Grab life by the horns...

...but be ready to get thrown off from time to time.


Riding the mechanical bull at Trophy Room in Austin

Traveling light: China edition

 
Stratos 36L packed and ready to go

When I went to Europe last month, I brought along a small roller bag and laptop bag. Both were carry on items, allowing me to avoid any baggage headaches, and all things considered, they worked pretty well (in fact, that will be my standard travel setup when I start working). I had more than enough clothes to get me through the 2 weeks and all of the gadgets that I needed.

For my trip to China next week, I'm taking it up a notch (or is it down a notch?) and going with just a Stratos 36L. It feels like I now have substantially less space to pack stuff (I probably lost at least 10L), but since I'm taking fewer things, it is still more than what I need. I'm still probably packing a bit too much actually (a lot of people on travel forums swear by keeping it out when in doubt and just buying things you need along the way).

I've never had a serious travel pack before, but the rep at REI was extremely helpful in figuring out the sizing and everything. And she gave me a great tip on how to pack in order to alleviate any back pain; ideally, you want to pack the heaviest items as close to your back (center of gravity) as possible. This page on the Osprey website has a nice picture that shows how you should try to organize everything in your pack.

Stillseeker

I've been meditating on an almost daily basis for the past five months, and in that time, I've experienced some incredible moments of calm. I've come to really look forward to the time that I spend each day trying to be still.

I started meditating back in April after one of my friends at Kellogg sent out some articles on the benefits of meditation. I had seen one of the articles on how meditation may be able to change the structure of the brain for the better (here and here) a few weeks earlier, and although I thought it was kind of neat, I dismissed it as something that I didn't have time to explore any further.

I decided to give it a shot after reading through all of the other articles, which highlighted some potential benefits of meditation that I thought were too good to pass up on (especially as I eyed my return to the real world a few months later). In particular, some prior research has found that meditation may improve your ability to focus, reduce stress, and give you better control over your emotions. Since then, I've also seen it touted in several positive psychology books as a way to give you more control over your subconscious (explaining the emotions benefit) and increase your overall well-being.

I initially started meditating for just 5 minutes a day. I hadn't really come across any comprehensive instructions on how to do it, so I pieced together the stuff I had seen into my process. I'd sit cross-legged, close my eyes, silently recite to myself "May I find true happiness and be free from suffering," and then start counting my breaths.

I didn't really notice anything beyond occasionally getting light-headed (because I was getting more oxygen from breathing deeply), but I continued regardless. I wasn't really expecting to see amazing results early on. I slowly kept on raising the number that I'd count to until I was meditating for a solid 12 minutes. I was pretty proud of myself, and I continued to do it daily (out of habit by then) even though I hadn't had any notable experiences from it.

Fortunately, that changed after my trip to Europe. I made 2 significant changes to my meditation routine when I got back: 1) I increased the time from 12 or so minutes to 30 minutes and 2) I stopped counting and instead started using my phone as a timer. The first time I tried this out was a beast; it was very uncomfortable trying to sit still and clear my mind for 3x as long as what I had been doing up to that point. But the second and third times...now those were awesome.

At some point during both of those meditations, maybe 5-10 minutes into it, I felt a serene sensation wash over my entire body. It was almost as if my mind was a windshield wiper covered with water drops (thoughts), and all of a sudden, someone turned on the windshield wiper, clearing away all of the random thoughts in the process.

It became practically effortless to keep my mind clear, and I found myself just observing my body while feeling almost detached from it. An occasional thought would still find its way into my mind, but I was easily able to dismiss it. My entire body was relaxed and my breathing was very slow. To my surprise, the 30 minutes were up before I knew it. When I came out of it, I had an increased sense of awareness for a little while afterward.

I got really excited because I thought that I would now start experiencing that same sensation every time I meditated. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. Instead, the quality of my experiences has ranged from awful to excellent. As a result, I've started to pay more attention to the details of each meditation session. I note what works and what doesn't and tweak things each time. I've learned several things along the way.

More sleep = better meditation
The less I sleep the night before, the harder it is to meditate. In particular, I find that it makes it much, much harder for me to clear my mind because there are all of these thoughts running around like hyperactive kids. And once I do start to gain control over my thoughts, I doze off a bit. When I return to full alertness, so do the hyperactive kids. I imagine that getting too much sleep could also be a problem, though I haven't run into that scenario yet.

Ripping yourself out of meditation stinks
Once I stopped counting my breaths, I had to start using a timer on my phone to know when I was done. That worked out pretty well except for one big problem: when the alarm went off, it was like getting ripped out of sleep. It should be no surprise that ending a period of relaxation/calm with a jolt of stress like that is by no means delightful. I was finally able to fix it by 1) turning off vibration when the alarm goes off 2) lowering the ringer volume to a very low setting and 3) using a soothing ring tone that starts quietly and builds up.

