When I was younger I found the hustle and bustle of metropolis living to be very attractive. I grew up in a quiet country setting, and the idea of being around more people all the time sounded nice. As the years passed, and having moved several times to both big and smaller areas, I’ve become the type who enjoys big cities sparingly. Suburbia now gives me what I need, which is the best of both worlds.

I traveled to New York City a few times in the past couple years, and it oddly gives me that sense of reprieve. The city has an energy that can only be explained by visiting it. Instead of escaping to somewhere quieter, I found my version of a reset by trading in the familiar for more noise, more people, and more city. It’s also a temporary reminder of how others live, which is one of the great benefits of travel.

Here’s my favorite way to spend a day in the Big Apple.

MORNING

There is a particular kind of magic that belongs to New York City in the morning, before the horns start and the sidewalks fill, when the city feels almost like it could be yours. The best place to meet that feeling is at The Thompson Hotel Central Park, a sleek, well-appointed base camp steps from the park where the rooms are calm and the address is unbeatable. Wake up without rushing. Today, you have the whole city ahead of you.

Before anything else, coffee. Walk a few blocks to Zibetto, a proper Italian espresso bar. The kind where you stand at the counter, order a doppio, and drink it the way it’s meant to be drunk: fast, strong, and with nothing to prove. It’s a genuine slice of Milan on Sixth Avenue, and it sets the tone for the day.

With caffeine in hand, step into Central Park. Whether you run or wander, it doesn’t much matter, the park rewards both. At this hour the paths belong to joggers, dog walkers, and the occasional chess player already setting up a board. Follow the loop, cut through the Ramble, or simply trace the path wherever it leads. Central Park is one of the great feats of urban design in the world, and it earns its reputation every single morning.

When the legs need a rest and the stomach starts to argue, head to Liberty Bagels. A proper New York bagel (dense, chewy) is its own thing entirely. Get it toasted. Get it loaded. Eat it on the go like a true New Yorker.

AFTERNOON

Take the subway south. The 9/11 Memorial sits at the footprint of the original Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan, and no matter how many times you visit, whether it’s your first or your fifth, it stops you in your tracks. The twin reflecting pools are enormous and perfectly still, each one an absence that somehow says everything words cannot. The names etched into the bronze parapets make the loss immediate and human. Give it the time it deserves. Wander through the oak trees. Let the city noise fall away for a while.

From the memorial, walk north into SoHo. The neighborhood transitions gradually, first the glass towers of the Financial District, then the cobblestoned blocks and cast-iron facades that make SoHo one of the most architecturally interesting stretches in the city. Galleries sit beside boutiques, boutiques beside coffee shops, and all of it under those gorgeous nineteenth-century buildings. It’s the kind of neighborhood you can drift through for an hour without meaning to. When hunger reasserts itself, find your way to Prince Street Pizza. The square Sicilian slice, topped with spicy pepperoni cups that curl and crisp at the edges, has earned its legend. Eat outside if you can. People-watch. This is the city at its most alive.

EVENING

Head back uptown to the Thompson, clean up, and make the switch from explorer to something a little more presentable. Tonight calls for it. Via Brasil, the Brazilian steakhouse tucked quietly in Midtown, is one of those restaurants that feels like a discovery even when you’re not the first to find it. The rodízio service (grilled meats carved tableside in an endless parade) is the kind of dinner that makes you wish you’d arrived hungrier. The caipirinhas don’t hurt either.

After dinner, it’s time for the main event. If Broadway is on your list, and it always should be, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is worth every minute of its nearly four-hour runtime. Staged in two acts that move like theater magic, the production is technically breathtaking, with illusions and staging choices that make you genuinely wonder how they did it. For anyone, like me, who grew up with Harry, Hermione, and Ron, watching those characters return older, flawed, and deeply recognizable, is something close to emotional. It’s the best kind of Broadway experience: spectacle that earns its sentiment.

When the curtain falls and you spill back into the Midtown night, the city will still be very much awake. Walk back to the Thompson through the electric pulse of it all. The neon, the crowds, the feeling that every other person on this sidewalk has also just experienced something. There is nowhere quite like New York, and there is no better way to know that than at the end of a day spent inside it.

Let me set the scenario for you.

The year is 1997. It’s Friday night. Mom just picked up a couple pizzas from Dominoes along with a two liter bottle of Surge (drink) and a VHS rental copy of Independence Day from Blockbuster. You’ve got three friends coming over for a sleepover. The couch fort has been assembled. The Nintendo 64 is plugged in with four controllers, one for you and each friend. Mario Kart is up first, followed by Goldeneye, then Star Fox. You don’t realize it now, but you’re having a peak moment in life, and you’re not going to get it back.

Well, at least not Blockbuster, because they thought Netflix wasn’t worth the money.

Oh, and Surge, which is probably for the best.

ModRetro

I got to thinking recently about the scenario above. I’m not sure I ever had the exact experience, but certainly close. I was born in 1988, so while I missed the 80s rock scene (bummer), I had a front row seat to the Gameboy/N64 gaming era. The Nintendo 64 specifically was significant, being it brought a new 3D landscape to modern gaming, allowing players a much more immersive gaming experience that has only expanded as years have gone by.

Those consoles were designed not only for individual use, but group play as well. Not through internet play (which hadn’t quite taken off yet), but a literal hardware connection. The Gameboy was designed with a link port to allow players to play with/against one another on separate consoles. The Nintendo 64 came with a four controller port, all in one console, finally allowing more than two people to go at it on games such as Mario Kart, which on previous versions only allowed up to two players at one time.

Fast forward thirty years later (N64 released in 1996), gaming has changed significantly. The last time I owned a gaming console (PS2) was in high school, before I sold it to GameStop upon graduation. I haven’t kept up at all with modern gaming. From what I understand most multi player games are played online now, demanding an internet connection to sync up so you can exchange profanities with complete strangers, which I suppose is thrilling in its own way.

ModRetro is a company that started back in 2009 by a young man named Palmer Luckey, who later would develop the Oculus VR that is now owned by Meta. ModRetro was originally an online forum for interested parties to share ideas on custom built video game consoles. In 2023, Luckey re-established it as a hardware company. Its first product released was the Chromatic, which is a reimagining of the Gameboy Color, except made of a much sturdier and lightweight magnesium shell with pixel perfect display.

Around the time of the holidays this past year was when I first learned about the Chromatic. Immediate nostalgia kicked in. Memories of me playing my Gameboy Color around the time of the late nineties, linked up with my friends on the playground after school to trade and battle Pokemon. It was an opportunity I could have passed up, and my wife probably wished that did, but I didn't.

I bought one.

The Chromatic

Besides the hardware, the coolest spec about the Chromatic is that it is compatible with both Gameboy games and games made specifically for the ModRetro platform. The picture and sound are excellent. It’s configured with the original Gameboy button setup, to include the cable link port, simulating the exact experience of a Gameboy Color. It works off batteries, and also has a link to plug directly into your PC. The benefit of the PC connection is that ModRetro has their own software you can download to update the firmware on your device to be sure you always have the most up to date gaming experience.

All Chromatic console purchases come with a free copy of Tetris, which is still a classic. A lot of the classic games for GameBoy (and other retro consoles) are no longer manufactured, but companies like DK Oldies collect these types of games and refurbish them for modern play. Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Pokemon…all still compatible on the Chromatic.

The next product to be rolled out by ModRetro is the M64. As you can guess, the concept is the same as the Chromatic/Gameboy Color, except the M64 will be an updated Nintendo 64 experience. The new console is taking pre-sale orders now and is expected to be released later this year.

Retro Future?

The final act of the sleepover scenario, as detailed in the beginning, was when parents would come in the next morning and insist on you and your friends to go outside and stop spending so much time in front of the television. As an outdoor and fitness enthusiast looking back, I couldn’t agree more. Better memories are had in the physical world, not the digital.

With the development of mobile phones, screen time has only surged (not the drink) since the 90s. Thirty years later, fueled by declining community involvement and heavy social media use, human loneliness is more prevalent than ever. With that being said, I don’t condone spending hours a day inside a digital world, but rather prioritizing nature and human connection. It’s how our bodies were intended to thrive.

As a millennial, it’s exciting to see modern/retro gaming consoles make their way back on to the scene while maintaining the original experience. Anything can be bad if abused, even gaming. Spending a whole weekend locked inside your room with frozen pizza, soda, and crashing out on Halo? Probably not the best use of your time. Getting a group of friends together on Saturday night to rib each other over Mario Kart for a few hours? In my opinion, good for the soul.

My wife and I enjoy this thing where we re-watch old films and see how they hit as an adult. Films watched during your childhood have a much different impact that time than they do when you reach adulthood. Corporate jobs and taxes really mess with your perspective.

Pixar was always big during my child/young adulthood. Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc…classics. I’ve been seeing a lot of content recently about earlier forms of art that have predicted the future accurately, specifically in film and television. I got to thinking about one film recently that I hadn’t watched since its original release in 2008, and the conversation at the time on the film being too judgmental on modern society.

WALL-E is a film about a robot, specifically the last robot on Earth left to clean up an apocalyptic mess generated by humans, who have since left Earth for outer space living due to the planet’s uninhabitability. The robot, WALL-E (which stands for “Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth Class”), ends up finding a living organism on Earth, and through a new relationship made, sets out on a journey to present evidence that Earth is now habitable.

It’s a moving story. Like most things Disney there’s a lot of emotion, humor, and adventure. At the original time of watching this I would have been nineteen years of age, and thought some of the “futuristic” elements to the story line were a bit farfetched, supporting the science fiction aspect. When my wife and I watched it recently, we were taken aback by the accuracy in its projections.

The Corporate Giant

Target and Walmart were dominant businesses long before Amazon came on the scene. In 2020 we were all convinced that it was much safer to shop in one of the two superstores than it was your local independent goods store. Not only that, but Amazon made a significant jump as a well positioned all things delivery option, establishing itself as the world’s largest retailer as of this year. A company that at one time was just an online book store now offers media streaming (to include original shows/movies), cloud infrastructure (IT), medical insurance, clothing apparel, and even an online pharmacy, just to list a handful of services.

The introduction of WALL-E starts with a background story (told through digital billboards) of advertisements for a company called “Buy n Large”, which after a brief run through is made known as a mega-corporation that had controlled all aspects of life, technology, and politics on Earth before humankind departed. Watching this, and taking consideration of the year, made me ponder if there was a specific company the writers had in mind for story inspiration.

In earlier years, I always liked the idea of having all my eggs in one basket, but have now (with age) seen the benefit of having different vendors for various needs. In my work as an engineer, we always had fail over options in the environment for unpredictable events, unrelated to business ethics. Companies are for profit, and the decisions they make, no matter how sympathetic their marketing is, are always made with a selfish angle. That angle is more customers, more money, and more control of the market.

The film gives a very clear example of what our world would look like without independent representation, and provoking thought (for a young audience) about monopolistic agendas in big corporations.

The Size

As would be expected in any futuristic film, there’s futuristic technology. The latter half of the film takes place on the starliner where humans now live, and have lived for seven hundred years years since departing Earth. Instead of walking or conversing, humans are carried around on hovercraft seats where they spend all day being served by robots and entertained via attached virtual screens.

