Wherever [BitterOyster] May Roam

[BitterOyster]

 

Keeping it simple theme-wise with good ol' Metallica. Get carried away with a theme? Who, me?

I'm two weeks in to my Epic Travel Adventure which I've been planning for over a year, and amongst all the excitement I want to keep up some good habits. I'm doing work exchanges similar WWOOFing to pay my way, so the demands on my body will be variable. I'm aiming for a very simple challenge that won't add physical or mental strain, but instead fill in the gaps and help keep my body working well.

 

I'll take my time anywhere

Knee exercises at least 5/7 days a week.

 

And I'll redefine anywhere

Daily - at least two different resistance exercises, no matter how small. I come armed with knowledge from Steve's Beginner Bodyweight Workout, as well as some resistance bands. Leg exercises are covered in the knee exercises goal.

Some ideas:

Pushups

Tricep pushups

Band pullaparts + shoulder dislocations

Glute bridge

Primal squat (not really a resistance exercise, but I need to start building it up again)

 

Only knowledge will I save

Daily - sketch from what I can see. This can be anything - animals, plants, architecture, random objects. If I fill up a sketchbook before the end of the month I have a chance to leave it with a family member before I leave for Germany, so one less thing to carry or post.

 

And the earth becomes my throne

Twice a week - meditate in any style, in preparation for making this a daily habit.

 

Off the beaten path I reign

Optional - go for a walk when I have spare energy. I'm not setting a target for this because I'm about to move to a new host and I don't know how strenuous the work will be.

[BitterOyster]

Results

 

Week 1

Knee 3/5

Drawing 3/7

Workouts 2/7

 

Week 2

Knees 4/7

Drawing 4/7

Workouts 3/7

 

Halfway review - do I need to step up or scale down any goals?

No, even though I'm not hitting 100% this is a good system, but I'm going to aim for doing knee exercises daily, just so it's all easy to keep track of.

 

Week 3

Knees - 4/7

Drawing - 3/7

Workouts - 4/7

 

Walk - yes

Meditation - no

 

Week 4

Knees 5/7

Drawing 5/7

Workouts 4/7

 

walk - yes

meditation - yes

[Hiroro]

Hi Oyster! That's so cool that you're traveling via work exchange, mind sharing your location and plans? Going for walks is my favorite way to experience new places  Can't wait to follow your adventures!

[BitterOyster]

It's been difficult adjusting to the new place so far, but it's only the second night, so things will probably level out once I settle in so I'm giving myself a free pass for being a bit slack on the first few days, but got to pick up the pace from now on. Especially with my knees and feet, they are feeling the strain.

 

14 hours ago, Hiroro said:

Hi Oyster! That's so cool that you're traveling via work exchange, mind sharing your location and plans? Going for walks is my favorite way to experience new places  Can't wait to follow your adventures!

Happy to, I will write a bit more later as I've got to catch up on sleep soon - but I'm travelling in Australia (specifically Victoria) for the first month and then Germany for three months.

[Hiroro]

OOOH AUSTRALIA!!! Fiance and I are actually considering going there for our honeymoon next year, so I will definitely have to pick your brain. I went with family as a kid but don't remember it very well. We went to Berlin last October, in case you're looking for recommendations

[BitterOyster]

I am from Australia, I'm traveling a bit in my home country before I head off, so you can certainly pick my brain about it! it's a great place to travel and I love talking to international travelers about their experience here, it's so different to see things with outside eyes vs the place you grew up in.

 

I would love recommendations for Berlin, I really want to experience the vibe of the place but I'm not at all an evening person and don't drink so I can't see myself going to a club there.

[BitterOyster]

I'm coming down with a cold, which usually hits me really hard for a couple of days, but luckily I've worked enough to take a couple of days off and not mess up my schedule. I've been really scared of getting sick while traveling so this is really the best case scenario to get through it easily and remind myself it's not the end of the world.

 

Going to try to still get my drawing and knee exercises in and do some foot exercises for the resistance goal.

[Hiroro]

Hope you feel better!

 

Hahahahaha we are NOT club people, in fact I read this article and it made me super happy that I don't bother with that nonsense. We do drink, so we enjoyed the German beer. But I'm always in it for the food! And some sightseeing of course. We had about a week there, and were both sick so didn't do as much as I had planned. My cousin lives there so there were a few things he recommended that we didn't make it to, and a few things he eliminated from our list.

 

Sightseeing recommendations:

• Underground tour - we did one of the bunkers the German citizens hid in and it was amazing, tour guide was so knowledgeable and engaging
  • You have to find the place from the train station and line up to get a ticket, but with some internet research it's not too tough
  • Across from the tour starting point/ticket office is a nice park which we walked around.
• Berlin wall memorial
• Tempelhofer park (we didn't make it here but hope to go next time)
• Mauerpark (for the Sunday afternoon flea market, don't know if it goes year-round though)
• Brandenburg Gate
• Victory column (definitely pay the couple Euro to climb up and take in the view)
• Reichstag (we didn't tour here, just walked around outside. it's near Brandenburg and the Victory Column)
• Holocaust memorial
  • This was...okay. You should go when the tourist office is open, because it wasn't and we didn't really 'get it' (neither of us is artistic, so maybe that's why). It's an art/monument thing but there isn't enough info posted imo.
• Jewish museum
  • This was incredible. We spent a full half day here I think. Rented the audioguides which were solid. Very cool to see the full history of Jewish people - of course it has a lot about the Holocaust, but there's so much other info. A lot to take in.
• House of Wannsee
  • This is on Lake Havel, which is very scenic. If it was nicer out we might have hung out or taken a boat ride.
• I had the TV tower, Checkpoint Charlie, and East side Gallery on my initial list but we skipped them in favor of more interesting stuff
• Cousin recommended a DDR museum (not 'the' main one), Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin. We didn't make it there

