A Hike a Day Keeps the Bava Away

All hail the noiseprofessor

If you live in Trentino for long enough, eventually you will give in to the hiking culture. I found it is simply a matter of time. There are so many beautiful places to see here, and most of them the only way to experience them is by foot. I’ve been hiking on and off since I got here in October of 2015, hell simply walking the kids to school in the morning is a hike at half a mile uphill—I recently learned it’s the equivalent of 21 flights of stairs. Doing that twice a day was brutal for me 18 months ago. In fact, the very idea of it filled me with dread.

But something changed for me  over the last few months, I actually started to enjoy the hikes. I even had this bizarre desire to do them regularly to get in this thing they call “shape.” I think it really took hold in February during a hiking/skiing trip to Val di Funnes. I snowboarded for the first time in 20 years, and I realized if I get my ass in shape I might enjoy Trento even more than I am currently, an idea that seemed impossible at the time. Yet, almost 3 months later and I have to say it is true. Trento is not best experienced in a car or on a couch, you have to be out and about. And part of this change has been our decision to not buy a car.  We’ve been carless for our entire time here, although early on we depended a bit on Antonella’s mom’s generosity and Trento’s Car Sharing program when we need an automobile. Other than that, we walk or bus pretty much everywhere locally. 

And recently walking has become the primary means of transportation for almost everything. We walk the kids to school, we walk them to swimming practice, we walk downtown, and we walk to the mountains (just a 15 minutes away). Our dog Daphne certainly loves this, and I’m beginning to turn the corner on my Long Island nature-hating ways. I crave walks every day now, and seemingly the longer and steeper the better.  I have set some hiking goals for myself this summer, and I really want to see if I can push myself a bit more.* I have to if I am going to keep up with my partner Tim Owens whose regular regime of exercise over the last two years has been an inspiration—he inspires on and off the internet.

So, I decided to write this post to celebrate a minor milestone given April 2017 saw my best month, week and day of hiking yet.† I started tracking my mileage through my phone (something I was loathe to do, but finally gave in and now I’m hopelessly addicted) and I became enthralled by the numbers. I won’t track my weight or anything like that because I have no delusion about how I look, I’m pure charm now, but mileage and elevation is something I am intrigued with. So, in April I climbed an average of 42 flights of stairs a day with an average of 9,190 steps daily. This week I averaged 11,525 steps daily and finally broke 30 miles—I hiked 38 miles total week averaging 50 flights of stairs each day. For many this is nothing, for my one time Lucky Strike smoking, inhaler using ass this is a no mean feat.

This week the entire family did a local hike to the Bindisi that is the equivalent of 80 flights of stairs twice We just finished the second one earlier today, and the added bonus of doing a fair amount of these jaunts with Antonella and the kids makes it all that much more enjoyable. 

In fact, mountain selfies are the new black in Trento:

My new life in Italy just keeps on giving, and who am I to refuse the awesome?

*Something that will hopefully pay off come snowboarding season this year.
†In fact, it was only 3 weeks in April given the first week I was still in conference mode between Ireland and London.