10/09

Greece: Part 5!

OK, final chapter of the Greece saga…
We had to fly back to Athens in the afternoon(there’s only 1 flight out of Kalymnos a day, so we didn’t really have a choice). And we got there just in time to run over to the Acropolis! This trip, the gates were closing as we got there and I was literally the last person in. Shew! We had only 15 minutes to see and take photos, so these are those:
Side note:
I was in Athens in 2004 and it was a doozy of a trip.
Let’s just say a lot went wrong.
The one day I decided to be a tourist, I trekked all over
to get to the Acropolis and it closed 10 minutes before I got there.
 To say I was upset would be an understatement.
Redemption:
Yesss.
And that was Greece.
Parts 1, 2, 3, 4
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10/08

Greece: Part 4 Climbing!

After the 3-day Summit, we were a little exhausted
but getting a little more onto Greece time
(maybe not digestive schedule-ly, but sleep schedule-ly).
Work time, check. Play time, commence.
It was time for the climbing portion of the trip
and on to the island of Kalymnos!!
Figure out our bearings… and GO!
The Grand Grotta
an OK view,  I guess… ; )
chillin’ with a local…
and hoping he doesn’t raid the backpacks for lunch
while I’m belaying
He tried, but I blocked.
Sunset at the end of the first day at Poets Wall
Please disregard the dirt, sweat, and chalk on my entire face. Thanks.
Finding the perfect area at Afternoon Wall.
A welcome shady spot for the afternoon sun and heat!
I was saying, “ooh”.
NOT giving a kiss/duck face.
Parts 1, 2, 3
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Filed Under: Greece, rock climbing, Summit, travel
10/04

Greece: Pt. 3!

Because the creator of the TRX was a Navy S.E.A.L, and his experiences there led him to create the Suspension Trainer, day 2 of the Summit involved a Navy S.E.A.L “Experience”… (which basically had us all scared shitless)
We had no idea how Randy was going to try to kill us… Swim to the buoys and back with our hand tied behind our backs?! Tread water for an hour with no hands and weights on our waists?! Endure sub-zero water temps for a long ass time?!  We’ve heard the stories. We know (or think we know) what shit goes down in S.E.A.L training. We’re dead, for SURE. But it wasn’t bad at all!  More team building/problem solving stuff, just in a physically active setting. It ended up being REALLY fun.
Except for when people couldn’t count… and we had to do
a shit ton of pushups and leg kicks:
Running, diving in the water, rolling in the sand = good times, great fun!
The team run up the hill carrying small boulders was hard, but not impossible.
And heading up that same hill with at least two feet off the ground at all times wasn’t
as bad either… but probably because I got carried half the time.
; )
But we all did it!
We completed the challenges with our teams. And had a damn fine view at the top of the hill as our reward.
All photos by Frank Addelia
And here’s a quick video Frankie put together that gives you a peek of how we rolled:
(because it’s a Facebook video and impossible to resize, it’s really wide, so make your screen as big as possible if you can’t see the whole thing!)
“TR….X!”
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10/03

Greece: Pt. 2!

For those of you that are just arriving: I’m a Master Trainer for TRX. (Which means I teach the training courses for other personal trainers and group instructors that want to teach classes using the TRX Suspension Trainer and Rip Trainer.) There are several master trainers all over the globe and once a year, we all get together for the Summit, a 3 day event for learning, playing, bonding. It’s the ish. Last year’s Summit was in Thailand. This year’s was in Mykonos, Greece. Darn…
moving on:
So after we all got settled, acquainted with the European instructors,
and sloshed reunited with the ones we already knew…
Summit started!
We woke up early for our first Rip Trainer workout
on the beach
(as every morning at Summit starts)
Yawn…
OK, now we’re awake
I love Europe.
And the Portuguese-ians
; )
We have a tradition of rushing the water
as soon as the workout’s done.
I obviously didn’t take my camera with me for that,
but got a shot of Kari, taking a shot of me, taking a shot of her
afterwards.
; )
Oh, the Germans and their sense of humor…
: )
end of Day 2…
Part 1 here.
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10/02

Greece: Pt 1

OK, OK. I’m back! And I’m somewhat rested.
Here’s the trip recap (in parts):Toronto –> Athens airport party!
There were 6 of us on the same long flight which was a

TOTAL upgrade from last year’s summit, in Thailand.
(Flying alone for over 23 hrs SUCKS.)
This was only 9.5 hrs, and with friends is way more fun.
Or as my brother would say, “it was more better.” ; )

Our gate number… and us acting like 12 year olds:

We made it!

