adventure

Trip to Disney Star Wars

I don’t like Star Wars (un-American, I know). But I love someone who loves Star Wars. So I found myself on the Disney Star Wars Galactic Space Cruiser. My presumption was that we’d have an interesting, albeit cheesy experience.

Having taken this ride with Disney, I can say they did something impressive, and I also understand why it’s failing.

From the moment we boarded the “shuttle” to our space cruise, it was fully immersive. The set was all consuming and the entire crew played along. Audience member costuming was mixed, but most came in costume and many had elaborate backstories they had prepared—some even with props.

I didn’t fully know what I was getting into until I was there. It’s a new style of tourism, and Disney’s advertising didn’t make it seem appealing. But, what they designed is a ton of fun and clearly took a lot of work. In addition to games and puzzles on your phone and throughout the elaborate, large spaceship, there is a cast that basically puts on an 8-hour play each day. They move the story along. They have lines they need to get through, but when they aren’t […]

Trip to Disney Star WarsMaggie Downie2023-08-22T11:32:03-04:00

Tips for Healthy Hiking

Hiking is one of my favorite pastimes. And it feels so much better when your body is ready to trek up a mountain. So how do you train for a hike? Here are some tips:

Pack Your Weight

Wear your pack when you train and put some weight in it. If you know how much weight you’ll be carrying on hike day, build up to that quantity. Getting a pack filled with weight can take time and extra effort. If that’s getting in your way of prepping, start moving without the pack.

Trekking Poles

Trekking poles are a lifesaver. If you want to hike into your 70’s and 80’s you want to get trekking poles today. Not only do they save your knees, but they turn the hike into a more full-body workout. On a typical hike, the arms aren’t that involved. Add trekking poles and now your arms and shoulders get a workout too.

Cardio

Any hike will feel better if you are ready for the cardio it will require. You can build up by hiking, biking, running, or picking up the pace when you go for a walk.

Core

It’s easy to forge

Tips for Healthy HikingMaggie Downie2023-08-01T14:00:29-04:00

Most Beautiful Place on Earth

“Namibia,” the flight attendant said when I asked her where the most beautiful place she’d ever been was. It took us years to get there after her suggestion, but we finally made it last month. There is a lot of pressure on a country when someone tells you it’s the most beautiful place they’ve ever been. I kept trying to remind myself to curb my expectations. How else would Namibia have a fighting chance?

Matt and I spent hours of our trip (there were many lengthy car rides) discussing what makes a place beautiful and how we rank or rate beauty. Architecture can be beautiful. A landscape can be stunning. A sunrise or rainbow with no specific place can catch your eye. Does a beach or a mountain provide more beauty? I love the mountains. Others prefer the beach. How does your mood in any given moment impact how you perceive a place? Can a spectacular place override any mood?

Namibia is striking. I found myself gobsmacked more than once and audibly and unintentionally would utter, “wow” in the awe of the landscape before me. One sunset we rode ATVs across the desert […]

Most Beautiful Place on EarthMaggie Downie2023-07-18T17:20:44-04:00

How Many Steps A Day?

Many of us believe we are supposed to walk 10k steps per day. The truth is that there has never been research to back that up. The number comes from a 1960’s, Japanese ad campaign for the first pedometer. Clearly the campaign worked because we’ve all been believing it ever since.

But now we have three research studies that indicate, perhaps to some people’s delight, that we may not need 10k steps for a substantial benefit. It looks like the magic sweet spot is between 7,000 and 8,000 steps. Upon crossing that threshold people decrease their chances of mortality by all causes by 50-70%.

These studies showed correlation not causation, so it is not evidence that walking makes you live longer, but people who walk certainly live longer. If you’d like to be in the “live longer” group, I’d encourage you to build up to 7k steps per day.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting if you already walk more than that (perhaps you have gotten in the habit of 10k steps) that you should reduce your goal. Increased steps was correlated with even more gains, but the most profound leap in longevity came […]

How Many Steps A Day?Maggie Downie2021-11-14T16:40:11-05:00

Tree Swallow Cruise–Connecticut

The tree swallows in the sky along the CT River.

Some friends and I went on a Tree Swallow Cruise with RiverQuest down the Connecticut River last week and if you can arrange it you have to go. It’s really reasonable ($40 per person) for the time (3-3.5 hours) and what you get to see (half a million to a million tree swallows flying around at dusk).

It was incredible, and if you live in Connecticut it is right here for us. So often when I want to see something naturally cool I feel like you have to travel to see it—Mexico for the butterflies, New Zealand for the glowworms, etc. But this is right here.

You bring your own drinks and snacks and board the boat by the Goodspeed Opera House. It takes about an hour to travel downriver to Old Saybrook while Mindy and Mark, your hosts, point out all different birds and information about the river along the way. Shortly before sunset the birds start to trickle in—a few at a time, then a few more, than hundreds, then they […]

Tree Swallow Cruise–ConnecticutMaggie Downie2017-10-25T14:24:29-04:00