As accurately depicted, every human being in the film is morbidly obese. So obese and inactive in fact, that in one scene a human falls off his hovercraft seat and has to wait until the robots arrive to scoop him up and put him back in. There’s a part of it that’s meant to be humorous, but it’s certainly sincere in its point. More automation equals less resistance. Less resistance means less strength. Less strength is less living.

Hard to imagine this depiction of obesity being displayed in modern film, let alone Disney. Human feelings have become MUCH more vulnerable since 2008, but the human depiction as displayed in this film is very real. Some may find it an over exaggeration, and it may have been around the time when the film was released, but looking at the world now it’s not too far off. The modern lifestyle for many is defined by stagnancy, processed food, and excessive entertainment, supporting the average obesity rate to be around 40% of adults in the United States.

The Check Out

In almost any situation now where somebody is sitting, they’re always looking at their phone. Whether it’s in the break room, on the subway, or even in a restaurant, it’s automatic reaction to pull out your phone. Same thing at home, for many it’s just natural to turn on the television for entertainment. Part of this is just addictive habit, but a lot of it is people not wanting to be in their own thoughts. There’s more opportunities than ever for humans to check out of reality and be somewhere else.

As mentioned above, all the humans in WALL-E have no perception of what is going on around them. They’re enthralled in their digital screens, never taking notice in their environment. Once given the opportunity to truly see what is around them, they’re shocked at what they’ve been missing out on. It’s intentional what the writers were trying to communicate.

The robots on board, who are more or less led by an AI “Auto Pilot”, have an objective to keep the humans checked out and supported so they don’t notice their environment. Too many questions being asked on why they’re still on the spacecraft could cause an uproar. Feels like a very familiar playbook if you think about it.

Conclusion

WALL-E feels like a kid friendly mix of The Matrix and Idiocracy. It projects a future of misguided reality, dumbed down humanity, and monopolistic corporations that have been fulfilled in some ways since its original release. The AI objective is to keep the humans out of the loop, and checked out as much as possible. So what does is do? It has the robots on board cater to the humans in every way, making the AI existence fully dependent upon for life. AI is relevant now, but you can also take that message and apply it to how government works as well.

My guess is that the generational perspective is the reason why I originally didn’t pick up on any of the significant topics referenced above. I was way too naive. Film as an art is intended to convey a message. This is a great (and somewhat terrifying) film to make a conversation out of. If you find it offensive, then the film has successfully gone beyond just being pure entertainment and has initiated something much more impactful, self reflection.

That’s true art, we can use more of that.

The Sandscript

I started weightlifting when I was in college. It was the first time I had access to a workout facility besides the one dusty bench my small private school had which I never used. I had no idea what I was doing, so I stuck to the machines. The way the university rec center was set up was they had the circuit machines in one room and the free weights in a separate room, which both could see each other through a giant window. I had aspirations of gaining muscle when I got to college. I was barely six feet and 135 pounds wet, and was one of the few people I knew eager to put on my “freshman 15”.

A few months in to college I began working at the local YMCA as a fitness attendant, which basically was a glorified lifeguard for the weight room. I started picking up on different weightlifting exercises by observing the members. I also got a copy of Strength Training Anatomy by Frederic Delavier (a classic), which educated me on what movements strengthened what muscles. After spending months doing the circuit machines over and over again, I decided to check out the free weight(s) room at the campus rec. It was an intimidating walk to the other side. I felt like everyone was looking at me as soon as I walked in. I was still pretty scrawny, and clearly had a novice appearance. Looking back and realizing how checked out people are in the weight room, they probably didn’t even notice me.

Weightlifting became a huge part of my life. I went to bed every night thinking about what body parts I would exercise the next day, and anxiously looked forward to each training session. I started putting on muscle, gained confidence, and formed many friendships along the way. I did traditional weight training for six years until I found a new community and interest in CrossFit, which I still do today, but with a more cautious mindset.

While working out with free weights benefitted me greatly in both my physical and mental health, it came with some physical tolls along the way that I avoided as long as I could, until it was impossible. What I thought were just lower back strains for overuse turned out to be a bulging disc. These “strain” episodes began to happen more frequently with heavy explosive movements involving free weights, usually a barbell.

I gave up weightlifting briefly and realized soon that was not the answer. My muscles began to deplete and I became more at risk for injury since I had nothing to protect my weakened structure. And to be honest, from a point of vanity, I didn’t like the way I looked. I got back into weightlifting and decided just to be more conscious about the movements I executed, and along the way I discovered a new (to me) modality that has been crucial to my fitness regiment, especially at home.

Sand-emonium

Early last year I ran a half marathon in Miami with a weight vest. The weight vest, which I still use today, was not your typical material. Instead of solid weights it had two pockets to insert sand packs into, allowing for a total of twenty pounds of weight. I had used weight vests in the past, and while I liked the concept and benefit, the weights would constantly bang on my chest and stomach, causing discomfort and bruising thereafter. This particular sand weighted vest didn’t do that. In fact, while you could very much still feel the weight resistance, the sand felt way more comfortable with movement, almost like it molded to my body with time.

I was intrigued by the idea of sand weight exercises, and upon returning home immediately bought some play sand and a sandbag by GORUCK. The sandbag I purchased was eighty pounds, which didn’t sound heavy when I bought it, but when I got it filled up the challenge was more in the awkwardness and not so much the weight. I knew most of the movements I did with the barbell could be translated in some form to a sandbag, and after some finagling, I started to feel more comfortable with the movements. Deadlifts, thrusters, lunges, bent over rows…all these began to feel more natural over time.

The unstable and shifting nature of the sand load was significant in improving my functional strength and stability. My whole body was working together to try and maintain the stability of the sand, which unlike a solid weight, was not fixed and demanded more work from my core. This was highly beneficial to someone like me seeking to strengthen my (at the time) weak core with the incorporation of strength training. It was heavy weight, but not too heavy. Good for higher rep counts and continued functional strength improvement.

One of the best things about working out with a sandbag is that it’s easier on my joints. Since sand is more of a molding product than a solid fixed weight, it promotes more of a low impact exercise. If you toss it over your shoulder or do movements where your constantly moving the weight up and off the ground, it molds to the object for which it’s working with, giving less of a vibrational reaction to your joints.

Take a barbell movement, say a deadlift for example. Every time you hinge forward and allow the barbell to hit the floor, you send a slight vibration throughout your body. To some people, this is not much of a factor, but for those experiencing disc issues, it’s highly impactful. If you’ve got a bulging disc, this type of constant vibrational response is like a small hammer taking little hits on your disc up until the point it protrudes and hits a nerve. The same case can be made for running on the beach versus the street, the sand is certainly more difficult to move in, but it’s less impactful on your knees.

A Firm Sandshake

My fitness goals have significantly changed since I first began my weightlifting journey. Having the lower back injury was disappointing, but it prompted me to re-evaluate my body and my fitness goals sooner rather than later, which could have led to more permanent damage. Instead of lifting as much weight as possible, longevity has taken priority. Movements that feel more natural and weight that is more of an impactful resistance than it is outright crushing.

I don’t solely work out with sand now, but it’s been a nice option to sub in. I still attend my Crossfit classes off and on, but I’m more intentional about the workouts I do based on the movements. Just to clarify, I don’t have anything against free weights, in fact I think that they’re essential to maintain and improve strength in our bodies over time. I’m always interested in alternative methods of fitness, because while most of our bodies are similar in how they perform, we’re all different in some facet. Different genetics, jobs, and lifestyle choices all lead to different strengths and weaknesses. The more functional fitness options, the better.

Our bodies demand our ownership in finding ways to continue staying active and fit over time, even if that calls for change and adaption. Sand is a natural alternative that has allowed me to continue my functional fitness journey in a low impact way. Who knew it was under my feet the whole time.

The Sell-Off

When I started middle school I had reached the era of “coolness”. My interests in previous years leading up to that point I now considered to be childish. The clothes I wore, the games I played, the music I listened to…it no longer suited the teenage scene that began to surround me. It was 2001 and I had just entered the era of post grunge rock, baggy jeans, sports, and of course girls. To make room for my new closet of extra small band tees and CD tower stack, I had to purge all items that defined my childhood…but I also wanted to make a profit.

My mother was a savvy garage sale enthusiast, mostly a consumer, but occasionally jumping in on a friend’s sale to sell old items that were no longer of use in our house. On one particular garage sale, I decided to set up my own table and sell some items that were at one point very dear to me. Items that I had spent the previous few years collecting and trading to amass the ultimate collection of rarity. Kept clean in a zip up binder, this Saturday morning I sat at the table, taped up a pathetically self made “For Sale” sign, and opened up my Pokemon trading card collection.

Never much of a bargainer, I was a bit self conscious about making up prices for kids and their parents on trading cards, but nevertheless, I got into a rhythm. One dollar here, five dollars there, I was sort of making it up as I go. I didn't know the market value for these cards, but I was young enough to know the playground value. Holographic cards were the most desirable, so I marked those up. Others I sold for almost nothing or just tossed in with the more rarer cards. I remember being surprised about how quickly I made a hundred dollars, which for a twelve year old at that time was big cash.

I remember my most prized card was a holographic Charizard (generation 1). I don’t remember where I got it, but I knew I would price it the highest. I used to go the book store on the weekends and trade cards with other kids in town, and that may have been where I picked it up. All these cards, I should mention, were part of the base set that was released in 1999, which was the inaugural release of the card collection in the United States. Pokemon was big at this point, but I don’t think anyone (clearly not I) knew just how far this franchise was going to go. It pains me to write this, especially with the recent news of Logan Paul selling his Charizard card for almost a million dollars, but I sold my base set holographic Charizard trading card…for fifteen dollars.

The Origin

After I caught my breath hearing about Paul’s big sale, I lost it again realizing soon after that the Pokemon franchise just hit its thirty year anniversary. Very impressive that a franchise like this is still going strong without much sign of slowing down, but also that it had been thirty years since that time of my youth. An overall great lesson to be learned in both patience and the importance of holding on to your assets.

Pokemon, which is taken from the Japanese name for “Pocket Monsters” (Poke = Pocket, Mon = Monsters), was an idea conceived by a man named Satoshi Tajiri. Tajiri grew up in a suburb of Tokyo, spending lots of time in the natural areas around his home searching and catching various types of insects. During the time of his youth, Japan had begun to significantly recover from the recession it was left in post World War II. Many cities, including the area where Tajiri lived, began to expand. This suburban growth paved over the pond and field areas where he would look for insects, which now had been made into more of a concrete jungle.

Thereafter Tajiri attended school to study electrical engineering. During this time he started a video game focused magazine called Game Freak, which was a first at the time in Japan to have a magazine focused on the gaming industry. The magazine ended up folding, but Tajiri ended up using the name again to start his own video game developing company.

The concept of Pocket Monsters had a variety of influences. Tajiri had toyed with the idea off and on, but unsure of how to create a world for his vision. He had been an enthusiast of a Japanese science fiction series called Ultraseven. One of the main characters in the show carries an assortment of small ball like capsules which contain monsters (kaiju) that can be released when needed, growing to their original size when let out. When the Game Boy was released in 1989, it was advertised that the device would have a link port, allowing for users to connect and play games together on two different devices. Tajiri saw this device and knew it would fulfill his vision of allowing players to not only capture and battle these fictional animals, but also trade within the digital universe.

