Blog of Sam Fox

(Not page 3, popstar, politician, pornstar, or phoenix professional)

Tag

walking

Shira One Camp
Africa, Kilimanjaro

The scenic route up Kilimanjaro

March 6, 2023
  1. Kick-off for Kili
  2. The scenic route up Kilimanjaro
  3. Last of the ‘easy’ days as going gets tougher but home comforts help
  4. One foot in front of the other all the way to Uhuru Peak (and down)

Day One: Londorossi Gate (2,220m/6,825ft) to Mt Mkubwa (2,800m/9,100ft)

There are several different routes to take up Kilimanjaro, our Lemosho route is the most scenic route, and at 8 days is one of the longer routes. People come here without proper training and try and do it in 5 days – what’s the point? Throughout the Kili hike, EBC was a reference for me, it is my only other high-altitude hike, but one of the best things about that trip was the scenery and the journey (will try not to talk about the worst things!).

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Team pre-departure
Africa, Kilimanjaro

Kick-off for Kili

March 5, 2023
  1. Kick-off for Kili
  2. The scenic route up Kilimanjaro
  3. Last of the ‘easy’ days as going gets tougher but home comforts help
  4. One foot in front of the other all the way to Uhuru Peak (and down)

Gathering the groups

“Let me know what you think about Kilimanjaro and if you’d be up for it in Feb 2023”. That was just over a year ago in January 2022 when Beth messaged me. Back in 2016 I, along with 6 others, climbed Everest Base Camp. The aim was to create another small group to do Kili.

“It looks really good, very tempted”

Kilimanjaro was going to be nearly 2K feet higher than Everest Base Camp, which gave me some thought. I’d struggled with the altitude at times on EBC , as had another member of the original EBC crew. In the end, our Kili group was 8 people, Beth, Ollie, and myself part of the same crew from 2016. Now it was time to kick off the preparation.

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NYC coronavirus lockdown

Rain and games

April 30, 2020
  1. First day working remote
  2. We stay home and wait
  3. Stretching the legs & (some) social distancing
  4. Confirmation arrives, stocking up
  5. Finding routine in irregular times
  6. New challenges with the remote working
  7. Noticeable changes
  8. Finding a pattern
  9. COVID-19 Lock Down
  10. First week, check
  11. Weekend plans? You know stay away from people as much as possible.
  12. Game night as the pause begins
  13. Streets empty as everyone builds furniture and plays games
  14. Staying sane
  15. Keeping date night going
  16. Socializing remote
  17. Friday feeling? TGIF?
  18. House Parties not Street Parties
  19. Running in the rain
  20. Betting on unknowns
  21. Optimizing the lockdown life
  22. Community Support
  23. Virtual Social Closeness
  24. Friday night: Virtual Happy Hours & Games
  25. Four Weeks In
  26. Discovering the new exciting
  27. A Weekend Getaway in Quarantine
  28. Rain and games
  29. Looking for escapes
  30. Escape to the Country
  31. An upstate retreat for some ‘normalcy’
  32. Rediscovering New York as lockdown eases
A very empty Union Square

Things seem to be easing up a bit, although that’s come with the mandatory mask-wearing. We’ve had very spring weather for the past week with some beautiful warm days and some days of constant rain. As I write this now, I can hear the rain hitting our AC unit – quite a comforting sound. Thinking back I don’t remember having such a distinct Spring season in NY.

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NYC coronavirus lockdown

Socializing remote

March 26, 2020
  1. First day working remote
  2. We stay home and wait
  3. Stretching the legs & (some) social distancing
  4. Confirmation arrives, stocking up
  5. Finding routine in irregular times
  6. New challenges with the remote working
  7. Noticeable changes
  8. Finding a pattern
  9. COVID-19 Lock Down
  10. First week, check
  11. Weekend plans? You know stay away from people as much as possible.
  12. Game night as the pause begins
  13. Streets empty as everyone builds furniture and plays games
  14. Staying sane
  15. Keeping date night going
  16. Socializing remote
  17. Friday feeling? TGIF?
  18. House Parties not Street Parties
  19. Running in the rain
  20. Betting on unknowns
  21. Optimizing the lockdown life
  22. Community Support
  23. Virtual Social Closeness
  24. Friday night: Virtual Happy Hours & Games
  25. Four Weeks In
  26. Discovering the new exciting
  27. A Weekend Getaway in Quarantine
  28. Rain and games
  29. Looking for escapes
  30. Escape to the Country
  31. An upstate retreat for some ‘normalcy’
  32. Rediscovering New York as lockdown eases

Took a walk around the block after a couple of days inside, it’s so nice to feel the sun. Luckily the roads are pretty quiet so it’s possible to social distance by walking in the road but still at times feels like too many people are out.

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NYC coronavirus lockdown

Finding routine in irregular times

March 16, 2020
  1. First day working remote
  2. We stay home and wait
  3. Stretching the legs & (some) social distancing
  4. Confirmation arrives, stocking up
  5. Finding routine in irregular times
  6. New challenges with the remote working
  7. Noticeable changes
  8. Finding a pattern
  9. COVID-19 Lock Down
  10. First week, check
  11. Weekend plans? You know stay away from people as much as possible.
  12. Game night as the pause begins
  13. Streets empty as everyone builds furniture and plays games
  14. Staying sane
  15. Keeping date night going
  16. Socializing remote
  17. Friday feeling? TGIF?
  18. House Parties not Street Parties
  19. Running in the rain
  20. Betting on unknowns
  21. Optimizing the lockdown life
  22. Community Support
  23. Virtual Social Closeness
  24. Friday night: Virtual Happy Hours & Games
  25. Four Weeks In
  26. Discovering the new exciting
  27. A Weekend Getaway in Quarantine
  28. Rain and games
  29. Looking for escapes
  30. Escape to the Country
  31. An upstate retreat for some ‘normalcy’
  32. Rediscovering New York as lockdown eases

Trying to stick to usual routine. Got up at usual time, shaved. Enough time for a 30 minute walk before my first call of the day at 9.30. In less typical routine, practicing social distancing by making my own lunch today, for the first work day in probably years.

