“But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” Luke 10:40 NIV
Preparing for two week vacation in Italy took 5 weeks of training. Why? We trained for five weeks by hiking everyday for 2-6 miles at altitude and climbed many hills and mountains. The anticipated trip included seven days of hiking in Umbria, Italy.
The descriptions of the proposed hikes from 3-9 miles daily made us wary of “showing up” without adequate training. There is a reason athletes come to Colorado with its thin air and lack of oxygen to get ready for their events. We hiked 120 miles in those five weeks to prepare.
Any vacation you take to other countries involves walking – a lot! We had new shoes to break in, packs to carry on our hikes, and clothes to purchase for every weather probability.
The first day of travel requires rest to acclimate and sleep when needed. Age will change you and your need to rest more from jet lag as you age. We were ready to hike and never sore or unable to do the hikes at one-third the altitude of training. We had prepared well.
How do you train for physical hike exertions? What preparations are necessary for vacations?