Long story short, Tajiri was able to present his idea to a subsidiary of Nintendo called Ape, which from there made its way up to the president of Nintendo. The response from the president upon hearing that idea was reportedly “This is it. This is the idea I've been waiting for." A development contract was signed, and after years of off and on development, the initial game(s) (Red/Green) were released in Japan in 1996, with the United States to follow two years later (Red/Blue) in conjunction with the American version of the popular anime show.

And the rest is history. Thirty years later and at this time, the franchise boasts twenty eight television seasons, twenty three animated films, video games across all Nintendo platforms (including mobile phones with Pokemon Go), merchandise, theme parks, etc. All motivated by a young man who desired to recreate a world that was taken from him.

The Lessons

I never knew the origin story of this franchise until last week. I’m not sure I would have appreciated it the same way if I had learned about it when I was much younger. I used to think that all great ideas were entirely original, including Pokemon, but that isn’t the case. Sure, the actual Pokemon are uniquely created as fictional characters, but concepts of the franchise were created with inspiration from other fictional art that came before it. The only difference is that Pokemon was done better. Can you imagine if Mark Zuckerberg forfeited his idea for Facebook because he thought that Myspace already capitalized on the social media market? Life changing.

There’s an inner child component to this as well. Tajiri didn’t choose to purge his childhood interests as he got older or when nature was stripped from him. He held on to those memories that brought him joy, and used that as a catalyst to create a universe that has spanned generations. It’s a lesson to all of us that while adulthood is inevitable, terminating childhood interests for the sake of age is a poor excuse. Selling off my card collection may have been the million dollar lesson to support that.

Should’ve kept them all.

Let’s be honest, we all use weather at some point to justify our outdoor adventure decisions. If it’s too cold, we stay inside. If it’s too hot, we stay inside. If it’s just right, we may (should!) go outside. But in a lot of places, or maybe it’s just here in South Texas, the weather can be challenging to deem as “just right”. Whether it’s a steady flow of rain, bitterly dry and windy, or just flat out freezing, having the proper outerwear is key to not letting nature disrupt your routine.

I like clothing that can work in a multitude of situations. Apparel that is built to last a lifetime, not just a season. Here are my favorite jackets that keep me covered (pun intended) and moving throughout the year.

And just to clarify, if it’s a hurricane or a tornado, that’s a perfectly acceptable excuse to stay inside.

The Rain

A proper shell jacket is essential anywhere. It should be capable to throw over layers leaving the house and packable to do the same while traveling. A downpour is one thing, but an average rain shower shouldn’t keep you from going out to take care of business. This Waterproof Shell Jacket from Ten Thousand fits in with all the seasons and does what it’s supposed to do, which is to keep you and your personal items dry. I ran in this jacket on a trip to NYC recently and it kept me not only dry, but without any constriction of movement. The material is tough and the size is well fitted. This definitely isn’t your trash bag poncho you used to wear to the football game. This is the standard for rain jackets.

The Freeze

I’ll be honest, I live in South Texas. I pull out my winter coat from the back of my closet a few times a year. But when I need it, I really need it. I initially purchased the Parka Jacket by Everlane a few years back to wear to my father-in-law’s pilot retirement in Anchorage. It was winter in Alaska at that time, and I was advised there would be frequent moments outside and on the runway watching him land his “finny flight”. This was the jacket I wore, and it kept me warm and dry the entire time, even when an “unexpected” snow storm came through. Besides the random trips to the North Pole, this jacket probably won’t get much of a workout in my closet, but when it does, it certainly is worth having.

The Wind

I do a lot of rucking. In fact, I go for a ruck just about every day, regardless of the weather. The winter can be a little challenging with a rucksack, since layering up can cause some constriction with the straps and have me looking like Randy bundled up in A Christmas Story. I bought the Sherpa Tech Jacket last year and it solved the problem. Easy to slide a ruck over with plenty of mobility. Very warm, ideal for dry/windy days. Like most Ten Thousand gear, it has the perfect pocket configuration to keep your personal items in check. It pairs well with the Tactical Shirt, which was my go to ruck combo this past winter.

Starting around 2021, the landscape of America began to change. Not necessarily from a geographic perspective, but a culture shift. Droves of people moved to new cities for a variety of reasons, but were mostly motivated by living costs, job opportunities, and without getting too political (although what isn’t politically motivated these days?), personal freedoms. The Sun Belt had the biggest concentration of transplants, to largely include Texas, Florida, and the Carolinas. It’s safe to say that warmer climates are an attractive option.

One such Texas city was already popular, but from 2020-2024, the Austin metro area increased its population by over a quarter million. This is quite an increase, considering that there were around 2.2 million people in the area going into 2020, that number is now 2.55 million. It’s almost impossible to get an influx of that many people in one city and not have some sort of cultural change, and while locals may argue the city has lost its “weird” flare, it still has lots of personality.

Here’s my ideal way to spend a day in Austin, Texas.

Morning

The Line hotels are consistently cool. The Austin location is the third concept for the hotel chain, with other locations in Los Angeles and Washington DC. When you wake up at The Line Austin, you won’t have to stray far to have a full rich day. The hotel sits right on the Colorado River/Lady Bird Lake at the north end of the Congress Ave bridge. If you want a lodging option with the best proximity, amenities, and all around service, this is the place to stay.

Before you head out, coffee, of course. There are a couple options close by to get you caffeinated. In the hotel lobby is California coffee spot Alfred, making for the most convenient yet delicious option for java. Also nearby, like literally a block north, is Desnudo, who have grown well beyond their original two trailers, but still have their location downtown for all the corporate junkies…or coffee enthusiasts looking for quality in a cup.

Take the stairs down from the back end of the hotel near the bridge and you’ll hit the Butler Hike and Bike Loop, which runs all along and around Lady Bird Lake. You're right at two miles from Barton Springs Pool, which is a unique Austin hangout that’s perfect for a cool off. The water is natural, fed by the underground springs of the Edwards Aquifer, and the temperature stays right around 68-70 degrees (Fahrenheit) year around. As any popular spot, earlier is better, as the pool can get more crowded as the day goes on. If you need a good pair of shorts that transition well from land to water, check out these Set Shorts by Ten Thousand.

Afternoon

Once you're done at the pool, make the jaunt back to the hotel, where a Texas staple is waiting. If you’ve got sea legs and don’t feel like going back on foot, there’s ample options in the city for rental scooters and bikes. If this is your first time in Central Texas, tacos are a must. Veracruz, like many establishments in the area, started as a small food truck and has grown to eight establishments in the Austin area. One of these locations is connected to the hotel, and as far as breakfast taco competition goes, they are top of the line (pun intended). Grab two (or three) and a fresh juice to rejuvenate.

After you’ve cleaned up (just so you can sweat all over again), head across the bridge on Congress Ave. In my opinion, this is one of the best concentrated areas for local shopping. If you’re in the market for a new hat or a pair of boots (Texas attire), this a great street to find your niche. If you’re traveling with your significant other (yes, I’m married, so this is where my mind goes), the Instagram famous “I Love You So Much” mural is at Jo’s coffee shop. If you love your partner, this will make them very happy. Trust me.

Going in to sunset, a must see that’s right back at the hotel (convenience, again) is the “bat bridge”. Congress Ave bridge is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America, featuring around 1.5 million free-tailed bats. The place to watch is at the north end of the bridge right near The Line. From late spring to early fall is the best time to see the bats emerge at sunset and block out the sky for a few minutes. Quite the spectacle. A crowd gathers every night during the “season” to watch, so you’ll know you’re in the right place. Just watch out for flying bat poop.

Evening

If you want something a little refined, yet casual, and encapsulates Texas fare with locally sourced ingredients and culinary excellence, make a reservation at Odd Duck. Excellent service, accommodating, and delicious food, this place is always an option for my wife and I when visiting Austin. The fried quail is usually a constant on the menu, make sure at the very least you grab a plate of that and a ‘Top Shelf Old Fashioned” (your choice of spirit, I like it with mezcal).

Every city has their party street. New Orleans has Bourbon, Nashville has Broadway, Tempe has Mill, and yes, Austin has 6th. This in no way is an insistent recommendation, you could live the rest of your life without seeing east 6th street, but if you must, here’s how I like to do it. Considering it’s late enough where the streets are packed, find your way over to The Blind Pig Pub. Head upstairs, where they typically have live music, grab a Lone Star, and post up on the edge of the balcony facing 6th street where you can equally people watch and enjoy live music at once. A fun game to play is how many bachelorette parties you can count, it won’t be hard to spot them.

Across from Blind Pig is Joe Rogan’s newest venture, the Comedy Mothership. The venue sits in the old Ritz building, and was previously home to the Alamo Drafthouse before filing for bankruptcy in 2021. If you’re in to comedy and tickets are available, this is a great spot to catch a show. If you’re not, and it’s getting to that time, make your way back to The Line, which is a five block walk south.

If you need a nightcap, P6 is a rooftop bar attached to the parking garage (Parking, 6th floor) at The Line. It looks out over the lake and has a great menu of late night snacks and drinks. Take it in, let the breeze off the Lake hit you while knowing you’re an elevator ride to your bed. Everything right now is alright….alright alright.

Other Recommendations:

• The Well: 100% gluten-free meals made from local, organic, and sustainable ingredients. Sits a few blocks west of The Line.

• Rowing Dock: Rent a canoe or kayak on Lady Bird Lake.

• Lamberts: Upscale and underrated barbecue that rivals the local competition without having to wait five hours in line. Also just a few blocks west of The Line.

• Hotel Magdalena: Another good stay option just off of Congress Ave, with great proximity to some of the best shopping and restaurants in town.

• Suerte: Delicious Mexican fare in East Austin with numerous mezcal options. Don’t pass up on the Suadero Tacos, they’re out of this world.

• Picnik: Health conscious comfort food with no refined sugars or seed oils in site. Their butter coffee and harvest hash are a great way to start your day.

The Injury

I started the year last year unwell. For the last three months leading up to 2025, I experienced a rollercoaster of lower back pain that came to its worst on New Years Day. I had lower back issues in the past, typically from a heavy/explosive barbell movement that I had no business attempting, but I was always able to shake it off and get back at it after a week or so of rest and recovery. This was not the case.

In the fall of 2024, I attended the “BTY (Better Than Yesterday)” fitness summit in New York City, hosted by one of my favorite brands, Ten Thousand. I left that event feeling great, having made deep personal connections and a renewed energy towards life. Between all the workouts we did that weekend and the travel, I certainly should have taken a day or so for recovery before jumping back in to the gym, but I didn't. I had the most dangerous feeling when I left that event…I felt invincible. And like liquid courage, this type of feeling tends to cloud the judgement.

I jumped right back into workouts at my local Crossfit gym. Monday, a little sore, but showed up. Tuesday, very sore, still showed up. Come Wednesday that week I was planning to rest because my body was giving obvious signals that it needed rest, but it was squat day. I went to the gym that Wednesday, got under the barbell, did a few sets, and right when I started to add some heavier weight, I felt it. Lower back strain. I backed off immediately, knew I had overdone it, and started planning for the next week of recovery, but that didn’t quite happen. A week became two, two weeks became a month, a month became three months, and come New Years Day I was in such agonizing pain I couldn’t walk straight.

