Hello friends in fitness….here’s a quick update with another 1/4th of my sabbatical year behind me…
Here’s the recap of my countries so far:
January: Puerto Rico
February: Paris
March: Manila, Philippines
April: LA
May: Crossing to UK on a ship
June:
Mykonos
July: Countryside Cottage in the UK
In May, our transatlantic crossing from the USA to the UK with a few islands in between was hysterical. We got on the largest ship we could find to take us on one of my dreams, getting to Europe by ship. Biskit and I bonded a lot on that ship with each other, and we had to, because w/3,999 passengers, we got lots of crazy questions each day, dozens of times each day. Some of the most popular
questions were “Is your dog going all the way to the UK with us on the ship?” (to which I’d reply “No, I thought after a few days we’ll throw him overboard and see if he can keep up with us swimming”) and “Where does your dog do the obvious?” and “Is that a Dalmatian?” We made our own fun each day and quickly had a ritual for our three weeks crossing to avoid most of the crowds. When I unexpectedly ended up training the Executive Chef from Greece on the ship after only a few days, life
changed magically as it’s always nice if you know someone in a high place in a small area who loves dogs. That was a blessing. We worked out mostly each day using functional training equipment (never machines) and he loved the BOSU…I never told him that I wrote one of their manuals until I sent him a signed copy.
After docking in Southampton, we went to visit something on my Bucket list, the Isle of Wight, and we had fun. One of my highlights was
running w/Biskit on the southern shores of Ventnor all dotted with multi-colored cottages. Another was befriending the captain of the local plaice, cod, and haddock boat that each morning brought to the island fish for the local fishmongers’ supplies, and he’d fry me up some fish and chips right then and there in his little shop. It felt very Biblical for some reason eating fish right from the boat of the fishermen, seaside, with seagulls flying overhead and tasting the salt air on
my lips.
In June, Valerie Grant and I had a magical week of our annual mind-body retreat, and it was our best gathering yet: from weather to food to mix of people. Yury Rockit from Vietnam joined to guest teach, and we also had pilgrims from Malaysia, Canada, USA, China, Turkey, Italy, and Greece. Some of them stayed after the retreat in my cottage, and we were quite full in my tiny place. One of my best friends, Mary, came from Athens to visit us for
that week. We laughed so hard we cried, never suspecting the imminent sadness that would befall Greece in only 2 short weeks thereafter.
Now Greece needs our prayers.
The great part about June was that I was with so many of my closest friends for the retreat and “stay-after” at my house. The saddest part about June was, for the first time in the history of my cottage there, I only spent about 30 days. Couple this w/the week
before the retreat to get ready, and the week after with guests, and the week after to clean, I had only a few days in Mykonos for home improvements and annual work. Leaving Villa Valentine for what will almost be a year was a bit sad at June’s end. We posted lots of retreat photographs of our outdoor Pilates, yoga, T’ai Chi, meditation, and Feldenkrais experiences on Facebook.
In Mykonos, I caught up with friends like Alana from Canada (I was best man at her
wedding years ago) and continued to volunteer/work in church. I also threw a small 50-birthday dinner party for those of my closest friends who couldn’t be with me in December of last year in the USA. The priest suggested that, instead of hiring someone to walk Biskit while I translated each mass in church, I just bring him into mass, which I started doing. Of course, he was his usual charming self, curled up in his Tumi from start to blessing.
On
the 4th of July, we left Greece for the other country with a red-white-and blue flag, England, making England the only country getting me for two months of the 12-month sabbatical so far. We flew into Paris and got into England via a car to a train through the Eurotunnel that LOVES dogs (hundreds make the crossing daily—there is a stop to clear the dog, then to clear the car, then to clear the passengers, and then you drive onto the train. 30 minutes later, you exit the
train and the French-then-English announcements say “please exit and drive here on the left, and turn your clocks back one hour; you have just gone back in time.”) It was a wonderful journey, and one that so many who commute between countries (France and England) daily take for granted, but I loved it.
Now we’re in villages outside of London having the time of our lives amidst warm (not hot) days, quick showers, cool nights, and lots of dog parks where dogs run
without leads (a new experience for Biskit, completely illegal in USA) and frolic together. I posted pics of this on Facebook. We’ve rented a condominium which is from a converted church and the charm and serenity inside are charming, even though it is sad to know that this once used to be a place of worship and is now a different type of dwelling place.
Teaser: I’m still writing for articles and magazines along the way. I don’t think I ever
could give up writing. I mentioned before that I’m writing a new book: I’m writing my first fiction book of 12 short stories: one short story from each country that does not have necessarily anything to do with where I am; I am just writing one per month.
If you are in fitness and attending a fitness convention this year, please tell me which one(s) you’ve chosen because the industry is changing and I love knowing where you are spending your time, energy, choice,
and money. The presenters teach the same thing almost everywhere, but you make choices about where to see us, so I love knowing what draws you.
Please stay in touch and let me know this gets to you….I love hearing about your summer as well, wherever that may be and however you choose to celebrate it.
My favorite would be for you to tell me you got my update on my Facebook page under the British flag posting for this month, but email also
works if you are not on Facebook.
As always, if I can be of assistance to you in fitness in any way, please contact me. You can always ask me short questions for free (as long as you don’t use the words “pick your brain”—long story but it’s a huge pet peeve) and, for longer consults and mentoring sessions, I’m happy to schedule hour long Skype sessions with you from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world…
Now we face mid-summer in
the English countryside with long walks, tons of pub visits to learn about a completely different type of pub culture, English gardens, sunny days, dog parks, and cool weather. August, however, will be a completely different story…
Stay tuned!!!
Our church converted condo outside London.
