my 2019 YEAR in REVIEW

On January 1, 2020December 29, 2019 By Rick McIn cycling, happiness, health & fitness, hiking, travel1 Comment

Tim Ferriss recommends we review the past year (which was GREAT) before making any plans for the next.

I want to be a #winner in 2020. Like this guy.

1. What were three to four highs of last year … and three to four lows?

23 day cycling tour of Patagonia

24 day cycling tour of the Pacific N.W.

30 days in Nepal – hiking and dental work

first visits to Prague and Budapest

So … travel, hiking and cycling remain my annual highlights.

I can’t recall any significant lows. I broke two laptops. Got stuck in Hungary without an exit visa. Ruined a pair of shoes. Nothing significant.

2. What enabled or motivated you to reach those highs, and how did you successfully move through the lows?

For travel I was more organized than in the past. Put together detailed gear lists. Made my plans months ahead rather than weeks or days in advance.

3. What worked and didn’t work? In other words, what do you need to do more or less of?

More of the same. Get organized early for my travels in 2020.

I spent more than I earned in 2019. I should work more, play less in 2020.

I did not ski enough in 2019. My goal is at least 5 days downhill.

4. What stressed you out the most, and how could you navigate it better?

Bicycle maintenance stresses me out. I’ve now downloaded The Complete Bike Owner’s Manual to my laptop and phone.

My only medical concern is high blood pressure. Need to monitor that more consistently.

I follow the high crimes and misdemeanours of Trump. The world seems to be getting worse, not better. … BUT my own life is unaffected. I don’t worry about an unexpected health care emergency as so many Americans do.

5. And, most important, what were you most grateful for in 2019, and how can you take that into 2020?

Good health. Myself and my family.

I ran more in 2019 than I have since at least 2008. Should run an hour a day at least 45 days of 2020. Enter at least 3 races in 2020.

ANYONE who lives within his means …

On December 30, 2019December 26, 2019 By Rick McIn economics, humour, travelLeave a comment

The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

On December 27, 2019December 22, 2019 By Rick McIn books, economics, happiness, health & fitness, philosophy, travelLeave a comment

I’m not much into self-help books.

But many people I admire follow Tim Ferriss. I finally got around to starting his classic book …

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

The evangelizing rah-rah turns me off … as does the focus on money while claiming not to care about money.

On the other hand, Ferriss does have some very good ideas. For example:

take more and longer vacations while young enough to enjoy them
work from inexpensive foreign nations, if you can, while earning hard currency
focus on strengths, instead of trying to fix weaknesses
Rid Yourself of Material Possessions
Sometimes Less Is More

Here’s my buddy Josh. He’s a digital nomad working online from a series of inexpensive nations — most recently Guatemala, Nepal and Vietnam.

related – my own philosophy of Voluntary Simplicity

farewell Bermuda, hello Great White North

On December 18, 2019December 16, 2019 By Rick McIn gymnastics, travelLeave a comment

I was back in Bermuda the past few weeks helping out the new Head Coach Brian LeRoux and staff.

I always enjoy Bermuda. Especially the weather.

One real problem, however, are road accidents. In one day both my buses were stopped due to accidents.

One of the teenage gymnasts had a terrible crash on his vespa a few weeks ago. He’s having multiple surgeries in a Boston hospital.

It’s dangerous to walk or cycle in Bermuda. The roadways are simply too narrow. There are many blind spots.

Trail Running in Bermuda

On December 17, 2019December 16, 2019 By Rick McIn health & fitness, travelLeave a comment

Last time in Bermuda I worked up to a run of 10km in 1 hour.

This time I changed it up. Worked up to a 7.8 km trail run. Fastest time was 57:38.

I ran 4 loops of the Spittle Pond Nature Reserve, the largest wildlife sanctuary in Bermuda.

The pond is salt water. Brackish. I saw it filling at high tide.

It was great to loop past the ocean each morning. Other than myself, I saw only a few dog walkers.

‘sea glass’ in Bermuda

On December 15, 2019December 16, 2019 By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

I was walking near Fort St. Catherine in Bermuda when I happened upon a swimming pool filled with broken glass.