Oh, and in the middle of all this, I signed up for another fitness summit in Miami for the last weekend of January 2025, which would conclude with a half marathon….weighted.

It was time for damage control. It was the beginning of January and I was due to run a half marathon, which I had never attempted, with a twenty pound weight vest. I went to physical therapy and was told the problem I was experiencing with my lower back was most likely a bulging disc. After many years and not understanding my back problems, this was the first time it all made sense. It was a lingering injury that always showed up whenever I overexerted myself. Whenever I had pushed my body just hard enough, whether it was a single explosive movement or constantly overdoing it, the disc would protrude and touch my nerve which is what gave me the terrible spasms.

After a few sessions, I was a lot better and more confident in my body going down to Miami. Long story short, I completed the half marathon with my weight vest. It wasn’t pretty, the last few miles were a lot of walking/running intervals, but I still got my medal. It was a proud moment for me. I had overcome an injury and completed the most grueling challenge I had ever endured…at that time. It set the tone for the rest of my year, and I didn’t think about it then, but what I had done was something referred to as a misogi.

The Misogi

I first saw the term misogi while reading The Comfort Crisis by . It’s a Japanese purification ritual that is rooted with the intention of fostering resilience. A misogi challenge is typically something that is very daunting with a 50/50 shot of completion, and the intention of it is to push the challenger to their limits. The outcome is a great sense of accomplishment that builds confidence and sets the tone for the the upcoming year.

Of course, there are plenty of examples of a misogi, but in the end it’s personal to the individual as to what their challenge will be: A rim/rim/rim at the Grand Canyon, giving a TED talk, ascending Mount Kilimanjaro. All three of these are good examples of a misogi, because to some extent they each require a certain level of physical and mental fortitude. The Grand Canyon and Kilimanjaro are physically enduring and require a great sense of mental strength to push through some tough landscapes. Giving a TED talk for the first time is mostly a mental challenge, in terms of speaking in front of strangers, but does require some physical capability to hold yourself together on stage and speak for long periods of time.

After I completed the weighted half marathon, I started to become more intentional about the type of workouts I was doing. The goal in mind was no more lifting as much weight as possible, but choosing movements that felt natural and kept me healthy so I could continue moving everyday without fear of injury. I bought a few simple training sandbags from GORUCK and a giant bag of play sand to fill them up with from the local store. This felt natural, easier on the joints, and I could still feel progress in strength. Paired with the occasional Crossfit workout (depending on the WOD), I felt for the first time in a while that I had a grasp on my physical well being.

About halfway through the year and feeling better than ever, I decided to sign up and go all in on a challenge I had been pondering for months. My back felt great, I had been running more regularly (even though I’m more of a Walker, ha), and I had incorporated other remedies to help reduce inflammation and stay strong. I felt confident that if I had more time and ability to train, I would have performed better in the half marathon at the beginning of the year down in Miami, opposed to limping across the finish line and feeling like I got hit by a truck. But another weighted half marathon wouldn’t do for me, because it had already been done. I signed up for the San Antonio Marathon, and planned to run the full course…weighted. I would run 26.2 miles with a twenty pound weight vest. This would be my misogi, and to me it made sense. It was daunting, physically/mentally grueling, a 50/50 shot I would finish, but I knew I wouldn't die…hopefully.

The Preparation

My training leading up to the race consisted of three things: Cold plunging, running, and rucking. I purchased a cold plunge earlier in the year, which was significant for my health, especially in reducing inflammation. What I didn’t realize until race day was that the plunge was training me to regulate my breathing under stressful situations. From fast desperate breaths in the beginning to slow deep breaths with experience, cold therapy played a big part in helping me stay in control at all times.

I ruck every day, mostly while walking my dog. Since I was going to be running with a twenty pound weight vest, I wanted to continue rucking with heavier weight (typically 30-45 pounds) to make the weight vest feel as light as possible, and it did. Towards the end of the race my body would notice the additional weight, but I was so used to rucking with heavier weight that an extra twenty pounds (mentally) never felt like it was weighing me down much. It had become a second skin.

Of course I ran regularly, but not as often as you might think. While I certainly could/should have put in more miles, I ended up working my way to only a half marathon in training. This was because I was training with the weight vest, and since I hadn't given myself an appropriate time to prepare, I wanted to be sure my body wasn’t going to have any issues. Sure enough, two weeks before race day my shins were lighting up every time I ran, which prompted me to see my PT and begin taking my shin stretches more seriously.

After getting the shins under control (to include compression sleeves) and purchasing new insoles (game changer), I felt just about as ready as I could be without overdoing it at the time. Kind of like a job interview, going in to that weekend there were things I was thinking that maybe I should done differently. It was the unknown, and I was nervous. I didn’t know if my body was going to hold up, or if I would end up crashed out at the medical tent until somebody could come by and pick me up. Didn’t matter at this point, I had done physically everything I could do. The remaining strength that would carry me across the finish line would be the other piece of the misogi that is probably the most important…my willpower.

The Race

The morning had come. and I had chose to stay downtown close to the start line to not worry about a super early start fighting traffic and parking. We had gone out to eat pasta the night before, with what felt like a room full of marathon runners. She set me up with the ultimate spread the morning of to be sure I was ready: bananas, bone broth, protein bars, electrolytes…all this to go along with the six gel packs I would be carrying with me for the race.

I walked down to the start line. I had intentionally made sure to get myself in one of the middle corrals, since I knew I would have no business being anywhere near the front. This was truly a marathon, not a race. I was in it to finish, not be first place. The momentum was building, lots of people, lots of music, lots of energy. I waited with my corral until the gun shot went off, and I was underway.

My game plan was to hold my pace as long as I could, which in my training with the vest was around 12-13 minute miles. I would stop at every drink station to get water. I would down a gel pack every three miles (there were more on the course). I would walk up every hill instead of run, and I would go the bathroom whenever I felt like I had to (which ended up being three times). I adhered to this plan well for most of the race and was overall feeling good…until mile 18.

Right around the time I crossed over the half marathon mark, the course became a series of hills. At first I looked forward to these because I knew it would give me a break from running. But after several hills, and I’m sure to include my extra weight, my quads begin to cramp severely. I walking backwards up hills hitting my quads with my fist to try and keep them loose. I was able to run/walk pretty consistently like this up until around the mile 18 mark, and then it became A LOT of walking.

It felt like a true ruck for the final eight miles. I would try and run occasionally, but after 100 meters or so the cramping would kick in and my legs would feel like they were going to explode. My goal was to finish in the allotted course time, which was seven hours, and I knew based on the pace I was holding at this point it was going to be close. I kept moving, only occasionally stopped to stretch my legs, which inevitably ended up cramping them as well.

I hear most marathon courses can get pretty quiet between somewhere around the halfway point and the finish, which was mostly true for me. The crowd certainly thinned out between mile 9 and 26. I could feel the energy pick up significantly once I crossed over the 26 mile mark, not only for the crowd noise but my anticipation of being close. It’s hard to put into words the emotion one has when you finally hit the straightaway to the finish line, it’s euphoric. I heard my wife yelling, my legs all of a sudden felt a little better, and before I knew it, I had a medal around my neck. I had finished with just twenty minutes to spare.

The Result

After the race, I sat and had a moment to myself. My wife, the rockstar, had gone to get my post race meal, which included an absurd amount of biscuits that I would only recommend after such an event. It was hard to believe that a year ago my back was so vulnerable that I threw it out helping my grandparents put away their Christmas decorations. Embarrassing, but motivating, I now had accomplished something that very few people in the world had done. Because of the misogi, I had set a goal for myself, and had a purpose.

Tucker Carlson says that “men will do nothing unless they have to, but once they have to, they will do anything”. Men, and humans in general, are at their best when tasked with a challenge. If I hadn’t signed up for the initial half marathon, I would have sat around for a while and wallowed in my pain, not forever, but longer than I should have. It prompted me to set goals, which gave me purpose. I had to rely on others for expertise where I wasn’t as familiar. From my family, my PT(s), to the clerk at the running store fitting me for insoles, the misogi forced me to learn and listen to others better equipped at the body than I am.

I allow myself to go back and relive that moment when I crossed the finish line, it feels great. I don’t use it as an excuse to be a bum, but rather remind myself what I’m capable of. I didn’t just earn a medal, I earned a new set of confidence. The lines have now been pushed out a little farther to continue testing my limits, and to keep challenging myself to be better than yesterday.

The holidays are here, and that means shopping for people who are impossible to buy for. Of course, the thought matters more than the actual gift, but it’s always a plus to buy something for someone (or yourself) that they’ll actually use. constantly says to “buy gear, not stuff”…so what’s the difference?

Gear is an investment, or an intentional tool meant to achieve a goal. Stuff is often impulse purchases, or items meant to suffice boredom. There are no specific examples for each one, it’s all in your discretion. You know the difference. Here is the best gear I acquired this year and I’ll be using in the year(s) to come.

Performance Meets Comfort

There are two types of people in the world. There are those who watch Friends and those who watch Seinfeld. There are dog people and cat people. There are coffee drinkers and tea drinkers. But two types you may have not heard of, is that there are those who prefer wearing hoodies and those who prefer standard crewnecks. After 36 years and numerous sweatshirts, I have come to realize I identify with the latter.

This tech crew by Ten Thousand is good for every activity. Comfy enough for a hangout, tough enough to throw a ruck over, and well fitted to wear casually outside of the house. I own two myself, and it certainly doesn’t feel like enough come winter time.

The Mother of all Ruckers

I’ve found that a lot of people I mention rucking to have a similar reaction: “Wow, doesn’t that hurt your back?” “My knees couldn’t handle that.” Quite the opposite, actually. Using a rucksack has improved my posture and strength in both my back and knees. Carrying a rucksack with a weighted plate pulls my shoulders back and forces me to contract my core, which is the correct posture you should maintain while walking or standing. Strength training in general has a benefit of increasing bone density, and wearing a rucksack while walking is adding resistance to areas such as your knees which have to adapt to the heavier weight carried in every step.

The Rucker is the best rucksack on the market, bar none. If you’re starting out, I recommend pairing a 30 pound plate for men and 20 pounds for women. The good thing with the Rucker is it has a double sleeve for plates, so you can always add more later.

Gettin’ Grippy Wit It

Crossfit has been a big part of my health for over ten years now, and while many lessons have been learned, the one I carry with me the most is to invest in a good pair of hand grips. These grips by Ten Thousand are the perfect mix of grip and give, meaning when you’re on the pull-up bar they have enough grip where you don’t feel like you’re sliding around, but also give enough to where you don’t feel stuck in place. These type of grips are also great when transitioning from the pull-up bar to other movements that don’t require grip support, since they don’t have any openings that affix to your fingers, which is one less thing to worry about in the middle of the WOD.

A Cold Investment

The biggest and most expensive item on the list…the Ice Barrel 500 (cold plunge) has been the most significant modality I’ve added to my routine this year. I like this option because it has built in steps, a low seat with lots of room inside, and holds the temperature impressively (even in the Texas heat). I use it just about every morning, and have noticed a significant improvement in my resilience (breathing under stress), improved testosterone, and better muscle recovery. For more benefits and use tips, check out this post.

