I’m on vacation, finally, after a really long work stretch of eleven days, a relapse of a cold, and a lot of stress. I still have many things to do before I get on the plane on Monday night, including preparing enough blog posts to make sure I don’t miss any days while I’m on the go.

The positive part of a vacation is I can get a bit of rest, even though in this case “rest” means traveling to the middle of the continental United States and staying up for something between 18 and 22 hours a day for a week. However, having time off from my ever-stressful social work career is always a help.

The part of “rest” I’m a bit concerned about is that I won’t have my bicycle with me, so no riding. The weather in Kansas City at this time of year is pretty outrageously hot and humid most of the time, so I’m questioning the wisdom of doing any running, but bringing my running shoes just in case. I don’t recall a pool on the campus (and a cursory look through their Web site tells me nothing about the existence of one), so I’ll leave my goggles and towel at home.

There’s also a lot of difference in the water between home and Kansas City, and there’ll be a ton of difference in the food that I eat, the times I’m eating, and my sleep pattern.

I’ve done this trip many times before and survived–sometimes even dropping weight. Let’s go to it one more time and see how my fitness holds up.