Food

• Factory girl - was good but I don't know how authentic
• Zeit fur brot - they had these amazing buns with chocolate oh man now I want one
• Doner - pretty close to a gyro. Everyone has a favorite and they vary a lot (bread type, condiments, etc)
• Rausch Schokolendenhaus - chocolate! I loved this place
• In general, food is cheap and we ended up eating random places...there's a bakery on every corner. We ate a lot of bread and I don't regret it at all.
• KaDeWe is a fancy store with a fancy food court, but we found it somewhat difficult to find what we wanted to eat and figure out how much to eat. Language barrier, :/
• Cake - the Germans take their cake super seriously

 

I think Mauerpark really has the "vibe" you're looking for. I would bet that Tempelhofer park would also. We spent a lot of time walking/taking the train to get to the tourist attractions, and I felt like we got a good feeling for the city doing that. We stumbled upon an Oktoberfest celebration, even though officially Oktoberfest was over before we arrived - that was very fun.

 

• Random tip - collect some change for the train. Some of the train ticket vending machines only take change (they don't take typical credit cards, and sometimes the 'bills' slot is broken), which can run out quickly when you're going all over the city.

[BitterOyster]

^Thanks so much, that's so helpful! I LOVE underground tours because they're so unusual, I had one booked in Prague but it was cancelled on the day due to heavy rain, I did still get to see some of the underground tunnels. The Jewish Museum is definitely something I'm interested in, but I think I'll be happy just walking around parks and streets. I think there is a different mindset when hurry between a lot of museums and things in a short time, you expect them to entertain you and get your money's worth, but I find when I'm more relaxed I can really look more and see things I didn't plan like nice little cafes or street performers, and they end up being the best memories sometimes. But, my organising brain wants to have it all planned, so I'll go for somewhere in the middle

[BitterOyster]

Phew, that was one hell of a week! After 2 days being sick I had to get back to work, and while I felt ok sitting, as soon as I did anything I was out of breath and massively exhausted. Every moment was a struggle, but having survived that I feel like I can deal with whatever Germany throws at me.

 

Yesterday I was feeling better and started to enjoy myself, although it's still exhausting work. To put it in perspective, last night I knew all I had to do was roll onto my stomach in bed and do some back stretches to tick off my workout goal, but even that was too much. I am enjoying it though, I do want to work hard and get fitter.

 

Halfway review time!

I'm not hitting my goals and usually I would scale back if I have more than one week without 100%, but in this case I'd rather keep aiming for it, even if I fall short. Mornings I'm just trying to shape myself back into a reasonable human being and afternoons I'm so exhausted it seems like bed time comes in a blink. But I'll keep trying not to leave my goals until the last minute!

[BitterOyster]

I didn't have rest days at the first location, and this is the first rest day here I haven't been sick, so I felt pretty energetic today. Didn't go for a walk but did all my goals and meditated.

 

Workout:

3x5 pushups on a table

3x12 resistance band deadlifts

20sec QM pose

30sec plank

[BitterOyster]

Nothing yesterday but all 3 today. 

3x10 push-ups (but on an easier incline)

30sec wall sit

22 QM pose

33 sec plank

Meditation + drawing

 

I just realised that when I arrive somewhere new I should immediately unpack my resistance bands and hang them in easy reach, it will make me use them way more often. 

 

I fly out on Friday so time and energy will get a bit wonky, but I'll need to look up some stretches to do on the plane anyway. It's more than 24h flying with one short stopover so it's a bit of an ordeal.

[BitterOyster]

Wednesday drawing only

Thursday no drawing, 2x10 pushups, 24sec QM pose, 35sec wall sit

[Mr_Willes]

Still going strong, keep it up for this last week and you will have had an excellent challenge even though you were sick!

[BitterOyster]

Time has gotten away from me! Also the internet is extremely slow and unreliable here, so it'll be hard to update much for the next 2 weeks.

 

I did really well in the last week of this challenge considering I had 28 straight hours of travel (yes, really) across many time zones, which messes you up in a very special way. The perfectionist in me is still wanting those 6s and 7s but honestly this is making a huge difference to my health as it is, and it's so easy to let this stuff go in the whirlwind of travel logistics. And there's a bit of an upward trend in my numbers too, so that's cool.

 

I spent 5 days in Munich and then Cologne, doing a fair bit of walking and dragging my suitcase up stairs, got in some quality art time at museums. After that I've spent a week at my first WWOOF farm and the physical exertion has hit my body like a ton of bricks so having week 0 off was good timing. I feel like I'm almost starting to recover as fast as I wear down (fingers crossed) so I think I'm ready to jump into the next challenge, see you there!