I have a confession. When I lived in New York City, I was a gym-a-holic. This is a more serious distinction than being a gym rat. A gym-a-holic spends most of her time working out at an indoor fitness center. Ask her to go away for a hiking weekend, and she will worry about missing her Saturday 8AM aerobic class.

I was cured of this affliction when I was introduced to the great outdoors. Much to my dismay, I discovered that while I might look good in ski clothes, hiking shorts or rafting gear, my indoor fitness routine did little to enhance my outdoor skills.

So what was lacking? Spontaneity! How do you react to a sudden change in terrain on a hiking trail or a ski slope? What do you do when you encounter unexpected rapids on a white water trip? Do you have the spontaneity, or as we fitness experts call it, agility to respond appropriately? The elliptical machine, as well as the leg extension machine and other traditional forms of exercise equipment are predictable in their movements. However Mother Nature is fond of surprising her daughters. She builds their character by presenting them with changes.

Balance challenges are another form of these changes. Suppose that you are hiking along a trail, and you suddenly come across a stream. The only way to cross this stream is by stepping over a series of rocks. “No problem!” you say. “I’ve been practicing the Yoga Tree Pose for years. Uh oh! We have a problem! The tree pose is a static exercise. Crossing a stream involves dynamic balance, or balance in motion.

Does this mean that you need to give up your gym workouts? No way! However, there are ways to make your workout “outdoor friendly.” Here are just a few:

• Use Balance Training Equipment: Many weight-training exercises can be performed on the ball, bosu or balance board.
• Go to the Playground: Hopscotch and other park games can enhance balance and agility.
• Play with a Kid or a Puppy: If you don’t have either of these, borrow from a friend. Nothing is more effective in increasing speed in reaction time!

A gym-a-holic trains her muscles to look good while lying on the beach. An adventurous wench trains her muscles for action, and ends up looking pretty darn good in the process. Which are you?

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This is a first post from a new guest blogger, Lisa Mercer. Lisa is a fitness expert who lives in Colorado, and she’ll be contributing articles and and then. If you’re thinking of a women’s adventure trip, check out her tips!

Recently when I’ve turned on my mac while sitting at the airport, I’ve been surprised to find complete strangers showing up under my “Shared” section in the Finder. Not being nosy, I didn’t go poking around in their stuff, but it made me wonder why this was happening.

And more concerning, were other people able to see (and poke around in) my files? I have my files set up to easily share between computers in the office. But that doesn’t mean I want everyone in the airport to see them!

I found the answer in Ask Dave Taylor, who explained that a change in the most recent Mac operating system (Leopard, or Mac OS X vers 10.5) , leaves the Guest account enabled for file sharing by default. If you don’t turn it off, you could be sharing more than you expected!

If you’re a Mac user and haven’t done anything about this yet, check out this post for simple instructions on how to close this security loophole.

Ask Dave Taylor: How do I completely disable the Guest account on Leopard?

No need for all those other travelers to see your business strategy or love letters, right?

On arrival at Atlanta’s airport, I was pleased to find signs telling me the walk to baggage claim was 4000 feet, or about 3/4 mile. After sitting cooped up on a plane, a brisk walk was a great way to get the blood moving. Why not start with exercise in the airport? (Don’t worry — there’s a train if you don’t feel the same!)

It was late by the time I checked in to the hotel, so I decided to have room service and get a little work done before turning in. (I admit — I adore room service! It dates back to when I used to be a room service waitress, and SO envied those people getting breakfast delivered.) Times have changed though, and it’s amazing now that one chef salad, no drink, adds up to $25 by the time all the extra charges are added! So the Atlanta diet plan = raiding the minibar in the morning, since I balk at paying another $25 for a continental breakfast.

Tip: When you’re planning a trip, it pays to check the price of add-ons too, when you’re comparing hotel prices. Adding $17 parking + $15 internet + $20 breakfast makes a big difference in the price.

For this trip, I’m here for a conference with special rates, so it makes sense to stay at this hotel. In many other circumstances, I’d look elsewhere. Lots of other hotels have free internet and breakfast included, and you’d avoid that little “ouch” I always feel when I have to pay $15 to use the internet!

My trip back from Belize took about 24 hours longer than expected, but that wasn’t such a bad thing. In fact, in a way it made me feel good about people.

The trip started out great — even ahead of schedule! For a 9am puddle-jumper from Ambergris Caye to Belize City, I showed up an hour early. (These travel habits are pretty ingrained.) So I was a bit surprised when I arrived at 8am, and they said the flight was boarding in 3 minutes! Yes, this teeny tiny plane boarded an hour ahead of time. Turns out on Easter Sunday they were running multiple planes as fast as they could get them loaded. So we were off for the 17-minute flight to Belize City. So far, so good…

The problem appeared a few hours later, when it was time for the international flight to leave for the US. That’s when we discovered there was a fuel shortage in Belize. First, they said it was just the international airport. Later they said it was the entire region, including both Belize and Guatemala.

