Ambarwen Oromendur: Quenta Mentieryon, part 2 (Amon Sûl)

[oromendur]

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!

 

[annyshay]

[Yasha92]

Ahoy-hoy Waffle-sibling! Following to watch you~

 

 

[Ann of Owlshire]

Edinburgh Castle is worth the price of admission once. The views are great, too! If you're feeling rich, the Witchery restaurant nearby has amazing ambience and good (but not as amazing) food. If you don't want to pay the price of admission, I like wandering Holyrood Park. (I haven't made it all the way up to Arthur's Seat yet, though. I was having knee issues last time I was in Edinburgh >_<)

 

Long walks ending at a pub lunch are one of my favorite things.

 

Re: morning pages--Sometimes I find it helpful to not require the page length. Like... just write what you can before your day blasts off, and not worry if it's half a page or 3. 

 

Enjoy your trip! I'll be enjoying updates from the same time zone as me XD

 

 

[Infinity.Creates]

Do a trip where you visit each of the main locations that Tolkien was inspired by in the UK??

[oromendur]

15 hours ago, Yasha92 said:

Ahoy-hoy Waffle-sibling!

 

Greetings fellow oublie-of-awesomeness!   

 

6 hours ago, Ann of Vries said:

Edinburgh Castle is worth the price of admission once.

 

I wondered, thank you. I think I will spend Friday at the castle, then. I arrive Thursday afternoon and will likely be a total zombie, the wedding is on Saturday, I have some sort of posh wedding lunch to attend on Sunday, and then Monday I'm on the train to Shropshire. King Arthur's Seat is definitely on the list, but I'm not sure if I can time it with a sunset like I did last time (it was amazing, but *really* cold). 

 

3 hours ago, IAmInfinite said:

Do a trip where you visit each of the main locations that Tolkien was inspired by in the UK??

 

I made the pilgrimage to Oxford a trip or two ago, but, you know, I haven't made it to the Tolkien trail in Birmingham yet...hmm...

[Infinity.Creates]

8 minutes ago, oromendur said:

I made the pilgrimage to Oxford a trip or two ago, but, you know, I haven't made it to the Tolkien trail in Birmingham yet...hmm...

The trail is partly beautiful, partly industrial, and pretty short. But the Mill where it started is pretty awesome, as they sometimes do fresh bread milled from there, and have a few interesting things to do.

[oromendur]

Pre-trip musings: hundredthousandfamilyGODS I hate packing... And the lists...bloody hell. I need a list for my lists (sigh).

 

Pre-challenge musings: I think, although I don't much WANT to, that I will try and do my whole morning routine (including those horrid [BLEEP]ing pushups) on Monday and Tuesday this week, and possibly even Wednesday before I head out on my sojourning. That will basically set me up challenge-points-wise for the entire week, so that if I'm not able to sort out anything in the way of routine during the wedding whirlwind in Edinburgh, the week won't be a total loss. When I get to my friends' house in Church Stretton (affectionately named Tumbledown Towers by the poor man who has to be away months at a time in Africa to pay for it) I will be able to settle down into a routine, and I'll work hard to make sure it's one which supports all my challenge requirements for the next three weeks.

 

How did it get to be Sunday already? Seriously...

[oromendur]

On 5/26/2018 at 11:23 AM, IAmInfinite said:

The trail is partly beautiful, partly industrial, and pretty short. But the Mill where it started is pretty awesome, as they sometimes do fresh bread milled from there, and have a few interesting things to do.

 

It appears Birmingham is an hour and a half on the train from Church Stretton. That's not beyond the realm of day-trip possibility. Hmmmmmm.....

[oromendur]

Right. Day one. 

 

 

I did my morning routine: meditation, morning pages, Tai Chi. I also did PUSHUPS. Ugh. I sure hope the Doodlies appreciate how much it turns out I like them -- wasn't it less than a week ago I swore I'd never do another pushup as long as I lived? Anyway.

 

The day was off to a very good start, but now I'm goofing off on the internet because the lists... they LOOM... 

 

I'm going to browse NF a bit longer and then get started. Laundry. Yay. My favorite :/  

 

Good luck, everyone! Let's have a strong challenge!

[Sciread77]

Following for adventure and Tolkien quotes. 

[WolfDreamer]

On 5/25/2018 at 8:26 PM, oromendur said:

sporting a guild badge for the first time in her entire NerdFitness career

 

Welcome to the Adventurers! I'm glad you're with us.

 

On 5/25/2018 at 8:26 PM, oromendur said:

Tolkien nerd

 

You're definitely among friends...

 

I love the structure and theme of your challenge. Let me know if I can help in any way.

 

 

[Chant]

Congratulations on the dissertation progress so far! That's a lot of work under your belt already. Your goal for the challenge sounds extremely doable. Also, all the travel ahead sounds like it should be great fun! (Packing is always the worst.) I'll be following along and soaking up the Tolkien ambiance along the way.

[Ann of Owlshire]

Re Packing:

This may not be helpful for you now as I think you're en route--a while back I made checklist templates for packing. Weekend trips, specialized trips (writing retreats), longer trips, hiking trips... then I would c&p and alter them as needed for the particular trip.

 

Which makes me sound like a control freak, but I just like not having to try to remember everything from scratch every time I go somewhere. Which I like to happen often!

