Our first trip to the Amazon blew me away. The sounds, the smells, the tastes…the heat, the humidity, the bugs…the things that can kill you! We spent two days at a remote jungle lodge called El Albergue Español run by the indigenous Amazon Quichua (kit-chew-wa). We enjoyed an amazing nature hike through a jungle preserve. […]
We’ve only been in Ecuador for a few days and we have already fallen in love. The people are warm, generous and very patient as we stumble with speaking Spanish. Everyone greets us with a smile and “buenas dias” – and we hope that is as far as the conversation goes because beyond that they […]
I had to give myself a little tough love earlier this week. It turns out I’ve been nurturing some pretty negative body image thoughts without really realizing it. Let me start at the beginning. I will only be taking a carry-on sized bag (plus a backpack) on our six-month around the world trip. Since space […]
I don’t often appreciate things until they are gone. I’m typically focused on the next great thing – forgetting to enjoy what I have at the time. My mother once told me this character trait makes me high maintenance because I am always distracted scheming the next great thing. She’s probably right (as mothers always […]
* GUEST POST by Glenn, Michele’s husband A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams – John Barrymore None of us are ageless. Eventually we will all be limited in one-way or another by age or circumstance. Not an especially cheery thought but something that I’m sure has crossed all of our […]
Croatia is the land of waterfalls, whiffs, warblers, weed-whackers and war. Glenn and I recently found ourselves in Croatia to run the first ever Dubrovnik International Half-Marathon and we spent some time after that event to explore this beautiful country. We decided to join an REI Adventures tour that included biking, hiking and kayaking across […]
Glenn and I recently found ourselves in Croatia. “I got us all signed up” Glenn said when I got home from work one day. “For what?” I asked. “For that half-marathon in Dubrovnik! You said you wanted to do it. Right?” Ahh, yet another miscommunication that results in an adventure! Last October we ran in the […]
“Running has taught me that I am capable of more than I ever imagined.” That was written on the back of a woman’s shirt at the Vortex Half-Marathon this past week. She had full knee braces on each leg, a big sweatband around her head and a slow jog with just a bit of a […]
“My heart’s not in it.” That is what a friend said to me the other day as we were discussing our mutual journey of getting healthy and losing weight. Her comments got me to thinking about all of the times in my life when my heart also wasn’t in it. I’ve certainly spent more time […]
It’s amazing what blowing air can do to combat gravity and this past weekend I got to experience it firsthand. Indoor skydiving it’s called. Imagine a 12-foot diameter clear vertical tube that goes up three stories…and then imagine 140+ mph winds whipping through said tube…and then imagine flinging your body into this wind tunnel and […]
Guest post by Glenn, Michele’s husband. If you have a personal goal heed my advice and keep it to yourself – otherwise you may just have to follow through with it. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against personal goals. I think finding something to challenge yourself with, especially something you aren’t quite sure is […]
A year ago this week I was bicycling through Vietnam – a dream come true. I had been captivated by the idea of biking the rice fields of Vietnam from the instant I saw pictures of such a trip on the REI adventure travel website nearly 10 years earlier when Glenn and I were looking […]
“You two look to be in great shape” is what our tour guide said upon meeting us on a very cold, windy and slightly rainy Sunday morning in Copenhagen. Certainly not a sentiment I’ve heard very much (ever) in my life. It made me blush. I still can’t get over it when that happens – […]
It turns out that sometimes…running sucks. I learned this important life lesson this past weekend when I participated in the Happy Girls Half-Marathon in Sisters, Oregon. Running 13 miles on forested trails in the high dessert of the Cascade Mountains with 500 other amazing women. What could be better than that? What could go wrong? […]
“Surround yourself with people that make you a better version of yourself” was the quote on the back of a guy’s t-shirt as we ran the Portland Half-Marathon last weekend. I had started studying the t-shirts people were wearing for this momentous event in an effort to distract myself from the fact that I was […]