Managed to get another short walk in this afternoon in place of the usual lunchtime walk to get food. Cooked dinner for the second day in the row. Coming out of this quarantine I’m going to be a better cook!

Another walk after dinner- any way to keep active and avoid the apartment walls that are going to become all too familiar.

NY announced movie theatres, theatres, nightclubs (damn) and commercial gyms closed until further notice. All restaurants and bars are limited to takeout or delivery. During out evening walk we thought about how we’d continue to support local businesses – occasionally picking up or ordering food in from our favourite local restaurants.

Tweet of the day:

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NYC coronavirus lockdown

Confirmation arrives, stocking up

March 15, 2020
  1. First day working remote
  2. We stay home and wait
  3. Stretching the legs & (some) social distancing
  4. Confirmation arrives, stocking up
  5. Finding routine in irregular times
  6. New challenges with the remote working
  7. Noticeable changes
  8. Finding a pattern
  9. COVID-19 Lock Down
  10. First week, check
  11. Weekend plans? You know stay away from people as much as possible.
  12. Game night as the pause begins
  13. Streets empty as everyone builds furniture and plays games
  14. Staying sane
  15. Keeping date night going
  16. Socializing remote
  17. Friday feeling? TGIF?
  18. House Parties not Street Parties
  19. Running in the rain
  20. Betting on unknowns
  21. Optimizing the lockdown life
  22. Community Support
  23. Virtual Social Closeness
  24. Friday night: Virtual Happy Hours & Games
  25. Four Weeks In
  26. Discovering the new exciting
  27. A Weekend Getaway in Quarantine
  28. Rain and games
  29. Looking for escapes
  30. Escape to the Country
  31. An upstate retreat for some ‘normalcy’
  32. Rediscovering New York as lockdown eases

Took a shorter walk today given yesterday’s walk was ¬20K steps. First stop was Barnes and Noble in Union Square to pickup a couple of books since we’re likely going to be locked down for a while. The bookshop was almost dead.Then we stopped by Irving Farm for a coffee and brunch sandwich.

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NYC coronavirus lockdown

Stretching the legs & (some) social distancing

March 14, 2020
  1. First day working remote
  2. We stay home and wait
  3. Stretching the legs & (some) social distancing
  4. Confirmation arrives, stocking up
  5. Finding routine in irregular times
  6. New challenges with the remote working
  7. Noticeable changes
  8. Finding a pattern
  9. COVID-19 Lock Down
  10. First week, check
  11. Weekend plans? You know stay away from people as much as possible.
  12. Game night as the pause begins
  13. Streets empty as everyone builds furniture and plays games
  14. Staying sane
  15. Keeping date night going
  16. Socializing remote
  17. Friday feeling? TGIF?
  18. House Parties not Street Parties
  19. Running in the rain
  20. Betting on unknowns
  21. Optimizing the lockdown life
  22. Community Support
  23. Virtual Social Closeness
  24. Friday night: Virtual Happy Hours & Games
  25. Four Weeks In
  26. Discovering the new exciting
  27. A Weekend Getaway in Quarantine
  28. Rain and games
  29. Looking for escapes
  30. Escape to the Country
  31. An upstate retreat for some ‘normalcy’
  32. Rediscovering New York as lockdown eases

Today’s plan was to see a NYC FC MLS game, but that’s now been postponed. So too is the Premier League. Instead we took a long walk to the Upper East Side, with the weather gorgeous. Not feeling the gym past few days with everything going on (Update: As of Mon 16th 8pm all gyms must close)

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Europe, Greece

Uncovering the local Athens

July 26, 2019
View of Athens city from Acropolis

“How many days in Athens?” It was a question I’d asked Google, Trip Advisor and people I knew. The answers varied a lot. An expat said one or two days maximum, some of the internet suggested two to three days, others on forums said how much they love Athens and you could spend a week there. In terms of a unified opinion I wasn’t going to find one.

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Europe, Greece

How about it, Delta? Take me to Athens!

June 18, 2019
The competition wall. Photo credit: The Drum

It’s May and we are boarding our free Delta (return) flight to Athens. When we reach Athens we’re going to take another flight to the Greek island of Santorini. Even as we sit in our seats and the plane takes off, we’re still not sure if we really believe we’re here.

How about it, Delta? Take me to Athens!

Last July I posted those words on Instagram along with the hashtag #pilottalksweepstake and a series of pictures spelling out the ancient Greek city.  I never win competitions, though that may be because I never really enter them. Since moving to New York I have definitely got the travel bug and with Danielle also enjoying travel, the bug has probably only grown the longer I’ve been here. Perhaps it’s that but when I first saw this competition last summer it caught my attention. I was helping a friend move apartments and gazing out the window of the U-Haul when I saw the promotion. For once, I asked myself: why not enter?

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