The Stocking Stuffer

There’s something magical about a pair of boxer briefs that work for any event throughout the day. No need to switch to compression shorts in the afternoon (though these are ideal for long runs), these A-L Boxer Briefs work well as a base layer in the gym and as regular underwear throughout the rest of the day. Unlike most underwear brands, which begin to lose their shape after several uses, these will hold their value for quite a while. You’ll know when it’s time for a new pair.

So often when you hear the word “healthy”, you immediately have a mental image. Perhaps a person with rock solid abs and big biceps, or maybe a runner breaking through the finish line of a long distance race. Both are admirable examples, and represent mentally and physically the benefit of good exercise.

What often goes overlooked in terms of health is how your body is performing internally, specifically in terms of digestion and nutrient deficiency. For a long time, I was looking at food with the priority of muscle growth and personal satisfaction, but failed to understand the benefit of foods that help my body digest and protect. Good nutrients are the ones that provide long term benefits with short term residency, meaning they shouldn’t be hanging around in your body for long periods of time, but rather you should be consistently moving them in and out of your body. Foods that overstay their welcome are often the ones that cause inflammation, which is harmful when it becomes chronic.

Probiotics, which are live microorganisms with a variety of preventative health benefits, are a core part of maintaining positive gut health. Potential benefits include prevention of constipation, common cold, and certain skin conditions.

If you’re not familiar with how the body works, then the idea of bodily microorganisms can sound repulsive, but some of these are natural and essential to your health. Of course, there are harmful microorganisms, such as large amounts of viruses or parasites, but these are countered by the good microbes formulated by probiotics with beneficial bacteria. Think of these beneficial microorganisms like having a big guard dog, they’re ideal for protection.

After a couple years now of prioritizing probiotics in my diet, I’ve noticed a big difference in how my body feels internally, especially in significant improvement with digestion. My two favorite probiotic foods are Kimchi and Sauerkraut. Here are some historical and nutritional facts on each:

Kimchi

• Largely popular in Korean culinary dishes, Kimchi was developed thousands of years ago as part of an effort to store vegetables during the winter when many people were dying of starvation.

• Outside of probiotic benefits, it contains vitamins A (vision), B (brain), C (immunity), and has antioxidants which support the body as it ages, helping improve brain, eye, and skin health.

Sauerkraut

• “Sour cabbage” originated in China thousands of years ago as well. The fermentation technique of creating it was brought to Eastern Europe, where the use of salt was made prevalent instead of rice wine for the fermentation process.

• Germans eventually took a strong liking to the dish and made it a core part of their cuisines, giving it the name “Sauerkraut”.

• It’s rich in Vitamin C, providing significant aid to the immune system. It also has other benefits such as fiber (digestion), calcium (bone density), and potassium (blood pressure).

Conclusion

You’ll find these two cabbages available in most grocery stores, but to get the most of their benefits, make sure to select ones that are raw or unpasteurized. Any additional pasteurization process can kill the beneficial bacteria you’ll want to consume.

They both are great on their own or paired lightly with most dishes. As tempting as it may be to make your own version of “kimchi fried rice”, try to refrain cooking the cabbage and just add it on its own straight out of the refrigerator.

Consistency is key if you’re looking to maintain good gut health. I try to eat one to two servings of these fermented cabbages each day. Like exercise, or anything with significant health benefits, incorporating them daily is how you maintain the benefits, and continue to feel empowered in your body.

When I was thirteen, my mother taught at the same small christian school I was attending. In addition to teaching, she worked the after school care program, which had me waiting an extra couple hours until the last of the students were picked up by their parents. Since I wasn’t much of a dedicated student, and this was well before smart phones, I found myself just shooting hoops or sitting around to kill time before we went home.

It was around this time I met a gentleman named Scott, who owned a cleaning company and was contracted to clean the buildings at the school I attended. He offered to pay me to help with his cleaning duties, allowing him to get home sooner to his family. My job was to vacuum the classrooms and take out the trash while he wiped down the bathrooms.

When we had personal convos it was mostly about basketball, since he was a prior player and still a fan of the game like I was. After a couple months, I realized he was relaxed enough that I could listen to music on my portable cd player (stuffed awkwardly in the front pocket of my khakis) while completing my duties. This was the early 2000s, and I had just recently got more into music. I was mostly listening to post grunge stuff or whatever was on the radio. Scott wasn’t much up on the modern music scene when I told him who I was listening to, but he did ask me if I ever heard of a band called Van Halen. The answer was “no”, I had not. And I’m sure at the time I was not interested in listening to “old people music”. Scott was in his thirties at the time, and I’m thirty-six now writing this, which makes that a funny yet humbling perception.

He began to educate me all about Van Halen, and that there were two eras of the band, each with their own lead singer that defined them. I was interested, but not enough to seek their music out on my own time. This was before Youtube or Spotify, and our dial up internet was too slow to even attempt Limewire. As we were finishing up one day, he handed me a cassette tape that read “5150”. He told me it was Van Halen’s best album, and his personal favorite, but probably best not to let my mother hear it.

I had just got a stereo for Christmas that year, which had a five disc CD changer and a double cassette deck. I hadn’t listened to many cassette tapes until that point, but I knew like VHS tapes you needed to rewind them to the beginning to get the full experience. I’ll never forget pressing play and hearing nothing, so I began to turn the volume up louder and louder to try and hear something. I had the volume to almost max when all of sudden, a voice shook the entire trailer home my mother and I lived in, and all I heard were the words…“HELLLLO BAAAAAAAABY!”.

That was my introduction to Sammy Hagar.

That moment initiated what would be a lifelong passion of all things rock and roll. I began collecting Van Halen albums, the “Van Hagar” era first of course, and got into other bands like Journey, Def Leppard, and Led Zeppelin, just to name a few. My freshman year in college I took a History of Rock and Roll course to fulfill a fine arts requirement. That same year I caught the Van Halen reunion tour in Greensboro, which I watched from the nosebleeds and still had the time of my life. I even dressed as Eddie Van Halen for halloween one year with a “Frankenstrat” shoe box I created as the body of my “guitar”, with a black painted yard stick as the neck. Many concerts were attended, I bought way too many CDs (until streaming took over), and stood out among my friend group as the guy who listened to all the classic rock. All stemming from that one moment in my bedroom as a thirteen year old hearing “Good Enough” for the first time.

In my senior year of college, Hagar released his autobiography RED: MY UNCENSORED LIFE IN ROCK, which furthered my distraction away from studying, but in hindsight, taught me a lot. He wasn’t born into wealth, he didn’t walk on stage and become an overnight sensation, but he worked at it. His story is one of challenge, persistence, and optimism. He had falling outs with producers, bandmates, family, and at one point he even had to pick up work as a dump truck driver to provide for his wife and son. But he always followed the dream, and once he got there he made the most of it.

One of the most impressive things about Sammy, other than his music catalog, is that he does not look his age. If you look at him, and hear him sing, you’d be shocked to know that he’ll be seventy eight years old this year. Compared to most others his age in the same industry (or in general), he looks like he should be twenty years younger. It’s truly amazing, especially for a guy who has toured as much as he has and the copious amounts of tequila consumed (Santo truly is good stuff).

I was watching an interview several years back when Sammy was on The Jenny McCarthy Show, and she asked him how he looks so young. His answer was simple: “I’m happy”. Immediately, I thought to myself “well of course he is! Millions of dollars, luxury homes and cars, why wouldn’t he be?” When he continued to explain, it wasn’t the answer I expected. He told a story of some advice he received years back, stating that whatever negativity you're harboring in your head eventually begins to show on your face, and not just by a lack of smiling. He talked about the importance of optimism, being aware of who he is, knowing what he wants, and the importance of positive self talk. He credits that as one of the reasons he was able to find success not only professionally, but personally as well.

The other point he made in regard to his youthful look, is that he chooses to look at only beautiful things if he can help it. So often we spend our time consuming negative/fear-mongering forms of media, inundating our minds with less than positive feelings. He uses the example of how different we feel when we look at a beautiful landscape like a mountain or a beach, opposed to taking part in negative conversations or activities. It’s simple advice, but makes a lot of sense when you think about it. While challenges are necessary to improve us, if we aren’t intentional about who/what we surround ourselves with, we risk corruption. And faster aging, apparently.

My wife and I went to see Hagar last year on his Best of All Worlds Tour in Nashville. Without much surprise, we were the only people at the venue I saw who looked to be under the age of forty. The tour title was chosen due to the set list, which consisted mostly of songs during his time with Van Halen. It was an incredible performance, and the packed crowd was in to it. Even my wife, who sees all things from an energetic perspective, was impressed by the positive aura that Hagar embodies.

It’s obvious people want to be around him. A lot of people who find success let it consume them with arrogance, making them unbearable to be around. Not Sammy. Every year for his birthday he has a bash at his Cabo Wabo bar down in Cabo San Lucas, where other musicians (and popular chefs) come by the droves to jam with him. They’re not getting paid to be onstage, they just want to be there. When someone has a good energy about them it attracts people.

His music has been a soundtrack to various points of my life, both in good times and challenging ones. When I listen to his music now, I not only enjoy it from a technical perspective, but it makes for a better listening experience to know who is behind the vocals. That’s the best of both worlds.

As we begin the transition to fall weather, many begin to modify their athletic attire. Some cities see a dramatic drop in temperature and begin adding more layers. Others in warmer climates may simply start wearing a shirt opposed to going topless. Either way, a good athletic tee has a certain level of breathability and quality materials you won’t find in that pitted out/free tee your company gave you.

Ten Thousand has the only active gear I wear. I’ve been wearing their apparel for over four years now, and I don’t plan on switching up any time soon. Their products are long lasting, well fitted, and optimized for any activity. There’s no better time to look your best then when you’re covered in sweat and grime. Here are the best tees I’ve found that work in any activity.

Circuit/Gym: Ten Thousand Interval Shirt

Whether you’re lifting weights or doing gymnastics, the Interval Shirt will excel. This is my preferred shirt when I do a Crossfit WOD. The fabric is tough and breathes extremely well. The fit is ideal because the shirt tends to hang just loose enough to where you feel empowered to move in all types of positions and not so constrictive. If you need just one go to shirt for your gym sessions, regardless of what type of exercise you’ll be doing, this is it.

Running/Conditioning: Ten Thousand Session Shirt

Thin layers and light fabrics were not always my preference, but living in south Texas and having incorporated more outdoor running in my routine, I began to entertain some new options. The Ten Thousand Session Shirt breathes better than any shirt from the brand. Great for running, but also for bodyweight workouts like calisthenics or plyometrics, this shirt holds its form and feels so light you wouldn’t know it was there if you couldn't see it.

Rucking/Outdoors: Ten Thousand Tactical Shirt

Keeping in the theme of breathable yet durable attire, the Tactical Shirt by Ten Thousand is the best pick for the tough work. Anything from rucking to weightlifting, this shirt is an ideal choice. It’s a tough fabric with sun protection material that is perfect for taking on the outdoors without worry of it getting destroyed by the elements. A lot of durable shirts aren’t very forgiving when it comes to mobility, but this shirt has great range of motion. I recently wore this shirt for a 10k ruck challenge and it came out looking/feeling the same as it did before. An overall great shirt that should earn a spot in any closet for outdoor fitness enthusiasts.

