Don't walk. Run.

It's time to fess up too about this little H2H thing I've been foolish/smart enough to sign up for. http://www.hoodtocoastmovie.com/

On August 26th I'm going to disconnect by brain from my feet and just will them to run 7 miles, 4 miles and another 4 miles in 24 hours from Mount Hood to the Pacific Ocean with 11 of my nearest and dearest friends and strangers.

For all that transparency has to do with accountability I'm also using this blog to keep myself honest about training and pretending to train for a 15 mile race while traveling around the world.

I've had the best two running months of my life in March and April (both speed and distance came easier to me than they ever have before) but I've taken two weeks off to give my right quad a break. I've been pretty excited that my old running injury friends have kept quiet so far, but this is a new one so I'm trying to be cautious.

Two pathetic runs this week have left me feeling like all those good running days never happened. But I know it takes a few runs to get back into it, so today- I should have hit the pavement, but an overzealous squats marathon on Sunday has me waddling all over town today with super sore butt cheeks, so a good wake up call and an excuse to run tomorrow instead.

At least I'm being honest.

Day Five: Ambler, PA - NYC - New Haven, CT

Day Five: Ambler, PA - NYC - New Haven, CT
Mode of Transportation: Train, car
Miles: 55 by car, 145 by train
Carbon: .04 Metric Tons
Other: Another nice walk through the city, Jamba Juice and a pretzel.


My weekend project: The fence was attacked by plants and needed to be replaced…


























Earning my keep!


































Happy Mother’s Day!









(grandma ----->)

:)








Lucy working hard....















Movies, dinner with the fam, Coneheads (best ice cream in the north east, for reals)....lovely.

Day Two: Chappaqua, NY - NYC - Ambler, PA

Day Two: Chappaqua, NY - NYC - Ambler, PA
Mode of transportation: train, car
Miles: 89 by train, 55 by car
Carbon: .01 + .03 = .04 Metric Tons
Other: car ride to and from train station, delicious bagel thins, nature valley bar and half a carton of rice milk. Leftovers for dinner. Threading ($6). Hoofed it on foot from GC to Penn.

Thanks again to my good pal Kara, I got dropped off at the train station in Chappaqua. $5 later on a train to Grand Central. Then walked the ___ miles to Penn Station with an eyebrow threading pit stop. $15 later, on the train from NYC to Hamilton, NJ and a quick car ride to Tally-Ho Dr. in Ambler, PA.

It was a beautiful spring day in New York!

Best part about hanging at your friend's parent's house: baby pictures! (sorry Kara!)










Me and Kara and the family dog






















Leaving for the train station under mothers watchful eye...

















tulips around Bryant Park





















Times Square


















threading pitstop!

And so it begins again.....

Day One: Ann Arbor, MI to Chappaqua, NY

After kebabs, GP (a few too many mugs) and a last minute decision to leave a few days early, I hitched a ride with Kara to NY. Hard saying good bye to friends...
Grad school has been quite the experience thus far but I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything. Looking back on this first year it has been full of the best things in life: learning, friends, food, great memories, new experiences, challenges, settling in (maybe even putting down some roots finally) and a lot, a lot of work!!!

But that's then and this is now.
Summer begins today.

After a rainy (but very fun!) camping trip in Kentucky, I've left Ann Arbor for the summer to do what I do best- a whole lot of traveling! The mission is 10 cities and 4 countries in 4 months.

I joke a lot in grad school when I tell people about what I've been up to the last few years (which was mostly traveling)... and that I do environmental work out of pure "carbon guilt." This summer I'm going to find out how true that really is.
I'm excited about all the destinations and fun things I have planned, but the question I want to answer by the end of the summer is "at what cost?" Was it worth it? Does my influence outweigh my impact? Am I causing more harm than good? What do I give and what do I bring back with me that makes it all worthwhile?
Sure.... I'm presenting at a conference in Vancouver about sustainability and study abroad- but at what cost?
And yeah....I'm working on a masters project in India to find creative uses for waste water- but at what cost?
Does the work I do offset the impact of getting there? and being there?

So here's the plan: to travel consciously. I'm not interested in all the minute details and fancy calculations. It would be hard, if not impossible, to know or measure the good impacts versus the bad or quantify the benefits (either personal or otherwise). But I can keep a record of what I'm up to and where I've been and maybe something will reveal itself.

