Thoughts On Exercising During Extended Travel

I started this trip with extensive plans to stay fit (as one of my early blog posts will show). One of my first posts laid the groundwork to develop and maintain a bodyweight program. Unfortunately, I have not been consistent with exercise. In fact, I have all but given up on exercise during the trip. Two factors contributed to this. 

First, an exercise routine relies on there being a routine already. Pac Rim is too varied for that; establishing any sort on routine is almost impossible. Last semester, we spent a month in each country, in each place. In Mongolia, I stayed pretty loyal to my routine. No problems there. In Borneo, however, things changed. We were already spending the bulk of every morning doing hard labor (with a smile). Furthermore, Borneo is 3 degrees north of the equator; the heat and humidity were oppressive to say the least. Whenever we had free time, I was either too tired or the heat sucked the energy right out of me. In Vietnam, I had limited success, but the other main factor reared its head. Chronic sickness! I had terrible allergies for three weeks out of the month, and I never felt well enough to exercise. When China came around, it was the opposite of Borneo; cold as all getout. Motivation was difficult when there was a nice comfy bed nearby.

This semester, both the routine and sickness aspects have been exacerbated. Once we got to India, I haven’t been in the same place for more than 2 weeks. Usually less. Routines are like dreams – fleeting and ephemeral. In addition, India has not been kind to my body. So far, I’ve had to adjust to 2 sets of new food, which takes about a week for my stomach to get used to. That week is unpleasant. In addition I’ve had 2 fevers, one at 101.4, and one at 99.7. Those take a week to a week and a half to be comfortable walking for extended periods. So pretty much, I’ve been unable to get into a routine because we move around too much, or too sick to exercise when we are in one place for a bit.

Now, I don’t give anyone the wrong impression. I’m not trying to complain or gripe – I really am enjoying Pac Rim. But extended travel is not condusive to staying fit or healthy. I’ve lost over 20 pounds so far. Hopefully I won’t lose much more.