teacher vacations – Teachers Have Lives Too!

About a month ago, B and I went on an beautiful, memorable, challenging, and downright epic 42 mile backpacking trip here in Colorado. About a week after we got back from Europe, we set out to start our trip on the Fjällräven Classic. The Classic in the USA is a 3 day trek through the mountains with about 200 like minded people from all over the world organized and facilitated by the Swedish outdoor brand Fjällräven. Here is more info on the story behind the Classic, and info on the USA Classic.

The Fjällräven Classic concept is simple: to encourage and enable more people to get out and enjoy trekking.

You can read more about B and I on the trek here on B’s Blog.

I’ve been backpacking before, so between B and I, we already have the necessary gear. With everything I needed, my pack rang in at just around 30 pounds, give or take a few with/without water. I use B’s hand-me-down pack, an Osprey Aether 70 which fits me really well even though (or because) it’s a men’s pack. For sleeping, I have an REI bag that is rated down to 20˚F and a air pad that frankly is not thick enough. I can never sleep well camping. I wake up ever 20 min or so with aching hips, so I end up tossing and turning all night, every night, no matter how exhausted I am. B and I share a Big Agnes tent, and a Jet Boil stove, and the rest is pretty standard. I have old Keen hiking boots that have never once given me a blister, and I wore light weight Arcteryx hiking pants with sweat wicking t-shirts from Costco. The one and only new thing for me on this trip was trekking poles. They helped propel me up steep grades, tempered steep downslopes, and I’m very, very glad I had them for this type long distance climb. My poles came off of a snowshoeing kit I bought at Costco over the winter, so they’re are not fancy at all, but definitely useful.

We bought tickets back in April, and I quickly realized that I would very seriously need to start training. The route description even gave B pause, so I took a brutally honest evaluation of my fitness level and started planning out my training routine. To ease me into exercising, I started yoga once or twice a week at my neighborhood studio, The Yoga Mat. Prior to this, my exercise came strictly from sporadic 7 minute workouts at home, snowboarding, and walks. To prep my weak and injury prone low back for the weight of a backpack, I started pilates once a week at my neighborhood pilates studio, Manna Pilates and signed up for 3 private lessons spaced out over 3 months. Gradually, I added in running (a mile at a time – I loathe running) once or twice a week, and supplementing my yoga and pilates classes with the Nike Fit App workouts at home. In May, my friend Melissa introduced me to spinning classes at Endorphin. We both bought a 3 month unlimited package, and I started going to their classes 2-3 times a week to work on my cardio endurance, which has always been non-existent. To train for the elevation and just the realities of the trek, B and I went on training hikes every weekend with fully loaded packs in the mountains close to Denver. By the time the classic came around, I felt ready. My cardio endurance was 5 times better than it was, I had stronger core strength, and I knew I could make at least 10 mile hikes with no problems.

B and I are planning to do this same trip again next summer, and we will probably rope some of our friends and family in to join us. The price is a bit steep – as is essentially everything Fjällräven branded – but I really think you get your money’s worth and more.If you’re curious for more, check out the tag #fjallravenclassicusa on Instagram, and Fjällräven’s Facebook page.

classicUSA

All the photos here were taken by B and I, with the exception of the very last one, which was taken by Ali Vagnini.

Paris…la Ville Lumière. I don’t speak any French past “Bonjour madame!” and “un café s’il vous plaît!” Thankfully, I got a quick little primer on French manners from our Australian-Parisian friends Daniel and Libby the first couple of days of our Paris trip. Parisians are extremely polite, so if you travel there and stick to the usual American manners, you’d be considered rude. Greetings, please, and thanks are very important and expected. For example, when you enter a store, cafe, anything really, Parisians always say “Bonjour madame/monsieur!”, and same when they leave. I certainly don’t do that normally here in the states (though maybe I’m just rude all the time), but I definitely was conscious to greet everyone right away everywhere I went in Paris. I also didn’t experience much of the famed Parisian snottiness/irreverence during my time there. Maybe those two things go hand in hand? I knew I would be out exploring solo for half our time there, with B at his conference WordCamp Europe (the reason for his travels in the first place). So it was really helpful to have a local break things down for me before venturing off on my own!

The best way to get around Paris is by bicycle, and paris has the best ride-share bicycle system, the Velib. So simple, so accessible, and so affordable. For almost the same price as a one way Metro ticket (€1.90) you could rent a Velib for 24 hours, 30 min at a time (€2). Bike lanes are everywhere, and Parisian drivers are very aware and careful of cyclists. The Metro is great for longer distances, but for the most part, I rented a Velib for everything within the main ring of Paris. Compare that system to Denver, where #1 there is no metro at all, and #2 the bike share program costs $9/day. Who would opt to ride a bike when it’s cheaper to just drive or take the bus? #doingitwrong! I loved these bikes so much that I immediately started researching Dutch step-though style bikes the day we got home (I ended up buying a Linus, by the way).

Day 1: arrival via Eurostar, Montparnasse Cemetery, Luxembourg Gardens, macarons from Gerard Mulot, rosé on the terrasse of Café de la Mairie, a stroll through St. Germain, and dinner at Le Bistrot d’Henri.

Day 2: coffee around the corner from Daniel and Libby’s, Blé Sucré for the most amazing croissant I’ve ever had in my life, a stroll through the farmers market near the Puces d’Aligre, rosé at Le Baron Rouge, strolling through Le Marais, lunch at L’As du Fallafel, Le Palais Royal, a walk through the grounds of the Louvre, Palace de la Concorde, rosé at Café du Rendez Vous, Catacombs of Paris, and dinner at Le Temps des Cerises.

Day 3: Arc de Triomphe, stroll all the way down Ave. de Champs-Elysées to Musée d’Orsay, Notre Dame, picnic along the Canal de la Villette, and dinner at Le Bancs Publics.

Day 4: the Louvre, shopping in St. Germain at Monoprix and City Pharma, picnic dinner back at hotel of baguette, camembert, salami, and wine. First day completely on my own.

Day 5: Musee de Rodin at the Hôtel Biron, Sainte-Chapelle, Pantheon, stroll down down Rue Mouffetard (the Latin Quarter) with more croissants, stroll around the Pierre and Marie Curie University, more shopping at Monoprix and City Pharma and street crepes for dinner.