Up All Night

I pulled an all-nighter. I finished packing but I just couldn't get to sleep. I was just way too excited about my trip.

I spent some time looking at different schedules at MMA gyms and CrossFit boxes in the different states I'll be visiting. I contacted a few. A couple of them got back to me already so I was able to schedule a session.

Kuwait is a small country, and although there are many gyms and health clubs, the level of professionalism and the quality plus variety of exercise programs, trainers, and general enthusiasm for fitness leaves something to be desired. That's why going through these different websites has been so exciting. There's so much out there! I wish I could experience them all, but I think I'd have to stay in the States for a few months and earn a fortune to be able to try all the different classes!

I have to restrain myself a bit. After all, this is not a fitness vacation. It's a vacation during which I intend to stay fit, but gym hopping on a daily basis is not really how I intend to spend the most of my time.

Ok. Enough of that.

I'm a bit annoyed that I'm going to be traveling with knuckles that look like this:

The picture below is from Sunday, the day I got the scrapes from my Kajukenbo class. I didn't realize they'd turn into such horrific scars (the two pix in the top row). In a way they do make me feel kinda badass. However, I don't want to look so badass when I'm on holiday!

Speaking of badass, on Tuesday I practiced the triangle choke for the first time. It was awesome!! What I liked even more was that they demonstrated how, if a larger, heavier person has you trapped on the ground, you can use your legs as leverage and yank them right off. I know that's what Jiujitsu is about - using your body as leverage to defend yourself against a larger opponent - but this move was really, really cool! :)

As I've been getting stronger with my MMA training, and my weight training of course, I've been enjoying walking into places, taking a look around, and thinking 'Ya, I could take you down.' There's something quite empowering about looking innocent and perhaps helpless, but knowing that you are strong.


I tried to read and comment on as many blog posts as I could. I've just been so behind and I feel like I've been neglecting some of my favorite bloggers. I hope to get to you guys soon. If only I could do this during my flights - that would definitely be a good use of my time.


One other thing about blogging has been on my mind. I don't know how often I'll be able to blog while I'm away, but I'll definitely try to post when I can. I was thinking of doing a photo journal of my eating throughout my trip. However, I know that there will be some indiscretions that are not a part of my regular lifestyle at all and I don't want to be seen as promoting and encouraging eating off plan. At the same time, this is a bit of an experiment for me - figuring out to what extent I really do have a healthy lifestyle. I know when others post pictures of them binge drinking or indulging in desserts, I refrain from commenting (particularly when it's a recurrent event and not really a one-off). Anyway. It's been on my mind. I haven't reached a decision about it yet. Something to think about during the flight ...

Door to door, I'll be traveling for a total of 25 hours. Jet lag is going to be a bitch.