Koh Tao, Gulf of Thailand On a Thursday night in mid-April, I embarked on a 30-something hour journey to Koh Tao, an island that is part of the Chumphon Archipelago on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand, with a population under 1500, to take part in an Arrow Retreat led by founder, Dani Yarusso. Along the way, I intercepted three of…
Tag: inspiration
New Year, New Career
As the new year approaches, many of us reflect on what was, with a goal of determining what we wish to adapt and accomplish in the next calendar year. The great thing about 2019 is that it’s a blank slate in which we get to plot our future. If you aim to make a career transition in the new year,…
The One Life
Early on in life, we tend to become aware of the dichotomy of our public and personal selves. We realize that who we are in our homes, amid our families, is not always the same self we bring to school or to a friend’s house. We become self-conscious when we realize that we may think or feel or do things…
Best Books of 2018
Powerful stories do great things to our psyche and spirit. They enable us to grow and dream and know and experience; they induce awareness and empathy. From Scot Jurek’s journey across the Appalachian Trail to Barry Cohen’s jaunt across America via Greyhound in Shteyngart’s Lake Success, I am grateful for the expeditions written words afford me and obliged to these…
Breakfast With My Dad
We were never a family to sit down and have breakfast growing up – my dad left for work each day around 7 am and my brothers and I likely left for school a bit later. Food was not part of our morning routine. As I grew older, early mornings meant run and yoga time, with my adventures starting earlier…
Badwater 135 – Take 4 – Finding My Why
2015 was the first year that I was one of the 100 runners invited to run Badwater 135, “the world’s toughest foot race,” and ventured out to Death Valley in June to prepare and acclimate, and back again in July, to race. I was too nervous to fully appreciate the experience, although the imprint it made on my life, from…
MONASTERY
3 months living with Benedictine and Trappist monks – what could go wrong? Years back, in the early-after 9/11 era, I lived with Roman Catholic monks at Benedictine and Trappist monasteries from Canada, to South Carolina, to Massachusetts, to California. I started off the journey with a few weeks at an Ashram in Pennsylvania and finished it at a Buddhist…
Life After College: Navigating the Road Ahead
You spent four or more years learning, studying, writing papers, taking tests, and achieving grades high enough to earn a college degree. Congratulations! But your journey is not over. In fact, now is when it really begins. After having professors motivate, encourage, and mentor you, now your fate is in your own hands. Next up is to navigate the world…
The Mindset of Career Transition
In the landscape of career advice, there’s tons of guidance out there on how to improve your resume, interview effectively, and how to stand out from the crowd of job seekers. While resumes and interview prep help professionals to market themselves effectively, when it comes to career transition, there are vital steps job seekers should ponder prior to perfecting one’s…
Badwater Salton Sea – Against the Wind
The Badwater Salton Sea Story All great ideas have a history: for Chief Adventure Officer and Race Director Chris Kostman, the concept of challenging runners for 81 miles over a blend of road and trail in California, on a course with elevation reminiscent of Badwater 135, made sense. For this adventure, the starting point would be the abandoned Salton Sea…