Indelible Adventures: A fine line...

Welcome to Indelible Adventures! If you enjoy what you read here please subscribe to my weekly distribution list via the Indelible Adventures website or browse my latest photos and upcoming adventures and travel tips. In addition, if you'd like to follow me on all my social media - see the links below.

Facebook - Google+ - Twitter - Instagram - LinkedIn - ImageBrief - National Geographic

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be clear this is an extremely fine line between being fit and becoming obsessive…and I’m afraid I may have “jumped the shark”!

Recently I purchased a Fitbit, and for those that don’t know it’s an Apple watch that helps track your daily activities, including the number of steps you take, your heart rate, the amount of sleep you get, your daily exercise, your water intake, your weight etc.

On the surface it was a smart purchase but now that I’ve had it a month or so I fear that I’ve become both addicted and just a tad obsessive with it. While I like the fact that at a glance I can check all my vitals and feel good in the fact that I’m getting closer to my daily goal of 15 floors climbed or my 10,000 steps achieved I feel in some ways pressured to make sure I’m achieving every day.

Clearly, that is the goal and agree that it’s important to keep active and healthy but I’ve been unconsciously taking it to an extreme. A perfect case in point is my weekend in New York City where the weather was well over 38C or 100F, just another summers day in the big apple – right?

Apparently so, because all those tall buildings trap the heat at street level during the summer, which makes it unable to dissipate. Although, if you thought it was hot at street level, venture into the subway system for just a moment. OMG! It's unbearable down there because all of the hot air generated in the system , coupled with a few million of bodies moving about - its literally suffocating. I was unlucky enough the catch the subway both Saturday and Sunday and each time neither subway car had any cooling…it made for very miserable journeys indeed. You could wring out my t-shirt and shorts when I arrived into Brooklyn.

Heat stroke is a real possibility in these circumstances if you’re not careful and so constantly staying hydrated is critical.

This is where the crazy FitBit/obsessive TW comes in… Zach and I caught the subway to Williamsburg in Brooklyn about 10:30 on Saturday morning, stepping from the subway on Bedford Avenue you could fry an egg on the sidewalk under the cloudless blue sky. My only saving grace is that I slathered myself with sunscreen before leaving the hotel, but by the time we made it up to Rough Trade, Zach’s favourite record store on 9^th Avenue we were drenched and so welcomed the cool respite of the store.

After browsing for some 30 minutes, Zach said he was tired and wanted to go over to GreenPoint to another record store before heading back to the hotel to rest after his late night out with his mates from Georgetown that he’d caught up with the previous evening until the wee hours.

I was now at a bit of a loss as to what to do...

I’d been mulling over whether to walk back or take the subway but exploring easily won out and so decided to walk around before making my way over the Brooklyn Bridge and back to Manhattan.

Easier said than done! For starters I hadn’t realized how big Brooklyn actually is and the considerable distance between Williamsburg and the bridge...especially when you layer in the incredible heat. Initially I wandered along capturing some amazing street art as I wandered along Kent Avenue, before turning onto Flushing Avenue past Steiner Studios and the old Brooklyn Navy Yards into the Dumbo neighborhood.

The distance isn’t that long, in fact only four miles but along this route there are few places to stop and get a bottle of water, and even fewer signs of life on a hot Saturday afternoon. This old industrial area is in the process of regenerating and so has lots of abandoned buildings, and vacant lots but not a lot else. As I’m sure you well know, by the time you feel thirsty you’re already dehydrated and the further I walked I began to feel a little light headed. Yes, a major warning sign!

All I could do was berate myself for not carrying any water with me while constantly searching for a place to stop and take some shade and get a drink. Eventually I spotted the Brooklyn Roasting Company where I availed myself with two bottles of water and a bottle of coconut water (best rehydrating drink you can get btw).

After a 20 minute break I continued on with my goal of walking to the Brooklyn Bridge, but I was fast losing my energy and settled on taking the Manhattan bridge instead. This bridge deposits you on Canal street in Chinatown, which actually worked out well because I could take my time and stroll at my leisure under the cover of awnings as I made my way up to the hotel.

In all I covered 22.7 km (14 miles) on foot during one of the hottest days of the year… Crazy I know. However, if you think that’s crazy I followed it up the very next day with another 15 km’s (9.3 miles). Not surprisingly after further research (thankyou Fitbit - I walked 70 km’s (43.5 miles) for the week). Yikes!!!

I guess the big question is – “would I have really worried, cared or tracked this without my Fitbit?” Likely not…but the scary part is that I’m trying to figure out ways to beat that distance next week.

Call me crazy!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Hanoi Posting” A series of fictional micro-stories by Terence Wallis

Come visit "Hanoi Posting" at its new home!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This week's photos are from my trip to New York.

Enjoy!