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Greetings, fellow Adventurers! Ambarwen Oromendur, reporting for duty, sporting a guild badge for the first time in her entire NerdFitness career Traveler, Tolkien nerd, graduate student, ballroom dancer, musician, ecocritic, seeker of experience: finding categories that that don't pinch me a bit in the corners has been difficult thus far, but perhaps, hopefully, I have finally landed in the right place. I am coming off two (barely) successful recent challenges. I respawned after a several-year hiatus, and then I spent some time in the Druid grove working on balance and home energy, and now I'll be returning to my normal (and rather more itinerant) life. I will be traveling for almost this entire challenge I'm heading to Edinburgh on 30 May for a wedding, and afterwards I will visit some friends in the Shropshire hills. I will still be there at the end of these four weeks, so for this challenge I need to keep my goals well within the 'doable while traveling' framework. In that spirit, and hopefully in synergy with my dissertation on Tolkien, I am structuring this one as a hobbit walking-party. Also, since this map puts Weathertop somewhere in Scotland, that's where I've decided I'm going! Main Quest: The Red Book of Westmarch "I want to see mountains again, Gandalf – mountains; and then find somewhere where I can rest.... I might find somewhere where I can finish my book." ~Bilbo Baggins (The Fellowship of the Ring) Until the end of this year, the most important thing in my life needs to be the work I'm doing to FINISH MY DISSERTATION. I made very good progress last challenge, and I actually emailed Parts I and II to my advisor today. (!!!!!) Now I need to put together and execute a solid plan for starting and structuring Part III. I have a deadline of 21 June to submit 20-30 pages for a workshop with some of my cohort in July. That's roughly a chapter; I don't think I'll have all of Chapter 7 done by then, but my goal for the challenge is to submit the introduction to Part III and at least half of Chapter 7 to the workshop. Quest #1: Walking with Frodo (12 points) "His plan -- for pleasure and a last look at the Shire as much as any other reason -- was to walk from Hobbiton to Bucklebury Ferry, taking it fairly easy. ‘I shall get myself a bit into training, too,’ he said, looking at himself in a dusty mirror in the half-empty hall. He had not done any strenuous walking for a long time, and the reflection looked rather flabby." (The Fellowship of the Ring) As I will be away, I will not be able to fall back on ballroom dancing to fulfill my basic exercise requirements like I did last challenge. Therefore I will walk for at least one continuous kilometer, using either the GPS on my phone or my clunky old Garmin Fenix to keep me honest, at least three times per week. One point per successful day, extra days earn extra points. Hopefully the draw of the beautiful Scottish and English (and possibly-hopefully Welsh) countrysides will be enough to get me out and about as often as I can manage. Quest #2: Building the strength of Men (12 points) "But happily your Caradhras has forgotten that you have Men with you.... And doughty Men too, if I may say it; though lesser men with spades might have served you better." ~Boromir (The Fellowship of the Ring) While I am not prepared to commit to any structured strength training, I have signed up for a fairly flexible Accountabilibuddy challenge including many and various bodyweight exercises I should probably be doing anyway (Doodlies are awesome but WAFFLES RULE!!). I will perform at least three activities from this challenge per week, one point per successful activity, extra activities earn extra points. Quest #3: Resting with Legolas (20 points) "Legolas already lay motionless, his fair hands folded upon his breast, his eyes unclosed, blending living night and deep dream, as is the way with Elves." (The Two Towers) Last challenge I reclaimed a morning routine involving meditation and morning pages, but I know from experience that it is a very location-dependent routine, and I have generally failed in my efforts in the past to sustain it while traveling. I don't want to lose everything I gained, however, so I will give myself maximum flexibility in keeping at least some of my habits as current as can be managed. I will choose an action from the below list and perform it at least five times per week. One point per successful action, extra actions earn extra points. - Meditate for at least ten minutes - Perform a structured stretching routine of at least ten minutes in length - Perform a Tai Chi form (most likely my teacher's White Crane 28 Form, but if I get motivated to try and remember any of the more formal ones, that would be awesome) - Do Julia-Cameron style morning pages (the other things on this list I can do any time, but to count these must be done right when I wake up) Life Quest: Adventures with Bilbo (6 points) "So after that the party went along very merrily, and they told stories or sang songs as they rode forward all day, except of course when they stopped for meals. These didn’t come quite as often as Bilbo would have liked them, but still he began to feel that adventures were not so bad after all." (The Hobbit) I am very excited to be visiting the UK in the summer for a change. (Usually it's November or December when I go, and the weather is invariably cold and wet and unpleasant.) I want to take advantage of both the weather and the block of generally unstructured time to do some interesting things I haven't done before. During this challenge I will seek out at least three new touristy or adventurous things. Some options on my planning radar (I am allowed to choose other things if and as they come up): - visit Gloucester for the festival celebrating the Lady of the Mercians - visit Harlech Castle in Wales - spend a day in Edinburgh castle (I've never been willing to spend the time or money to go inside before, but I have to kill my jet lag before the wedding somehow!) - do a long walk in the country for the purpose of enjoying a pub lunch - hike up Mount Snowdon Two points per successful adventure, extra adventures earn extra points. Life Quest adventures are explicitly permitted to also count as walks for Quest #1. Total points to be successful in this challenge: 50. Extra points in one quest are permitted to make up for failures in another. I'm really looking forward to some adventuring, and to reading about other adventures as I try to be more active on the NerdFitness site. If you don't hear from me reasonably regularly, feel free to poke me and remind me I need to check in. One thing I am going to try very hard NOT to do is be too serious for the next few weeks! I have had to be very serious indeed over the past two months as I desperately tried to play catch-up on my long-delinquent dissertation responsibilities, but I think I'm more or less on track again, and I need a bit of lighter fun and play for a while. I don't care what any grumpy old wizard thinks! "This is a serious journey, not a hobbit walking-party." ~Gandalf (The Fellowship of the Ring) OH NO IT'S NOT, you old stick-in-the-mud. So there!