The times that I enjoy the most, I find myself surrounded by forests or in parklands walking a path or just enjoying the way the sun warms my skin. Especially when I have had my friends with me.
Doing what we all like to do is a response deeply ingrained in each of us, we all want to lie around on a sunny day, just taking in few rays, or reading a book, throw a frisbee to the dog, or just chat with friends. All of this is to me just part of enjoying life & having a good time.
I always find that doing this sort of stuff is another one of those things in life that people tend to take for granted & yes we do that a lot. Just being able to relax, to step away from the everyday stress of life and spend some quality time with friends & acquaintances is the best therapy anyone could ever ask for.
It’s my personal opinion that people don’t get outside enough nowadays. There are just too many reasons to stay indoors, there are Playstations, X Box or whatever, as well as all of our computers with their social networks, I pad’s & lets not forget the TV.
It’s these things that tend to keep you a hostage to their ability to alter reality, safe and happy whittling away your time doing nothing special. Yes we are losing the means or even the want to go outside and see the world, to see real people. I understand this requires effort, yet it can be so worth it.
Now just so you know, being the hypocrite I am, I own most of these anti social things, of which my favorite is my I Pad, although mine has an antiglare coating so that It can be used outside, I love my books all of which I can now carry on my I Pad & of course as a photographer I use it to showcase my work, “I also play games on it everyday”.
During my time working on the cruise ships I have found, that a large percentage of crew tend to take our computers out to the local Internet cafes or the local coffee shops, spending time catching up with our social networks, when we could & should be out exploring all of the wonderful places we travel to. That being said most of us tend to do just that. I personally love to go hiking and spend almost all of my time outside in the wilderness when it is close by & if not just looking around a new city exploring.
What I’m finally trying to get around to is that everyone including me! Should spend much more time outdoors doing something they like with friends or even by yourself. A favorite exercise of mine is rollerblading, I have rollerbladed in lots of cities around the world although San Francisco proved a little daunting with those huge hills everywhere, I also enjoy riding bicycles which I can hire from the ships from a very nominal fee sometimes even for free, for me it has to be somewhere I can see something while I ride, maybe even around a lake or a city.
It doesn’t matter what you do if it gets you outside, fishing, bungee jumping, lazy days at the beach, while your there why don’t you build a sandcastle your never to old to act young. So go sailing or join a dragon boat club, be lazy for a change and just read a book, throw that Frisbee. It really doesn’t matter what you like to do, you just need to get out and give it a go, you never know you might even get to know some more people.
Walking that’s “My new favorite pastime” I know I seem to be going backwards with my style of exercises’ I guess I am getting on a bit now, I think its just about time to start my second or is that my third midlife crisis. I’ve never felt old yet.
When I was younger I lived in Perth – Western Australia. I had a fantastic outdoor lifestyle. At that time life consisted of going to the beach, cable waterskiing, rollerblading & many other types of outdoor activities, I also squeezed work in there somewhere. Bike and walking paths were everywhere; with stunning views, most parks have free barbeques so that social gathering becomes a lifestyle. This is true of most places in the world, so no matter where you live there is always something to do and see. You just have to get off your butt and go out and explore it all.
The cost is going to be very little, almost nothing and sometimes it will cost you as little as time away from the TV.
As I find myself growing older and getting more set in my ways, I needed a wake up call, to get me moving in the right direction. So I have made it my resolution (not a new years resolution as I never seem to follow through on those) that I will walk everyday, not always at the same time of day, as this is not always possible for me. Sometimes I walk around a new city just soaking up what it has to offer, sometimes its just to the shops or coffee spots & sometimes its just a walk around the deck of my current ship. If I miss a day I won’t worry, I will just walk the next day. Although It took some effort I have finally decided to get off my butt & yes this took me a long time, as I was very content with who I was for such a long time. Now I have finally decided that I want to be thinner and healthier than I am, so that I can enjoy everywhere I go and see, without feeling like I am puffing & wheezing.
I also absolutely love scuba diving & I want to be able to do this right up to when I finally toddle off this wonderful planet. Saying that I have been lucky to dive in some of the better destinations around the world, here are just a few of them. Cayman Islands, Cozumel – Mexico. Key Largo – Florida, Great Barrier Reef & Townsville – Australia, Saint Tomas – Virgin Islands. Aruba, Curacao – Dutch Antilles & the Red Sea – Sharm El Sheik – Egypt. . I have had one and two tank dives, I have sailed on live aboard ships, some were drift dives,wreck dives, day & night dives I have loved them all. I love being underwater and now with over 500 + dives, I sometimes think I am half-fish, my dream is to have an underwater housing so that I can take my Canon camera underwater to get some of the images I see up to the people who don’t dive to give them a taste of what I see while I am underwater.
There are plenty of people out there already doing these things. I am not writing this for them or even for you, I am writing this for me I know that is selfish of me, so if you want to come along and get outside and reclaim your old life. Well then let’s get to it & hopefully I will see you in the park.
Please let me know what you think, as I think I would like it.
Either way I will still be walking everyday.
CruiseNomad 