The Exercise of Traveling

One thing I realized on my trip to London and Wales was the need to be in decent physical shape when traveling.

That doesn’t rule it out for anyone, but we often don’t consider the minimum requirements for certain trips.

My trip started at my cousin’s house in Wales. The bedrooms are upstairs. Just one flight of stairs. Sounds simple, huh? But I haven’t been up many steps lately and certainly not ones that narrow.

The first few days my knees felt every step. My left hip hurt. My ankles started to feel weak. I don’t have any stairs at home. It got better in the two weeks I stayed there, but early on I felt I had aged rapidly overnight.

Then there was London. I love public transportation and the tube in London is my favorite form of transportation. I carefully planned the time I took the bus from Wales so I could get there with plenty of daylight. I wasn’t worried – I had tons of time and there were several tube stations minutes away from my hotel.

I forgot it takes me a bit to get acclimated to a city and being very tired from a three-hour bus ride and hauling my luggage around, I didn’t pay great attention and jumped on the wrong tube. It took me a while to realize it – and even longer to do something about it.

I finally hopped off at a station with transfers to another line that I felt would get me there. A super nice guy helped me find where I wanted to go and directed me to head back in the opposite direction. He also carried my big suitcase up the tube steps for me – just another of those ways we need to be fit. We need to be able to carry our luggage.

I had the transportation app for London and found what it said was the closest stop to the hotel. It was different than the hotel’s website said, but I went with it.

I put the hotel address into Google maps and started walking, rolling my large suitcase over the uneven pavement, my backpack on my back and my purse thrown over crossbody.

I wasn’t focusing much in the time it said it was giving to take, but it seemed to be increasing. Still, what choice did I have?

Yes, it got tiring, but as I was walking by places like the British Museum (which I have spent quite a few hours in on past trips) I was quite happy. I was also happy to find my hotel and drop the luggage, though. When I got to my hotel my feet spoke to me and they were angry. They were better by morning.

I walked about 45 minutes with all the luggage, and yes, it was dark when I got there.

In later days I learned that tube station was only a few blocks from my motel – no more than ten minutes away. I must have just not paid enough attention to the directions (my ADHD mind). But these things happen when we travel. We have to be ready to walk and tote our luggage and deal with it her uncomfortable things.

I got progressively astute with the Google maps app walking component. Have you used the camera to check your location? Life changing.

I also set up Google Pay for not just the tube but everything. Another thing I have avoided at home, but am quite adept at now.

But the workouts. I had plantar fasciitis surgery last year and recovery took me a while. I still have issues standing still for long periods of time, but no issues walking. I walked miles and miles and saw some of the coolest things.

This trip was for theater and music and so very successful. I saw three great shows and went to a cool littie music bar that you had to buzz into and there were only 20 seats in the room with the musicians. I saw electronic street art that had me want to move in to the shelter that covered it.

Sometimes we learn lessons from the places and pieces we go to, sometimes those lessons are about ourselves. If we truly bring what we learn home with us, our lives are enriched.

Travel’s one of my favorite things and I want to be able to do it for a long time. That’s pretty good incentive to get my butt to the gym, isn’t it?