If I plan to continue on this professional path, to call myself an environmentalist....it's time to reassess and at the very least, admit that I don't always get it right. I can't just get by relying on the green bubbles I've been lucky enough to call home like Athens, Berkeley, New Haven, Los Angeles and now Ann Arbor where I can shop at a farmers market year-round and ride my bike to work/school. I'm an environmentalist addicted to travel. I have an insatiable wanderlust for anywhere but here. What follows is likely to be mostly confession, a little humor, mistakes, a lesson or two and a conclusion about where to go (or not go, for that matter!) from here. So, here goes nothing.....

Day One: Ann Arbor, MI to Chappaqua, NY
Mode of transportation: Kara's lime green fiesta!
Distance: 639 Miles
CO2: 0.22 Metric Tons
Other: gas station pizza, bag of chips and a grapefruit

My life right now!

So I work at a bar called the Crown and Badger

From The C & B

I pour beer

From The C & B

I layer shots

From The C & B

I mix cocktails

From The C & B

I make coffee

From The C & B

and sometimes I make wedges

From The C & B

(this is alicia working the fryer, yeah!)

From The C & B

but usually i just have a darn good time

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

Mostly we have fun cause we work with a bunch of fun people.

of course me and alicia are pretty darn fun

From The C & B

this is Emma- we like her bunches

From The C & B

Then theres Randy, he likes teeth

From The C & B

Lana is a Bond girl

From The C & B

Dinelle likes motorcycles and summer camp

From The C & B

then there's Tanith, she's the shortest one

From The C & B

but she'll do body shots for the poor bloke on his stag night

From The C & B

Korinna can be found at the legendary 4th ave, or dancing on tables. She makes us laugh, that's why we love her! (guess which one she is:)

From The C & B

then there's richard. yep, that's richard:

From The C & B

Paul hates getting his picture taken

From The C & B

And I'm way better at making chips than Jason

From The C & B

Then there's the regulars who enjoy drinking and taking the piss out of us:

Glen loves Emma

From The C & B

Emma's boyfriend loves Walshy

From The C & B

Walshy loves the wig he found a few weeks ago

From The C & B

the wig loves this guy cause thats his real hair

From The C & B

And Clive thinks we're all out of our freakin minds!

From The C & B

Work has been pretty darn fun, and it pays the bills so you can't complain

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

From The C & B

So that's pretty much the Badger.

From The C & B

Then there's life in the Mount. We live in a little apartment in Mount Maunganui and ride bikes over the bridge to work every day.

We celebrated Christmas in the Mount. Luckily we found a place to live two days before Christmas.
This was our Christmas tree

From Life in The Mount

This is the actual 'Mount'

From Life in The Mount

It's a popular cruise ship destination

From Life in The Mount

however i prefer the occasional booze cruise/ party boat

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

Lots of Argentinians in the mount, this is my friend Juan

From Life in The Mount

The mount is a great surf spot

From Life in The Mount

but it's also a great place to party. we like to hit up Mellicks on our nights off

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

Sometimes we go sailing on little boats

From Life in The Mount

and sometimes we go sailing on bigger boats

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

Then sometimes when the motor doesnt work, we walk the sail boat from one end of the beach to the other

From Life in The Mount

McClaren Falls is a good place to hang out on a hot day

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

Sometimes we just party at the flat

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

Followed of course by a trip down the road to pick up a box full of fish and chips

From Life in The Mount

Then if we're still awake, we play Charades


or we do drunken Karaoke



They have big Lifesaving (aka lifeguarding) competitions in the Mount

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

Then we have couchsurfers stay and things get a little out of control:

Pepijn loved us and just couldn't bring himself to leave!!

From Life in The Mount

These guys are from Chile and they are hilarious!

From Life in The Mount

it gives leesh and i an excuse to go have fun

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

You can climb up the mount

From Life in The Mount

That's Tauranga

From Life in The Mount

Thats the view from the top

From Life in The Mount

From Life in The Mount

And if you're lucky enough to spend a significant amount of time in N.Z. you start saying things like:

Sweet as!

Is that the lot?

I reckon...

Ta

Cheers (instead of thank you)

and my personal favorite: Piss is beer, being drunk and making fun of people. It has nothing to do with being angry, so there!