Apparently people collect fragments of broken glass bottles that have been smoothed naturally in the ocean.

UPDATE – Rockin’ thinks this much broken glass has likely been collected to be used as a replacement for gravel. A drainage layer, perhaps, for the nearby golf course renovation.

my best cycling adventure … so far

On November 25, 2019January 11, 2020 By Rick McIn best bike rides, cycling, travelLeave a comment

Annapurna Circuit, Nepal.

I did the Muktinath to Tatopani ride in 2013. Enjoyed it so much that I repeated exactly the same trip in 2019.

It went better in 2019.

Click PLAY or get a glimpse on YouTube.

Read my 2019 trip report.

Here’s my trip report from 2013.

Kathmandu via Doha to London $368

On November 24, 2019 By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

If you have lots of time — and spend some of that time shopping for bargains — you can get good deals on flights.

Especially if you are flying to or from London.

Included in my $368 fare with Qatar Airways was a free hotel night in a 4-star Doha hotel.

When I booked that hotel it looked like I was supposed to pay $22 / night. But when checking out they said I owed nothing. Hotel shuttle both ways was free too. Most nations get a free visa on arrival in Qatar.

This is the first time I’ve managed to deliberately book a free hotel stopover. It’s more difficult than the advertising would lead you to believe.

___

For future trips I often start looking at options using Google flights.

Once I decide on departure and arrival cities, I check prices on Google Matrix Airfare search.

Click ‘calendar of lowest fares‘ to see the range over a 30 day period.

If possible, I actually book the flight on the airline’s website. If they have a slow or confusing interface — or if the fare is higher than I found on Google — I start checking aggregators instead.

Some airlines are not on Google Matrix nor most aggregators: Southwest Airlines, Virgin America, EasyJet, Ryan, etc.

the NEW National Museum of Qatar

On November 23, 2019November 21, 2019 By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

I was in Doha, Qatar in 2018. The fantastic structure was nearly completed, but wasn’t open yet.

The galleries themselves include giant immersive screens. It’s impressive.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The National Museum of Qatar opened to the public on 28 March 2019. …

The 430,000 square foot (40,000 m²) museum is made up of interlocking discs that create cavities to protect visitors from the desert heat. …

Time Magazine named it one of the World’s Greatest Places to Visit in 2019, citing the integration of “immersive video screens and dioramas” into Jean Nouvel’s architectural design.

official website

The museum is great. The space is open at night too. And that’s free.

♫ … going to Kathmandu?

On November 22, 2019November 21, 2019 By Rick McIn food, hiking, travelLeave a comment

Kathmandu is awful. One of the most polluted cities of the world. Traffic is a nightmare. Drinking water highly risky. The airport is horrid.

UPDATE – the core streets of the tourist area Thamel have been made mostly pedestrian only. That’s a BIG improvement.

On recent trips I’ve flown into Kathmandu — then departed as quickly as possible to Bhaktapur or Pokara.

For one thing, many visitors get sick in Kathmandu within the first couple of days.

In 2019 I ended up staying in Kathmandu two days at the end of my trip as the departure was out of the city.

As always, I visited my favourite attraction — the Monkey Temple.

Swoyambhunath is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley … It is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living (there) …

The Swayambhunath complex consists of a stupa, a variety of shrines and temples, some dating back to the Licchavi period. A Tibetan monastery, museum and library are more recent additions. …

The stupa consists of a dome at the base, above which is a cubical structure painted with eyes of Buddha looking in all four directions with the word “unity” in the main Nepali dialect between them …

P1240229

The second night I went, as usual, to the Great Stupa. Had dinner on one of the rooftop restaurants.

The ancient Stupa is one of the largest in the world. The influx of large populations of refugees from Tibet has seen the construction of over 50 Tibetan Gompas (Monasteries) around Boudhanath. As of 1979, Boudhanath is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. …

Tibetan merchants have rested and offered prayers here for many centuries. When refugees entered Nepal from Tibet in the 1950s, many decided to live around Boudhanath. …

Here are a few other random photos from my last days in Nepal.