My wife and I spent Thanksgiving last year with her family in the Georgia mountains. On our last day, we went into town to check out some shops, which were all extremely busy due to it being Black Friday. Not being one for big shopping crowds, and at the time having caffeine withdrawals, I politely insisted we duck into one of the local coffee shops for a brew.

We found a spot with a line almost out the door, meaning either the quality was fantastic or everyone was just as desperate as I was. As we made our way up to the counter, I happened to notice on the wall off to the side was a giant framed picture with a simple phrase, which stated “Comfort is a slow death”. It was a sudden philosophical moment I didn’t expect to have in my quest for caffeine, but it had me thinking. Where in my life am I living too comfortably?

Our world has become increasingly automated with comforts, providing little or no physical resistance for our bodies. Many will argue this is a good thing, but with more automation comes less challenges. Our minds and bodies develop whenever they are being challenged, not when they are being comforted.

As I write this I had just stepped inside from my back patio, which had caused me to perspire in less than a few minutes of being outside in the South Texas summer. In the mountains last year for the holiday, a cold front had just arrived and every day floated just below and above the freezing point. Both are certainly uncomfortable to endure, but in both scenarios I had comfortable heat and air conditioning to resort to.

There are benefits to sweating profusely and enduring cold temperatures. Unless you’ve been living under a rock (not including Sedona) you’ve probably picked up on the recently revived, and better marketed, remedies of sauna and cold plunge. Both can often be found now not only at commercial and boutique gyms, but have also been customized to fit in most homes. This gives health focused individuals more options for improving their mental and physical health with regular use over time.

The Heat

Our bodies are meant to constantly move things in and out. When we aren’t opening our detox pathways regularly, inflammation is the body’s natural response to consistent mistreatment. Examples of mistreatment include being subjected to toxic toiletries, processed foods, and contaminated air. Constant intake of these contaminants build up chronic inflammation over time, and cause a wide array of issues. While it should be a dedicated focus, it’s very difficult in the world we live in (at least in the U.S.) to avoid these contaminants all the time.

A sauna is a great option to help you in this detox endeavor, and while it shouldn’t be the only way we move things out of our bodies (insert poop emoji), it’s one of the best tools we have. There’s no extra effort needed except to just endure the discomfort of high heat to the point of heavy perspiration. Having a 20-30 minute sauna sesh does a lot of good things for your body, to include:

• Detoxification

• Increase Blood Flow

• Stress Relief

• Sleep Quality

Red light infrared sauna has been very popular as of late. Companies who offer residential/self-install saunas often have an option that includes red light. Red light not only adds to muscle recovery efforts but also overall skin health, providing a lot of benefit all in one package. A good option is the Thera360 Plus by THERASAGE, which is what my family uses for sauna therapy. This product works well indoors for smaller homes, because it’s easy to install and doesn’t take up too much space. It has an opening on top to expose your head, keeping it from overheating, and comes with its own wooden chair to sit inside of it.

The Cold

You may have heard the term “shock your muscles”. It’s the idea of programming varied movements in your workouts instead of doing the same thing each session. The outcome expected is better muscle growth, without your body getting bored by doing the same routine over and over again.

That same idea is what makes cold therapy so effective. The sudden chill gives our bodies a “cold shock response” that has numerous benefits. When your body is fighting against cold water temps your blood vessels initially constrict but then widen with the prolonged exposure, which helps increase blood flow throughout the body.

The most popular way to do this is via cold plunge, which is the act of submerging the body up to the neck in extremely cold water. Ideal temperature for those wanting the benefit of muscle recovery should shoot for somewhere between 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit, and plunging no more than three minutes.

Other benefits of a cold plunge include:

• Reduced Inflammation

• Immune Boost

• Testosterone Improvement

• Sleep Quality

Over the past few years many different brands have developed their own versions of cold plunge, to include both inflatable and hardback options. Like the sauna, it really just depends on your home setup and what you’re willing to spend. I use the Ice Barrel 500, which has built in steps, a low seat with lots of room inside, and holds the temperature impressively (even in the Texas heat).

Together: In Conclusion

Both heat and cold therapies have a load of benefits when used on their own, but are also a great combo when used together. Contrast therapy is when you utilize both tools back to back. Some say it doesn’t necessarily matter the order of which you execute the therapy, but I find that starting with the sauna and going straight to the cold plunge after gives my body the most shock when it needs a good reset.

An important note before you try contrast therapy, or either of these therapies individually, is to start slow and be aware of your body. Like weightlifting, a muscle shock to failure has a lot of benefits for growth, but if we’re underneath the barbell on a bench press and we’ve failed with nobody around, it could have dire consequences. Better to start slow and know your body before going all in.

There will always be a new miracle drug, but some of the most beneficial therapies have held up over the test of time. Ancient civilizations understood and utilized these therapies as natural gifts of the Earth before they had health insurance. A healthy body requires consistent maintenance with frequent challenges, not one time remedies in comfortable settings. Embrace the discomfort, your life depends on it.

When you have clothing that fits just right and designed to work hard, you tend to feel more empowered to take on tough challenges. Challenges will make you a stronger person, often mentally and physically. Ten Thousand has been pumping out quality mens active gear since 2016, and their shorts were the initial center piece. Shorts built for every type of activity that won’t leave you ripped (well, from a fabric perspective) or broke, and will help you live by their mantra, “better than yesterday”. They’re all I wear, and why I decided to put out an article on my favorite selections.

Before you go any further, let’s address the issue of length. While the 90s were an interesting transition period from short shorts to long shorts, somewhere in the middle is preferred when it comes to thigh advertisement, shoot for a 5-to-9-inch inseam. If you’re not sure how long your shorts should be, here’s a helpful equation to figure it out:

Step 1: Determine your height in inches (i.e. 6 feet = 72 inches).

Step 2: Determine your confidence score from 1-5. “1” meaning there is no limit to how much leg you can show, or “5” if you’re self conscious about showing your legs in any scenario.

Step 3: Add your inches in height to your confidence score. With the total number calculated, use the assessment below to determine your proper shorts length:

71 or less = 5” inseam

72-76 = 7” inseam

77 or more = 9” inseam

With your newfound length at hand, here are my three favorite Ten Thousand shorts that work for most activities.

Circuit/Gym: Ten Thousand Interval Short

This short is great for both cardio and lifting sessions. Think Crossfit or HIIT. The light weight yet tough fabric allows for both bar abrasions and comfort when running for distance. With options in length and liner, this is a no brainer when it comes to choosing a workout short that covers all your exercises.

Swim/Travel: Ten Thousand Set Short

My wife and I took a trip to Costa Rica a few years ago. One of the days there we went on an excursion which began with a hike through the rainforest and ended at a magnificent waterfall. It was one of the best feelings in the world to make the easy transition from land to water in the same pair of shorts, which were also dry by the time we made our way back up to the parking lot. I was hoping this would be the experience I got when I purchased the Set Short, and it didn’t disappoint. It subsequently became my go to active travel short for when I’m unsure where my trip will take me, by land or sea.

Rucking/Outdoor: Ten Thousand Tactical Short

Being outdoors often requires having a tougher fabric. That sounds counterintuitive when summer days outside can be sweltering hot, and lighter fabrics tend to give more relief than thicker ones. Fortunately, Ten Thousand has perfected a pair of Tactical Shorts that are both comfortable and provide that extra fabric needed for rugged terrain. Great for outdoor hikes and rucking, whether you’re taking big steps on the red rocks or brushing up against thick bristles on a wooded trail, these are your best option. They’re also great for barbell exercises that tend to have repeated contact with the thighs and hips (i.e. cleans, snatches, deadlifts).

For the whole collection of Ten Thousand shorts that I wear, check out this link.

Office Space

In early 1999 an all too familiar corporate workplace was put on display in the form of Office Space. The film follows its main protagonist, Peter, as he finishes up a routine work week at a job he doesn’t like, heckled by his micromanaging bosses (8 bosses, to be exact) and making the attempt to avoid weekend overtime demands. He goes to a hypnotherapy session with his unfaithful girlfriend, and due to the sudden death of the hypnotherapist, ends up getting a new attitude on life. The film then chronicles Peter’s days doing what he wants to do, like not going to work, asking out a beautiful waitress (Jen Aniston), and accidentally landing himself a promotion in the process. The film is pegged as a comedy, but some may argue it as a biopic of the modern employee, and what may happen if you think outside the cubicle.

What Office Space gets right, and it gets a lot, is how employees are viewed from the top. Expendable numbers. Show up at this hour, work, take lunch, work more, logoff, sleep, do it all over again. It’s a system that many find security in. In 1999, automation in the world was taking off. Mobile phones were becoming more popular and not just a luxury item. The internet was relatively new, and like mobile phones, were an exciting opportunity for social convenience. Automation is convenience. Convenience is security. Security can be many things, but what happens when that security is challenged? The theme of downsizing is displayed throughout the film, putting many of the characters on edge for their job security. The art of the film is a challenge of self-examination. In the end, the film comedically shows through many examples that problems are opportunities, and are as “good” or as “bad” as one makes them out to be.

The Matrix

Shortly after the release of Office Space, the world was given a new reality to contemplate in the The Matrix. Upon its release, many were immediately taken aback not by the significance of its story line, but a new style of action that had never been seen before. Dodging bullets in slow motion, humans running along walls, all combined with unlimited options of weaponry. It would have been easy to slack on a script and produce a film like this solely based on the action sequences. While impressive with its action, and led by a stellar cast, the story line is deep and has many interpretive layers that are challenging.

The film starts in what appears to be the real world, following a program software writer named Thomas Anderson (played by Keanu Reeves), who moonlights as a computer hacker called Neo. Neo is picked up by a group of rebels who inform him that the world he is living in is not in fact the real world, but a simulated environment for which his real body is plugged into. He is advised on the status of Earth, which has now become an AI takeover where human bodies are harvested as the main energy source. One of the most profound moments in the film is a discussion Neo has with his new mentor, Morpheus (played by Laurence Fisburne). While doing an initial walkthrough of the Matrix after being unplugged, Neo questions why they haven’t attempted to convince everyone to get unplugged, to which Morpheus replies “Some people are not ready to be unplugged. Some of these people are so inured so dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it”.

The Matrix dials into the perception of reality. The most important step in creating a reality is belief. One needs to believe the geographical environment they live in is real. One needs to believe the people in their environment are real. Geography and people are both tangible and can be confirmed by immediate interactions, but one piece of reality that requires more effort for convincing is the information shared in this reality. This is the most important, because in a world so big, people can only be in one place at a time, and are reliant on others to share information of this reality outside their own. Only the sole individual can decide whether they want to believe this information or not. The easiest response is to believe anything, for that requires the least amount of critical thought.