I think this is going to be ok:

The view from the pool:

The view from the room.
Yes, that’s the Aegean Sea.
FROM THE BED
Big. Huge. Score.

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09/25

Spidatter: Travel Guest Post!

While our girl Ami is coasting through life on a far better continent,
can someone please explain to me why NASA hasn’t gotten its shit together yet and invented teleportation…?
Because then I’d be here—

Positano, Italy
Amalfi Coast, Italy
Amalfi Coast, Italy
Amalfi Coast, Italy
Amalfi Coast, Italy
Positano, Italy
Positano, Italy
Erica, the best (and craziest 🙂 traveling companion known to man…and my happy little self.
I’d also probably weight 20 pounds more than I do now, thanks to the absolutely ridiculous pesto and Limoncello options…  Life is SO hard!
Flash we hop you are having the absolute best time. Don’t work out too much.
 
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Filed Under: Greece, guest post, Italy, Spidatter, travel
09/24

Out Of Office Reply

I’m in Mykonos, Greece. 
It’s the bomb. 
And this isn’t even the photo from the hotel’s website or anything. 
I took it with my iPhone. 
It’s that amazingly beautiful here. 
We’ve had a couple 10+ hr days, are exhausted, and
I’m jetlagged like a mofo if that makes you hate me less… ? 
; ) 
Happy Monday! 
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09/20

Scaredy Cat…

I’m going to Greece today!

I have 10 flights over the next 10 days!
4 of them today!
It’s a good thing I don’t hate flying or this would really suck.
#sarcasm
I DO HATE FLYING. 
I’ve said it before. 
Anybody who knows me knows this. 
I also fly nearly every weekend for my job. 
Dumb, yes? 
Here’s just a little explanation of this: 
Before I get started: 
I KNOW that flying is safer than driving. 
I KNOW that’s it’s faster and more efficient (I’m always for efficiency). 
I KNOW that thousands of flights take off each year and there’s hardly ever an accident. 
I KNOW that I basically have to suck it up,
 get over it, and get on the damn plane… 
or I’d have  seriously limited travel experience. 
I KNOW all these things. 
But for whatever reason, I think each time I take a flight, I’m chancing death. This is why I drive if I have to travel anywhere that’s within 6 hours. Even though I’m aware that statistically, I’m more likely to be killed on the freeway than in an aircraft, I’d still rather avoid flying if I can… 
Despite ‘knowing’ all of this, 
this is me during take-off, 
turbulence, 
and landing:

White knuckles all the way…

The take-off and landings are the scariest. 
Because they say that’s when most crashes happen.
It’s bumpy, you’re turning, you’re ascending.
It all seems very unstable to me. 
So I board every flight with an arsenal of technological distractions.
Know what’s great?
 The only time you can’t use your distractions
(music, movies, computers, e-readers, etc)
is DURING the scariest parts of the flight!!!

This is why I’m a big fan of planes
that have tv screens on each seat back.
At least you’ve got something to do during these moments.

……
Also:
When you see a plane turning from the ground, it looks like this: 
Just a slight angle, 
nice and easy. 
When you’re INSIDE a plane and it turns, it feels like this: 
Completely sideways!
Unsafe and unnatural. 
WTF?! That big ass machine is not supposed to move like this. 
What if a huge wind gust comes along and flips the plane right over?!
I feel like that could happen…

And why do they have to lower the landing gear when we’re still going SO FAST?
The plane slows so much and it feels like everything’s going to rip apart.
I feel like they should slow their roll a bit more before they start that ish.

via

And I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that we’re delayed
due to “mechanical issues.”
Are you effing kidding me?
 Can you please not announce that there are problems
with the plane I’m about to board?!

All I picture is somebody out there with duct tape, patching it quickly
so they don’t have to hear everybody complaining about being delayed.

via

I know they’re trying to keep everybody posted,
but I could do without that tidbit of info.

Lie to us!

Say the captain had diarrhea.
Say there’s bad weather somewhere along the route.
Say somebody puked on the previous flight and they have to clean it up for a bit…

DO NOT TELL ME SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH MY PLANE
and that you’re gonna “fix it up real quick and we’ll be on our way in no time”

I mean, do you want me to freak out like the lady in the Airplane! slapping scene?
(Don’t worry. I won’t. I’m not that bad.)

……

But since I can’t do anything about any of this,
I’ve learned to just sit back,
close my eyes for the first 10 minutes,
down a cocktail or two
and breathe.

via

And maybe look into an aeronautics class
so I can actually find out what’s happening on an airplane when it flies.
Maybe that’ll help?

What silly phobia do you have?

I’ll be back in 9 days!
Have a great weekend
: ) 

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