It is the first Antarctic cruise of the season for Oosterdam, and the great white continent did not disappoint. The grandeur of this special place is just breathtaking. I’d say we were lucky with the weather, but I have never had a bad day in Antarctica. Getting here and heading back to South America might be a different story, but even that was relatively smooth this week.
The below photos are from my phone (the above one is courtesy of one our cadets); I have tons on my camera, but they haven’t made it off the disk yet. Hopefully soon I can share some good photos of the penguin colonies. Enjoy!
Travel
Apart from the beautiful scenery, I gave myself to December 31 to have my second Seabourn presentation done. I have been learning the intricacies of when the Wi-Fi onboard is strongest and am chuffed to say that the heavy lifting of the second presentation is done! The work remaining can be done with no Wi-Fi, so I am content to let it rest for when those moments come. In the meantime, I have also started on my outline for the third presentation, so moving right along.
Wellness Round Up
Nutrition: This has been a bit mixed, with an (understandable) focus on holiday festivities early in the week.
Christmas eve brings special dinners for everyone, including the crew and officers. Dirk and I helped serve the crew dinner - we were serving the salad with very few takers despite our sales pitch. The officers and staff dinner was delightful - I just forgot to take photos after the salad. Christmas night we hosted a table in the Dining Room with two lovely couples from California - no photos out of politeness.
And as is Holland America Line tradition, Dutch pea soup served during cold weather scenic cruising.
We’ve been doing bigger lunches and lighter dinners:
Continuing on with the Lido, we have discovered that the port aft station at lunch is always a special theme - Dutch, French, German, etc. Not the healthiest plates I have put together, but some positive reinforcement for going to the Lido.
Dining Room lunch has had some yummy vegetarian options.
And sometimes on a day when the Lido and Dining Room are both busy, we’ll head to the Pinnacle Grill for lunch. Light dinner those days.
Dinner has mostly been vegetarian or soup and a salad/something light.
Hydration: 40-60 oz/day. Still could be better.
Sleep/Stress: overall both are good. I have been sleeping hot, which I think is related to the holiday alcohol intake…
Movement: Two stretching classes. 4,000-9,000 steps/day.
And my tiny habits. After I use the bathroom and wash my hands, I will do three squats. After I scroll through Facebook, I will stretch one body part. After I brush my teeth at night, I will floss one tooth. After I eat in the Dining Room, I will walk up one flight of stairs.
Yes, ideally I would like to walk up all of the stairs, floss all my teeth, stretch my whole body and complete a full lower body workout. But right now those all seem like big asks. However, I can do all of the above. Sometimes I do more - maybe I walk three flights of stairs instead of one. Great! But even if I only walk the one flight, I am still engaging in the habit and I can mark a success in my books. Success breeds success and small, consistent habits have ripple effects. I am still consistently doing my tiny habits, and I have fun thinking of ways to incorporate more to achieve goals I have.
The book is Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg. I am halfway through reading it, but in the meantime, I have done Tiny Habits’ free 5 day program two weeks in a row. With the help of a real live coach (via email), you design three tiny habit recipes tailored for you.
It’s that time of year where diet and fitness resolutions boom and bust, largely because motivation can be hard to sustain. You design your tiny habits to keep you going even when that motivation fails. The Tiny Habits 5-day program is not a huge time commitment and definitely worth a try. Why not give it a shot?
That's it for now - time to head out on tour hiking in Ushuaia. Sounds like a good way to end 2023.
Best wishes for Happy New Year - Bon Voyage & Bon Appétit!
Post updated August 17, 2024
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