Going into the year 2000, information was presented in more accessible forms than ever. The internet had become increasingly popular and most homes going into the new millennium were dialed in. People had begun to discover a new environment outside of their own where they could engage, learn, and become somebody else entirely. Humans had been conditioned to think that everything they heard on the television at that point was to be believed, because they could see and hear it with their own eyes. Now we could do the same with internet access. Information that can be manipulated for humans to think in convincing ways: “this is bad, you should reject this”, “this is good, you should embrace this”, “this is terrifying, you should be fearful”. The information could now be relayed in multiple formats, and has only grown since its start from newspapers, to television, to now internet enhanced devices such as computers and mobile phones.

Fight Club

Originally written as a novel and released as a film in late 1999, Fight Club didn’t immediately see the success that it did until later on when it was released on DVD. Perhaps it was word of mouth or it just took a longer time for viewers to understand its message before it broke out as a cult classic. The story follows a man only known to the audience as The Narrator, played by Edward Norton. The Narrator works as an auto examiner, and finds the monotony of his life loathing to the point that he spends his evenings with health therapy support groups for empathy. He has devoted his life to a consumerist mindset, making sure his condo and closet have been outfitted with all the necessities marketed to make him feel adequate.

Returning from a business trip, the narrator meets a traveling salesman named Tyler Durden (played by Brad Pitt). Durden has a carefree and rebellious lifestyle that immediately have an influence on The Narrator, questioning why he lives the life he lives and who is he actually living for. Durden and The Narrator begin starting secret fight clubs where two men beat each other to a pulp as a means of camaraderie and relief from their mundane work weeks. Fight clubs begin to expand across the country, with secret project teams assembled within the fight clubs that have an end goal to disrupt the outside world.

The film explores the themes of consumerism and masculinity. Masculinity is marketed, and often we define it from what is displayed on anything from tv ads to movie characters. The intent of marketing, in terms of male focused products, has always been to convince men on how a masculine man should appear. Whether it’s how a masculine man looks, how a masculine man smells, what a masculine man drinks, or what one may drive. It’s an endless foray of standards that are impossible to meet, and that’s the point. In the film, Durden speaks to the group of fight club members about this standard as “advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need”.

It shouldn’t be considered ironic that all three of these films were released the same year. Some may declare it was the timing that had individuals rethinking their purpose upon the dawn of the millennium. Perhaps any event that causes reflection and concern motivates humans to have a “great awakening” to their life and purpose. All three films referenced above were in some way self reflective. That’s the impact of art, whether it be visual or literary. Many would watch those films and find Office Space to be a good laugh, The Matrix to be thrilling, or Fight Club to be a combination of both. All fulfill those purposes, but their premises are consistent with their timing. Twenty years later humanity was arriving at the doorstep of challenging and confusing years ahead. Challenges taking place in the forms of health, fear, and freedom.

The question is, why do humans wait for uncertain times to make life changes? It would appear humans have an inherent desire for complacency. If one allows themself to live in a form of comfort without purpose or challenges, there are almost no opportunities to succeed. Time is so often spent in frustration of problems, instead of seeing those problems as opportunities.

Right around the time I entered young adulthood I had begun to acquire an interest in rock music. This was the time of post grunge. Guitar chords were heavier, screaming was more prevalent, and t-shirts and jeans kept getting tighter and tighter. I was a young kid with an attitude, and I felt connected to the rock genre. It was an ideal music scene for a young man finding his way through adolescence.

At the turn of the century, as did decades prior, rock music came with a new sound and new sub genres. One of the more popular genres that had carried over was alternative rock. Think of the genre as not hard enough to be Metallica, but not soft enough to be Phil Collins. As of recent day, this genre of rock has forged on, but hasn’t impressed me all that much, until recently. Last year I was listening to one of my smart generated playlists in Spotify, mainly for background music while I was working. A song came on that I didn't recognize, but had an intro that pulled my attention and held it after the vocals kicked in. Admittedly, because I’m human and spend way too much time scrolling, if a new song doesn’t grab me within the first five seconds, I move on. But not this time, I was hooked.

The name of the song was “Houses of American Style”, and the band was Paerish. Their style of sound felt familiar, yet unique. I immediately bookmarked the song and pulled up their music catalog. It was a strange listening pleasure. The music brought back memories of my younger adult life, even though I had never heard their music until this point when I was 34. It was the alternative rock sound I grew up on in the early 2000s, with a slight nod to emo minus the screamo. If the rock bands Jimmy Eat World and Brand New adopted a French baby, it would be Paerish.

It wasn’t long after I discovered Paerish that they released their newest album, You’re in Both Dreams (and you’re scared). Like my tendency to skip through unknown songs, I also tend to have select tracks on certain albums I frequent most. Not this album, though. Front to back, it’s a perfect album. Every song sounds different and is well composed, flowing perfectly from track to track. The opening song, Sequoia, has a hard hitting crescendo that best showcases the vocals by lead singer, Mathias Court. The ballad “The Luck You Had” is the slowest and most intimate endeavor on the album, with a saxophone finale that solidifies it as one of the best songs in the band’s library.

Paerish is currently on tour in the US, and I was fortunate enough to recently attend a show with my wife. More so than the live experience, which we enjoyed, the most likable part of the band was themselves. We had a chance to chat with them for a bit after the show, and they were engaging and personable. To surround yourself with people that take their passions seriously, but not themselves, is a breath a fresh air, regardless of your profession. These guys are the real deal, and they deserve all the success that continues to come their way. Merci!

There are many cities in the world with the unfortunate circumstance of having an unattractive name. For example, Pittsburg is a great city with a beautiful waterfront, though it’s often written off because it sounds like, well, “the pits”. Maybe in the future with a recent visit we can provide more detailed reasons to visit Pennsylvania’s often overlooked city, but not now. This article is about Vienna (Austria), a city that plays all its charm cards up front with its elegant name, beautiful architecture, and friendly residents. After a recent visit and only twenty four hours to spare, I found what I believe to be the best day long itinerary for the “City of Music”.

Morning

The best hotel to make your temporary home while visiting Vienna is Hotel Motto. Motto has Parisan aesthetic with Austrian charm. The attention to detail throughout the hotel is beautiful without destroying the classic touches of the building it resides in. The location of the hotel is perfect, being on one of the main pedestrian paths that can take you to city center by foot in about ten minutes, and is also next to a train stop if you need to get further or don’t feel like walking (I recommend you do).

After awaking, head upstairs to the seventh floor hotel restaurant, Chez Bernard. Bernard has delicious fresh made breakfast options in a natural light filled space that will give you the energy your body needs to start your day. As tempting as it may be to linger and drink coffee for hours on end, force yourself downstairs and outside to begin walking east.

You’ll find walking in Vienna is quite nice compared to most big cities, as the streets are well maintained and feel safe. The walk to city center from the hotel is a pedestrian path called Mariahilfer Straße, which during the day is bustling with people and open shops. Take this path until it ends, where you’ll find yourself in the middle of the museum quarter. Here you’ll find most of the major museums in town to include both the Art and History museums, as well as other beautiful gardens that are worth a stroll. In this area is also the Hoffburg, which if you wander around enough you’ll eventually find yourself face to face with Mozart, staring out above a well manicured treble clef in the garden that he presides. If you end up in the Art museum (Kunsthistorisches), definitely make time to stop by the cafe for a snack, as it is one of the more attractive cafes in the city.

Afternoon

After circling the museum quarter, continue making your way towards the center of town. If you’re like me, then around this time you’ll need some fuel from all the steps you’ve put in. Throughout my travel in the country, one of the more interesting things I found was the preferred afternoon snack of Austrians: cake. The most popular cake in the country is the Sacher Cake. A rich chocolate cake served with cream and marked with the insignia of the bakery that has prepared it. You can find this cake at many bakeries in town, but the most popular would be at its name sake, the cafe at Hotel Sacher. If you go with this option, be prepared to wait in line any day of the week.

Continue making your way closer to city center until you reach St. Stephen’s Cathedral, where you can gaze and wonder just how something so massive was constructed hundreds of years ago. There’s an impressive scenic view at the top if you’re interested in going inside. This area is called The Innere Stadt, or “The Old Town”, and if you’re one for luxury shopping, there is no better place in the country or much of Europe where you’ll find so many big brands all in one neighborhood. Even if you’re not interested in shopping, it’s a striking part of town to just wander.

Evening

If you walked the route recommended above you are most likely famished. Unlike the Spanish or Portuguese, Austrians are not late eaters, so you don’t have to worry about going to dinner at six and feel like you’re way early to the party. A city this size has many stellar restaurants of many different cuisines, but the restaurant I recommend for dinner is MAST. Locally sourced ingredients and a plethora of natural wines make this a stellar place to dine the night away. Make it easy on yourself and opt for the chef’s menu, a six course tasting journey made up of what’s fresh that time of year. Have the wait staff recommend a wine. Between the quality of both food and drink you’ll leave with a satisfied pallet, not feeling overstuffed and sluggish.

End the day back at Hotel Motto. If you’re up for a night cap then head up to the rooftop on the eighth floor. The rooftop is open during the warmer months and has a great vibe. The night we stopped by was a bit windy, so the staff thoughtfully brought over a blanket for my wife, who very much appreciated the warm gesture to go with her hot tea. Try to make it for sunset, where you’ll arguably get one of the best views in the city with happy strangers. Feel free to get loose, you’re only an elevator ride away from the comfort of your bed, and symphony dreams that give peaceful sleep for a new day…and more cake.

Other Recommendations

• Bitzinger Würstelstände: Delicious Viennese sausage, grab and go.

• Schönbrunn Palace: Arguably the most popular landmark in the city, with beautiful gardens and nearby swimming pool.

• Demel: Popular bakery with ample treats and nice outside seating area (get the apple strudel).

• Prater: Public park near the Danube with an amusement park inside, including the Vienna Ferris Wheel open year around.

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At some point we all want to get away from the stresses of life, and who can blame us? Bumper to bumper traffic, shoulder to shoulder on the metro rail, or working deadline to deadline in your designated cubicle. This type of lifestyle is not conducive to physical and mental strength, which is why we feel better the more time we spend in nature. As of 2020 at least 83% of the US population lived in an urban area, with the number increasing and expected to hit 90% by 2050. More people moving towards the madness and away from the tranquility.

Starting your journey in Phoenix and driving north, about halfway through your two hour drive you’ll notice the landscape slowly begin to change. Hills of cacti transition into layers of pine trees. Large hills of dirt slowly give way to abutments of rock. These are slow reminders that you’re leaving the desert and city life behind. As you exit off Highway 17 just before you get to Flagstaff, you’re surrounded by a cathedral of red rock formations that feel somewhat otherworldly. That’s when you know your arrival to Sedona is coming soon, and while it’s very much not off the map, it certainly feels like it, and that’s what you want.

Morning

Sedona has been a resort city for a while now. Good Airbnb/VRBO options are increasing, but you’ll find they’re not as dominant here as the hotel scene. Ambiente is a place celebrated for both its location and luxury. It’s recognized as a landscape hotel, meaning that the property was designed to blend into its natural environment with low impact to nature. It’s also the only hotel in Arizona given recognition as one of “The Leading Hotels Of The World”, a highly coveted list of the most desirable hotels on Earth.