 

Enjoy your trip to the UK! If you get stranded in London for some reason, send me a PM XD

[annyshay]

50 minutes ago, Ann of Vries said:

Weekend trips, specialized trips (writing retreats), longer trips, hiking trips... then I would c&p and alter them as needed for the particular trip.

That's very clever.

[Ann of Owlshire]

5 minutes ago, annyshay said:

That's very clever.

And yet, I forget to pack my hair comb 30% of the time. >_>; I should probably buy an extra and just keep it in my travel toiletries bag.

[Infinity.Creates]

Lists save my life. Also, post-its for things that you'll be using the night before you leave, and putting that on the top of the bag. (eg chargers, toothbrush, pjs, etc). Those post-its have saved my life so many times!

[Sciread77]

23 minutes ago, IAmInfinite said:

Lists save my life. Also, post-its for things that you'll be using the night before you leave, and putting that on the top of the bag. (eg chargers, toothbrush, pjs, etc). Those post-its have saved my life so many times!

 

Same here. I don’t function as well without lists and calendars. Although I can chill out just fine without them. 

 

I keep a set of travel things packed at all times, a habit harkening back to my days as a nomad. I started the habit of keeping a pre-packed weekend/camping bag in my car in college, and now that I park near the surface of the sun I keep it readily available. And have them available for the family too. 

 

It doesn’t mean we don’t normally pack for weekend trips anyway. But due to logistics, we had to drop the kids off a night early to my parents’ house (where they’re staying when we see Book of Mormon tonight) when we’d originally planned to do it today, and it’s terribly helpful to be able to chuck a couple of already packed bags into the car as we run out the door last night, especially since we actually worked the logistics out about 5 minutes before we had to leave. 

[Ann of Owlshire]

14 hours ago, Sciread77 said:

I keep a set of travel things packed at all times, a habit harkening back to my days as a nomad. I started the habit of keeping a pre-packed weekend/camping bag in my car in college, and now that I park near the surface of the sun I keep it readily available. And have them available for the family too. 

 

It doesn’t mean we don’t normally pack for weekend trips anyway. But due to logistics, we had to drop the kids off a night early to my parents’ house (where they’re staying when we see Book of Mormon tonight) when we’d originally planned to do it today, and it’s terribly helpful to be able to chuck a couple of already packed bags into the car as we run out the door last night, especially since we actually worked the logistics out about 5 minutes before we had to leave. 

 

#adventurerlife

[Sciread77]

4 hours ago, Ann of Vries said:

 

#adventurerlife

 

#truth

[oromendur]

Update from Albion: after some horrible travel delays (and an expensive — and unbudgeted — train ticket from Carlisle because the plane didn’t land before my train departed...you know, the train I’d bought a non-refundable advance ticket for...grr...) I have made it to Edinburgh. 

 

Between the fuzzy brain-fog of jet lag, the extra train ticket, and the fact that I had to spend a LOT more than I really planned or expected on a hat for the wedding (it is quite a lovely hat, blocked wool, not ridiculous at all, I may even wear it again sometime, but DAMN was it expensive on a grad student budget), I chose not to pay the ££ to go into the castle (again). One of these trips, I swear! But instead I bought a cheap-and-delicious takeaway hog roast roll at Oink and walked up Carlton Hill for some nice views (and a point in Quest #1! Well done me!). Now for some last-minute clothing maintenance (does everyone in the world detest ironing with a holy passion? Or is that just me?) and then the wedding celebrations begin tonight, with all guests in town invited to “informal drinks” at the Gin Distillery. Protocol-wise I’m not sure exactly what that means, but it sounds like it will be fun to find out  

 

[oromendur]

On 5/30/2018 at 5:39 PM, IAmInfinite said:

Lists save my life.

 

On 5/30/2018 at 6:12 PM, Sciread77 said:

I keep a set of travel things packed at all times

 

I have a pretty good (if informal) system that works well — until it doesn’t. It turns out that for this trip I apparently remembered everything but the handle for my electric toothbrush. I have the case. I have the toothbrush head AND and an extra. I have floss and toothpaste and mouthwash and everything else. But that handle is going to have the fullest charge of its existence when I next see it in six weeks’ time It was a process problem, I think; I had to test the cube and weight of my suitcase, which meant I had to put the toothbrush case in the toiletry bag, but the handle was still charging and since I wanted to try and get away without carrying the stupid charger, I left it charging and figured I’d re-pack it with the rest of my shower things after my shower. I, um, didn’t. Sigh. NEVER change the process when you’re operating short on sleep, that’s what I learned. The tuition on the lesson wasn’t as high as it might have been, I suppose....

[Leigh]

Well at least it was just the tooth brush you forgot, those are easy to find and not terrible expensive You wont get the same clean feeling since I'm guessing there is a difference between a manual and an electric brush but hey! At least it wasn't like all your socks or something

 

Also you had to buy a hat for a wedding? O_o I am curious about this hat, and why it was needed haha

[Ann of Owlshire]

 
Also you had to buy a hat for a wedding? O_o I am curious about this hat, and why it was needed haha [emoji3]

British weddings are serious about their hats.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Leigh]

ooooooh! Okay that makes more sense, although I still want to see this hat