still, I want to make this happen.

Run the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Yep, those steps.  The ones Rocky conquers in Rocky III.  The ones I went to run about 2 years ago and headed the wrong direction out of the hotel and never made it.  I can hear the theme music now and can almost taste the raw eggs.

Train at one of the top MMA gyms in the country:

I make it a habit to research, contact and train at the martial arts gyms in my destination cities.  Just this week I trained at Art of Eight in San Diego during my trip.  There are a few top gyms that I have the goal of training with (assuming they let me).  I am one of those freaks who likes to get kicked in the head and who better to get kicked by than those who train with the best?

Bonus item – Workout aggressively in an airport

This one is just silly and I think it would be fun to have someone video other’s reactions while I was doing it.  I want to plan and complete a workout in the terminal of an airport.  And not some walking lunges, wall sit easily hidden workout, no, I want Shaun T/Insanity, sweat dripping,  “What is that freak doing?” kind of a workout.  The kind that would have to take place in another one of those airports with an Admirals Club with showers in it.

I have been blessed to be able to do a lot of really cool things while on the road, especially around fitness but there are a few that have escaped me thus far.  This was my top 5 list – would love to hear yours.  Let me know in the comments below and I look forward to seeing you on the road.

About Me, Family, Spirit

Styrofoam cups and old magazines

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I hate them both.  With a passion.

Not because I am some hyper environmentalist nor am I on a green movement to stop the destruction of our planet’s forestation.  No, I hate them because of what they represent to me.

They are the very image of surgical and treatment centers.

This upcoming Saturday, September 5th will be my wife’s 2 year cancerfreeversary.  Yes – we made up a term for it and yes – we celebrate it.  Over the course of the last 2.5 years, I have spent a lot of time in the waiting rooms of medical centers.

What the medical team won’t tell you when a loved one is diagnosed with any disease that involves long term care is the amount of exposure you are going to receive to Styrofoam cups and old magazines.  They won’t tell you that you are going to spend days in waiting rooms.  Waiting for diagnoses.  Waiting for consultations.  Waiting for treatments to complete.  Waiting for recovery.

Waiting.

Helplessly waiting.

Waiting where the only refreshment is either coffee or water – served in Styrofoam cups.

Waiting in rooms where there are old magazines everywhere.

For the loved one of someone going through something like cancer, you will wait a lot and it is the hardest part!!!  Yes, you will be a shoulder to cry on.  You will be a punching bag to work out aggressions.  You will be the encourager when they think they can’t keep going.  You will be a nursemaid as they recover from chemo/radiation/surgery.  You will be all of those things at once but in all of those times, you are doing something.  You can take action.

Once they go back with the medical professionals, you are left to just wait and pray.

Wait with a Styrofoam cup full of coffee and an old magazine to distract you.

I hate Styrofoam cups and old magazines.

But back to something more positive – celebrating the gift that is the cancerfreeversary.

This year we are celebrating by having what we hope to be the final procedure in her reconstruction journey.  In fact, they just rolled her back to administer the anesthesia and begin the procedure.  So I am sitting in yet another waiting room, with my cup of luke warm coffee in a Styrofoam Cup leafing through old magazines deciding between an issue of Seventeen from 2014 or Sports Illustrated from 4 months ago (at least it is featuring Ronda Rousey but with my passion for all things MMA, I guarantee there is nothing new in there for me).

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I hate Styrofoam cups and old magazines but I am so thankful for another opportunity to be here.  I am so thankful for the wonderful health care professionals who provide them and for their dedication to both their patients and their family.

I am so thankful to be celebrating her cancerfreeversary

City Reviews, Fitness, RoadWarrior, Travel

Sometimes you have to let your subconscious win

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On my travels this week I found myself staying in a wonderful Marriott hotel in Hartford, CT.   I won’t even try and hide it, I am a hotel snob and will try and stay in a full service hotel any chance I get.

Yes the rooms are wonderful.  Yes, the concierge lounge is a great amenity but what I really look forward to is the gym.  I know if I am staying full service, there will be a full service gym as well.  I get legitimately excited knowing that I have all of my gym options available to me.

Full service gyms make me a happy traveler.

As my cab pulled in under the portico at “oh My God’ early this morning, I caught a quick glimpse of the stairs leading up to the Connecticut Convention Center next door.  Stairs that were clearly and loudly calling my name.  I have no idea why but I had an inkling then that I would be skipping the gym the following morning and heading up those stairs.  Again and again and again.

Stairs 2

Even though I was arriving late I made sure the alarm was set for enough time to do the workout in the gym that my heart was heart set against.  As I was appropriately adjusting my phone’s settings, I kept telling myself I could always sleep in and hit the great gym on the 22nd floor.  When the alarm finally went off at 7:00 AM I was already awake.  Time to get moving.

I promptly got dressed, had my coffee, checked emails and eventually headed up to the 22nd floor to check out the gym.  It was a great gym.  Cardio, weights, kettle bells, stretching space….the works but it was not enough.  No stairs.  No stares from the other travelers and folks walking to work wondering;

“Who is that guy and why does he hate himself so much to put himself through that!?!”

So after fully surveying the scene, I got back in the elevator and headed down to the lobby level and out the front door, walked next door and stared up at the stairs.

Then I started running.

Up 100 stairs.  Push up or dips at the top.  Run back down 100 stairs.  Squats or pistol squats at the bottom.  Up and down 20 times.  This was a workout I did alone.  There were no others there to lend that non-verbal supportive head nod like you get in San Diego (read about that run here).  Just me, 100 stairs and a goal – 2000 stairs and it was awesome.

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Sometimes the subconscious has to win.  Sometimes you have to skip the gym in order to hit the stairs.  Sometimes you just have to crush it.