Waking up at Ambiente is like waking up in a southwestern dream. The rooms have floor to ceiling windows that give you full immersion of the red rock setting from your bed. You’ll want to hit the ground running and not spend too much time finding breakfast around town. Take advantage of the breakfast on site, which is an included credit as part of your stay, and quite delicious. One of the many benefits of staying at Ambiente is the property access to the Adobe Jack Trailhead. Without even getting in your car, you can take this path from the property and get to one of the best hikes and photo spots in all of Sedona, the Seven Sacred Pools. Just remember, this is Arizona, your body is going to demand more water in the drier climate, so pack plenty.

Afternoon

Whatever calories you had for breakfast are probably burned off at this point, time to refuel. Let’s get something out in the open, Sedona is not a food destination. Yes, there are ample restaurants, and some are better than others, but you wouldn’t travel there specifically for the cuisine like you would New Orleans or Charleston. It’s hard to pinpoint a food that resonates with the area, but if there’s one place that resembles what Sedona is (vortexes, hippies, yogis), it’s ChocolaTree. Declaring itself as the “Organic Oasis Of Sedona”, this vegetarian spot is worth sacrificing meat for a meal (don’t worry, you’ll make it up later). Clean, delicious food, with a great variety of liquid pairings will restore your energy and have you ready for your next hike.

After lunch, jump in your car and drive about ten minutes up the road to two of Sedona’s most “Insta Worthy” landmarks. You’ve most likely seen an image of Devil’s Bridge at some point. If not, the best way to explain it is like a long rock plank formation with sprawling views of pine trees and red rocks. Your other option for a hike is Boynton Canyon, which is a great trail that has another scenic spot worth hiking to called the ‘Subway Cave’. Typically, like most major landmarks in Sedona, there will be a line of people for those interested in taking a picture with a scenic backdrop. Handstand photos are always a thing, but make sure you’re confident in your abilities before throwing your body upside down. Rocks are not forgiving at a fifty (plus) foot drop.

Evening

A Sedona sunset is like no other, and the best spot to witness it is at the Sedona Airport. The good thing about the airport overlook is unlike the other landmarks in Sedona, it doesn’t require a strenuous hike to get there. The airport has ample amounts of parking and the overlook is right next to the parking lot. Make sure to get there at least thirty minutes prior to sunset to find good parking and enjoy the last bit of the sun before it tucks itself behind the red rocks. If you want to get there a little earlier, there’s a short trail from the airport that takes you down to the Mesa Vortex, which is arguably the best view of the city.

After a day of hiking trails and lots of time in the sun, it’s safe to say you’re famished, and in need of a good meal. For dinner there is no other option but the best restaurant in town, Mariposa. Mariposa is a latin inspired restaurant that sits on a hill right next to Ambiente, with unobstructed views and delicious food. After you’ve cleaned up, have the car service at the hotel take you around the corner to the restaurant. The parking lot is usually full, and it’s highly recommended to make a reservation in advance. Don’t skip out on the yucca fries, they’re ridiculously delicious.

After dinner, make your way back to your hotel room and up the staircase to your rooftop patio. Start a fire, pour yourself a glass of wine and take in the night time view. Stars shine bright and the moon sheds light on large rock shadows that surround the valley like gates to a castle. There’s no better way to end the day than in this present moment, creating a memory you’ll carry for a long time thereafter.

Other Recommendations:

• Mesa Grill: Great food with a view at the Sedona Airport.

• Merkin Vineyards: Winery owned by rock legend Maynard James Keenan.

• Enchantment Resort: Solitary resort with nearby trail access to Boynton Canyon.

• Pink Jeep Tours: An alternative way to see Sedona with a guide.

• Shorebird Coastal Kitchen: Great seafood if you're having coastal withdrawals.

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Miami Beach has always had a stigma represented by party going youth and a year around night life scene. Though Spring Break does validate this notion, the city (which is separate from the city of Miami) also hosts a more low-key vibe for those not looking to rage until the early morning hours. From great options in the culinary scene to a lengthy beach path that goes on for miles, here is an ideal way to spend a day in Miami Beach.

Morning

You awaken in at a recent renovation called The Esme. The Esme is a couple blocks from the ocean and right in the heart of South Beach. The area of the hotel has been renovated to make you feel as if you’ve been whisked away to a tile laden alley in Mexico rather than South Florida. The hotel rooms are simple, yet beautiful, and quite affordable compared to the rest of the island, with plenty of food and drink options connected to the hotel. If you’ve booked a room with a balcony, take in the morning sun with a cup of coffee made from the expresso machine which comes standard in your room. Or walk within 100 feet anywhere and grab a Cuban coffee to enjoy back in the paseo of the hotel.

After you’ve had your fix of caffeine, it’s time to find some breakfast, and what better way to earn your first meal than a bike ride down the beach path. The Esme has limited bicycles you can check out, but even if they’re all being used, there are bicycle kiosks called CitiBike all around the city. You can locate a CitiBike location on your phone and return the bicycle to any of the kiosks around the city that have open slots.

Once you have your bicycle, make your way to the beach and start riding south. In South Beach is arguably the best Cubano on the island at Las Olas Cafe. Don’t miss out on a delicious sandwich or Cuban coffee to fuel the rest of your day.

Afternoon

After you’ve finished breakfast (or brunch if you opted to sleep late), grab your bike and make your way back the way you came. The beach path runs all the way from South Pointe Park to Bal Harbour, which is about a ten-mile jaunt. There’s plenty of bike posts at multiple entrances to lock your bike up and head out to the beach to ground yourself in the sand.

Miami Beach can be busy. If you go with the expectation that it’s secluded, you’ll be gravely disappointed. The island in general has a diverse crowd, so part of the fun is hanging out on the beach and taking in the views with different languages heard about. And unless interested, be prepared to politely waive off beach solicitors who roam the sands selling everything from soda to homemade margaritas.

If the beach really isn’t your thing or you’re looking to cool down in a quieter environment, head back to the Esme and take the elevator to the rooftop pool. With a small dipping pool and plenty of shaded bedding, you can find comfort hanging out with a book or taking an afternoon siesta. The rooftop has an excellent full-service bar as well if you’re needing a snack or beverage.

Evening

Do yourself a favor and keep dinner close to the hotel. Dress up a little too. Just because you’re at the beach doesn’t entitle you to flip flops and board shorts for an evening out. The Drexel is located at Casa Matanza, a connected property to The Esme on the corner of Espanola Way and Drexel Avenue. Experience delicious Mediterranean cuisine in a beautiful environment with attractive furnishings and lots of candlelight. If you’re ever staying across the water in downtown Miami, check out their sister restaurant, Mandolin.

You’re already in stumbling distance to your bed, so if you’re in need of a night cap stray no further than the paseos of the hotel and stop by Bamboo Room. This intimate cocktail lounge serves up all the island drinks you can imagine, umbrella optional. Find comfort in the fact that your room is in the same building, and the only place left to finish your day is in the comfort of your bed where it started.

Other Recommendations:

• Taquiza: Tacos of all kinds, by land or sea. Located in North Miami Beach.

• Sweet Liberty: Fun cocktail bar in South Beach with great food/drink options.

• Carillon: Luxury wellness resort in North Miami Beach with impressive spa.

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Rucking is the verb form of the word ‘Ruck”, which is essentially a heavy sack (not to be confused with a backpack) used to hold all the items needed for the particular role of a soldier. The activity of rucking was originally known only within the military community, but now has gained popularity in the civilian world. One could argue the activity of rucking gained notoriety when Jason McCarthy, a prior Green Beret, started his company GoRuck.

GoRuck

GoRuck’s most popular product is their rucksack, or as they refer to it…the Rucker. The company has a variety of rucksacks uniquely designed for either training or traveling. The training rucksacks are designed with a designated pocket for weighted plates, which for standard rucksacks can carry up to a thirty pound plate, while some of the larger rucksacks have two plate slots that can hold up to seventy-five pounds of plate weight. Other rucksacks are used more for traveling or commuting purposes. The commonality with all the rucksacks is that they are nearly indestructible, made to withstand the toughest environments and training sessions.

The reach of the company goes beyond just their products, though. GoRuck also puts on a variety of events: Star Courses that range anywhere from 5K to 50 miles of rucking. Tactical courses that teach gun owners proper technique and skill depending on the firearm. They also have their original event, the GoRuck Challenge, which pays homage to historical military events and involve other challenges beyond rucking.

Most recently I completed a GoRuck Tough Challenge called the “Mogadishu Mile”. It was a twelve hour overnight event that involved fifteen miles of rucking. In addition to carrying a rucksack, our group of seventeen individuals were also tasked with carrying four sandbags (ranging 40-120lbs), four hefty water bladders (referred to as “coupons” by the cadre), and an American flag throughout the evening. The event was done on the thirty year anniversary of the “Day of the Rangers”, which was the historical military event that occurred in Mogadishu, Somalia in October of 1993. Throughout the evening our cadre took the opportunity to share the story of the events leading up to the “Day of the Rangers”, to include what happened during the event and what came out of it.

It was one of the most physically and mentally challenging events I’ve ever endured. Upon arriving at our starting point and getting the initial briefing and PT session from the cadre, I immediately began casting doubt on my decision. Very quickly though, I was filed in as a number with the rest of the participants, and the night went on. After arriving back at our starting point twelve hours later, I was proud to receive my “Mog Mile” patch and post event beer with my comrades. Admittedly though, a Budweiser at nine in the morning didn’t savor like I hoped it would.

The Health Benefits

Human beings are sitting a lot. Over the course of human progression into more adaptive and automated lifestyles, human posture has taken a turn for the worse. With approximately 80% of American jobs taking place at a desk, folded shoulders and arched backs have become the result of lengthy sitting and staring into the blue screen abyss. To put it into perspective, if a man wakes up in the morning and gets in his car, he is sitting in his vehicle until he arrives at the office. Then he will walk to his desk and sit there for around eight hours to do his job. Then he will walk back to his car, where he’ll sit down again to drive home. When he arrives home, he’ll most likely sit down to have dinner, then sit down on the couch to watch his television, until he ultimately goes to bed where he’ll hopefully sleep for at least eight hours. If you guesstimate the time, that’s approximately half a day sitting in some capacity.

This type of lifestyle over time can cause a number of issues physically and mentally. While rucking isn’t a cure to all of life’s problems, it’s a good step in the right direction. Rucking most often takes place outside, which gives the body fresh air and access to the sun, while also helping to decrease anxiety levels and lessen stress. Rucking requires standing, which gets the individual on their feet and out of the sitting position. Rucking has a varied level of weight resistance that demands more from the body than just a standard walk, creating better posture and increased bone density.

I’ve found that a lot of people I mention rucking to have a similar reaction: “Wow, doesn’t that hurt your back?” “My knees couldn’t handle that.” Quite the opposite, actually. Using a rucksack improves posture and strength in both the back and knees. Carrying a rucksack with a weighted plate pulls your shoulders back and forces the you to contract their core, which is the correct posture people should maintain while walking or standing. Strength training in general has a benefit of increasing bone density, and wearing a rucksack while walking is adding resistance to areas such as your knees which have to adapt to the heavier weight carried in every step.

Basically, rucking does a lot of good things for our bodies. If you’re in the market for a new bag, or just looking for something different in your daily exercise, try it out. It’s rucking legit.