Having the right posture can make or break a session
I've recently been focusing a lot of my attention on improving my posture, especially now that I'm meditating for 40 minutes or so each time. There are two big issues that come up if I happen to not sit well: either my lower back starts to hurt or my legs start to fall asleep. Once that happens, my chances of being still go to nil because I end up fidgeting like crazy to try to fix my posture and relieve the pain (or lack of sensation). I've recently (just today!) taken a few steps to try to fix this. I have started using a pillow as a makeshift zafu and am now sitting in the Burmese position.

I'm a little bit worried about how easy it will be to keep up daily meditation once I start working, but I'm hoping to put in at least 10 minutes every morning regardless of how busy I am. I'll see how that goes soon enough.

For anyone interested in meditation, here is one of the better guides that I've found online to get you started.

GF won this round...

China: Go for launch

I got my passport back today with a shiny new China visa pasted onto one of the empty pages. That was the last thing that I needed for my upcoming trip, so I am now go for launch.

I almost didn't even get a visa for the trip because I didn't know that I needed one until a few weeks ago. I assumed that I didn't because I didn't need one for the trip to Hong Kong and Macau. And although I read a few things that mentioned needing a visa while researching the trip, I just glossed over that little detail. I would have been pretty bummed if I got deported the moment that I got there.

Fortunately, it finally clicked that I needed one, so after a little research, I stumbled upon mychinavisa.com. They act as a middleman for the whole process of getting a visa, since most people don't live near a Chinese embassy. After completing a fairly easy application, I sent off all of the materials and my passport to their Houston office, and two weeks later, I received the visa. It couldn't have been easier.

I now have a little less than 2 weeks until I take off, and I'll be using that time to continue reading about the cities I'd like to visit and practicing phrases in Mandarin. Although I've learned a few basic phrases, I've mainly been practicing the tones and pronunciation of pinyin vowels/consonants. Hopefully, that will make it easier for me to use the Chinese phrasebook when I'm over there.

Concerts in the park and at Stubb's

It's a challenge getting outside these days with the heat being what it is in Texas (100+, cooling down to mid-90s at 9 PM), but nonetheless, I managed to make it out to a few concerts the last couple of days.

Concerts in the Park

Austin Long Center

On Sunday, we went to the Long Center for this week's installment of Hartman Foundation Concerts in the Park. The Austin Symphony's string ensemble was performing a variety of pop hits, including Lady Gaga's Alejandro and MJ's We Are the World.

I was pleasantly surprised when they started playing Don't Start Believin' (video below), which immediately reminded me of Kellogg.

After the show ended, we stayed for a few more hours, lying on the grass as the sun set and the first few stars came out. It was uber relaxing and the perfect way to end the day.

The Decemberists @ Stubb's
Last night we went to Stubb's to watch The Decemberists. It was my first time catching them live, and they were absolutely fantastic. They are one of those bands that sound just as good, if not better, live as they do in their albums.

At the end of the show, they pulled a rare double-encore, coming back out a second time to play one last song after energizing the crowd with The Mariner's Revenge Song (below).

Random acts of kindness increase happiness

I've been reading through a few books on positive psychology during my vacation, and I came across an awesome bit of research that found that consciously performing acts of kindness increases happiness (as long as those acts aren't overwhelming to perform).

Experiments have actually demonstrated again and again that kindness toward others actually causes us to be happier, improves our health, and lengthens our lives.

It doesn't even have to be a big thing; it can be as simple as holding open the door for someone, helping someone carry a heavy bag, etc.

Pretty obvious in hindsight, and yet, awesome nonetheless.

Some lessons learned from the Eurotrip

The trip to Europe was a great way to test drive some techniques for traveling light that I plan on using on my upcoming trip to China. The traveling conditions may not be the same, but nonetheless, I learned some things that I think will be useful.

• Traveling with only carry-on luggage worked beautifully for me and my GF, who didn't think she could make do initially. I ended up hand washing my clothes in the hotel 3 times during the trip, but I wasn't always able to hang everything well on the hangers in the hotel room to dry. I now have a small clothesline in my pack.
• I had no problems with my roller luggage, but it was less than ideal in some situations trying to quickly pick it up to take stairs. Fortunately, that only really happened when arriving to or departing from a city, but I anticipate that it will be more common in China, so I've picked up an Osprey Stratos 36L pack for the trip. That should make me a bit more mobile.
• A day pack is essential. We only brought a camera bag that didn't have room for much, so I had to cram as much stuff as possible in my pants pockets while still foregoing a lot of nice-to-haves. That was a pain. At the very least, I'm going to be walking around in China with sunblock, a hat, my camera, a small memo book, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and an umbrella, so I'll be buying a small bag to carry around during the day.
• I really need to question the necessity of every item I take with me. I made the mistake of taking dress shoes just in case we went to any upscale restaurants or clubs. They took up a lot of space in my luggage, were heavy, and didn't get used a single time during the trip. I also need to stick with light clothing that dries quickly. I only used the jeans I packed on 2 of the 15 days because of how long it took for them to air dry.
• A small power strip would have been pretty helpful. We were always playing "musical chairs" with our electronics and the sole power adapter in each country. It also would come in handy at airports, where power plugs are in high demand.