As I get ready for the GSE to Taiwan, I’m thinking about packing light. I’ll be away for almost six weeks (four weeks in Taiwan and 11 days in Japan) and will have professional, casual and vacation clothes as well as other things.
While in Taiwan, I’m staying with Rotarian host families and won’t want to have a bunch of stuff to cart around from home to home. I’ll have my camera gear, my iPad2 and a suitcase of clothes and necessities.
I’ve been reading about techniques for dealing with jet-lag and one suggestion is to try and incorporate 30 minutes rigorous exercise during your regular REM period for three consecutive days after you arrive. I’ll need to calculate my REM period and then do the timezone math, but it’s something I’d like to try and do even for the first day or two after we arrive. I’m a runner and it’s one of the easiest ways of exercising. Slipping on a pair of sneakers, turning on some music with a heavy beat is the perfect thing for me. But my running shoes aren’t small (besides the fact that I have BIG feet, they’re not compact footwear) and I don’t see myself wearing them a lot when I have a pair of casual sneakers I’d rather wear.
I’m guilty of bringing way too much clothes and footwear when I travel, so I’m struggling with what I should and shouldn’t bring. And with the whole idea of exercising, at this point it’s exactly that: an idea. It may not even be possible to work into my schedule. The idea of bringing a large pair of footwear I may not even put on has me looking for other options.
Potential solution: my Vibram FiveFingers or as I like to call them – my toe shoes!
Don't they just look like they're full of crazy?!
Read the rest of this entry »
