Summer Adventures Await

How do you usually feel about the summer season? Does it inspire, challenge, or change your approach to health? I think summer is my favorite season. You know, when growing up as a kid, we were out, you know, my mother taught elementary school. So by summer vacation, as soon as the sun was up, she'd like go out and play and don't come back till the streetlights come on. So we lived outside, you know, we were outdoors constantly. And I still love being outside in the summertime. I love to go camping. I have a couple camping trips already scheduled. I tent or hammock camp, and I'm not in an RV or a cabin or anything like that. It's down in the dirt, out in the woods, and that's my happy place. I go out frequently in Frederick County to Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park. There's campgrounds there that I go to. It's kind of isolated and quiet. And you're just in the trees. And every weekend that I get the chance, I go out there. And last summer since I was sick, I went once. And I had withdrawal from not being out in the woods. But I didn't have the energy last summer to go pitch a tent and do everything that is required to do that. So I'm really looking forward to that this summer. Sometimes I'll go for a hike, and I can't hike as far as I used to be able to hike. I used to go five or six miles. Now I might go one or two. But I take my hammock and I find a couple of trees and I hang my hammock and I read a book in the middle of the woods with nobody around. And some of my friends think I'm weird, but you know, that's just so peaceful and restorative of whatever stress or anxiety you have, it's gone. So I'm really looking forward to that this summer. Do you find that holidays or travel at home or abroad affect how you manage your health, and if so, in what ways? Yes, because of the arthritis and the fibromyalgia, I'm not really a huge fan of traveling, being cramped in a car or plane for extended periods of time just because I get so stiff and sore. But in March, one of my girlfriends and I went to Texas to visit another one of our girlfriends, our little hiking group. So of course we flew to Houston. And I was surprised that I didn't feel as bad at the end of the flight as I usually do. You know, usually I'm just like, you know, try to get out of your seat and you're like a 90 year old woman, you know, trying to unfold your body and move. But this time I didn't really have that problem. It really wasn't as bad. I was much more comfortable than I anticipated being. But that can be a problem. If I'm driving on a long trip, I just stop every two hours and get out and walk around and just try to move as much as I can so things don't stiffen up while I'm sitting there, especially when you're in a position where you can't stretch your legs out or anything. My knees get pretty sore sitting there. But other than that, you know, I don't mind traveling. I love going new places. We had a great time in Houston. We were all over South Texas. And it was so much fun. So the travel, getting there and getting home is the hard part, the in between is the fun part.