Since there wasn’t enough fuel for them to gas up our plane, we had to make a detour on the way back, and stop in Cancun for a fill-up. What with one thing and another, we got to Charlotte so late that even though I’d planned a 2.5 hour layover, I was just clearing customs when my connecting flight pulled away from the gate.

What made me happy was how well the passengers took it. A very high percentage of people on the plane missed connections, and because of the late hour, most of them (including me) were stranded for the night. Yet, people didn’t get too upset. Nobody freaking out, getting angry, or yelling at the airline staff. Everyone took it in stride, even joking about it.

It certainly helped that US Airways provided hotels and meals for stranded passengers. It might have been a bit different if everyone was looking at sleeping on the airport floor.

But I’m wondering how much was due to the fact we were coming back from a relaxing tropical trip. Did that mellow everybody out? How different would it have been if this was a flight from New York to LA that was diverted and delayed overnight? Something tells me the stress level would have been a bit higher!

That mellow tropical feel sure was more pleasant.

And why not? Stressing over it would have done no good at all. Sometimes you’ve just got to let go, and go with the flow. They’ll get you there as soon as they can. That’s life, and it’s all part of the adventure.

Another new year, and time for resolutions. Here are a few travel-related lists I ran across.

Jeanne Leblanc: Travel Resolutions
Elliott: Resolved for 2008 - Kill the TSA…
MSNBC: Resolutions the airlines ought to make

If you’re like most people, you may find some resolutions don’t make it far into the year. They’re always a lot easier to break than to keep, aren’t they? Maybe this is your year to make a change. Here are a few resources that could help.

• If you’re going for the ever-popular “Exercise regularly”, see zenhabits: 4 Simple steps to start the exercise habit…
• If losing weight is on your list, here’s a site that provides free customized diet & exercise plans, and a number of support tools. See DietTV.com…
• If you need some positive inspiration to keep you going, try DIYplanner: Making a motivation collage…
• If it would help to have timely reminders that keep prodding you to stay on track, check out HassleMe…
• I like Joe’s Goals as a free way to track progress on multiple goals. You can also check out Lifehacker: Jerry Seinfeld’s method…
• You’ll find a bunch more ideas to help you keep going in the zenhabits: Top 20 motivation hacks…

Good luck, and happy new year!

PS. Our newsletter subscribers may recognize these tools from a recent issue. I wanted to post them here too, so they’re easier to find and refer back to later. (Perhaps next January?)

If you’re not a newsletter subscriber, you can always sign up on our main Adventurous Wench website. The newsletter is where we announce special offers and new additions to our selection of women’s trips.

I had to smile when I read this. The author, a well-seasoned flier, makes a case that rather than being worse than ever, air travel is in fact better than it used to be. A contrarian point indeed!

NY Times: The golden age of travel?

Now I know I’m an oddity, but I actually enjoy air travel:

• I don’t mind a 24-hour multi-leg trip to get somewhere. That makes it seem like I’ve really gone somewhere exotic and special.
• I don’t mind narrow body planes. They have a higher proportion of window seats, and I love to watch the world go by.
• I don’t mind a 12-hour layover at JFK. I get to explore every terminal, discovering which have the most comfortable benches and interesting food.

OK, I don’t mean that everything is rosy. Sitting in coach can be cramped for those of us with long legs, when trying to cross or uncross your legs requires a contortionist’s skill. And trying to sleep on an overnight flight when your seat reclines about 3″ does not leave you perky at the end of the trip!

But I see it all as part of the adventure. The travel time is like a decompression chamber between the world where you were, and the world you’re going to. And not least important, it’s quiet time when I’m free to read & listen to my iPod — a luxurious time I rarely allow myself in “normal life”.

As far as I’m concerned, if I could just click my heels and be there, I’d be missing part of the experience.

On the road again… Gee, it’s good to be on the road again…

I’m partway between Phoenix and San Francisco, in Merced, the “Gateway to Yosemite”. I’m headed out for our Napa Valley & San Francisco trip that starts in a couple of days, and driving so I can bring all the trip stuff we need.

As I reached San Bernardino, I hit a big ouch! Less than 6 hours into the trip, my driving leg was seizing up, with intense painful cramps in the front of the shin. This could have been dangerous if we’d been going more than 5 miles an hour (San Bernardino at rush hour)! I could brake left-footed, but whenever I needed to touch the gas, OUCH!!!

The problem was with the shin muscle. If you put your foot flat on the floor, and keep your heel down while you lift the front of your foot, you’ll feel this muscle. I’m in pretty good shape and do plenty of hiking, but this one little piece was not up to a 6-hour drive, and decided to rebel.

I’ve always thought about getting in shape for hiking trips or ski trips, but never thought about getting in shape for a long road trip. Obviously this calls for a set of driving exercises - the pre-road-trip workout.

A little research revealed the muscle in question is the anterior tibialis, that runs along the front of your lower leg. Here are some suggested exercises:

Toe flexes
Shin stretches
Walking on your heels

The other kind of “driving exercises” are those you can do while you’re on the road. Why not make use of that time?

Get fit while driving

- Deanna.