Ego's Journal

[IlliniDave]

I will tell her. My Fitness Age calculation is only 10 years younger than my actual, so she has me beat by several decades. We are competitive.



I am eager to hear about your blood draw progress. One of the good things about meeting other EREers in person is that we get to see how others go to interesting extremes. We learned a lot from @2B1S about nutrition tracking. This afternoon we were strolling down the beach talking about some of the things we plan to incorporate into our routine when we return and I am seriously considering giving it a try. I believe my morning meal, especially when we travel, has a bit too many sweet tropical fruits in it. But I have no real data. So I am going to look for a second hand food scale and do some research on the best app for the job.

Competitive, huh? Well, I promise I won't tell her this, but it's maybe a little worse than you think. All things being equal women generally have an RHR that's 7 or so bpm higher than her male counterpart, so relatively speaking she's even further ahead of you on that metric too.

The first 12 vials were drown this morning and results should start dribbling in soon. I have 10-12 more vials tomorrow morning then I'm done until may when I have my basic annual blood work from my doc, all of which are covered in the Function tests. When I went in the phlebotomist said, "Oh, you're here for your Function [Health] tests." I asked her if she'd had others people coming in from Function Health and she said it wasn't an everyday thing, but she's seeing more-and-more. Seems like it's catching on. I'll probably be talking about what I learn this go around over in my journal.

I don't measure macros beyond back-of-the-envelope mental calculations to make sure I get the equivalent of at least 130g dietary protein each day. I can keep my carbs at a level that seems to work best with my (lack of) insulin sensitivity instinctively. I understand from people who started measuring macros diligently that most people tend to underestimate the amount of things they want to limit, and overestimate the amount of things they want to get a healthy minimum of. For reasons I don't fully understand I'm resistant to the idea, which is odd given my attraction to data.

[Stasher]

Here is some videos to pass the time and get more insight on the training chats here that you might enjoy Ego.

I've been watching all of David Roche's videos this spring as he prepares for Western States 100 Ultra trail race. Your talk of heat training has me recalling this episode recently where he did his full work-out but at the end he did a solid effort in heat training.
Great video if you want to watch the whole thing but otherwise jump to the 34:50 mark
https://youtu.be/FSH68lvEez4?si=s2A6MVrZjIy0lPoN

Another racer I follow is a fellow west coaster here where I live and ultra running is massive out this way, hence we get talented people creating great content like Jeff. He did a great video on heat training and his partner Audree is an ultra runner as well, she does a good overview on the heat training. Same like above jump to 6:35 to go right to the heat stuff
https://youtu.be/wk5v5olI7RQ?si=_aRQPyNdnAqlgudg

[Ego]

Thank you Stasher. I will watch them today

[Ego]

I am pulling this over from iDave's journal because I do not want to hijack his journal with my own details.

Despite having for a second time made a good faith effort to bring myself "in range" in that regard, my sleep behaves like a largely independent actor. ........ So I'm about to the point where I'm going to put my quest to be a super sleeper up on the shelf.

We have been on the road for a year. Here is my Garmin sleep score for the year.



This data comes directly from Garmin regarding scores.



I am spot on the average score. Considering the stress levels and responsibilities of the average 50-59 y.o., I should be doing much better than average. Of course, I am tempted to dismiss the accuracy of the tracker, especially when I consider the dismal results that The Quantified Scientist got for Garmin sleep tracking. Actually, for iDave and others interested in this, QS found that all sleep trackers are bad at differentiating between deep, light and REM sleep as well as awake moments, when compared with the ZMax EEG headband.

In the past, I gently mocked "sleep hygiene" and have long believed that the best thing I can do is condition myself to sleep wherever I am, regardless of bed comfort, noise, temperature, light or any other factor that might disrupt my sleep. But good sleep is important, so I am going to play around with some variables to see if I can do a little better. I will never come close to Mrs. Ego's sleep scores. She has always been an olympic level sleeper. Now that we are getting ready to return to SoCal, I am going to see if I can up my game. To my surprise, I noticed that my sleep duration and HRV improved when sleeping on soft beds. So, this time around I will get a soft bed. We will start out with an air mattress. Before leaving, we slept on the air mattress and I slept really well. Mrs. Ego is not enthusiastic about that idea of doing so permanently, so we will see how things unfold.

We had hoped to return to manage a different building in the resort area of town. That didn't work out as the property we wanted has a long-term manager in place, so we are returning to the building we managed the last time. We will go back to the same apartment but one floor above, so no tenants living above us and a much better view of the bay, park and downtown. The additional height may make it a little quieter, but probably not much as the only time we close the windows is when it rains. The neighborhood is loud. I will have to rebuild the basement gym and workshop. Mrs. Ego has already been scheduled to teach a few yoga/Pilates classes. While I will reopen my online store, I also plan to open a completely new, unrelated business that Mrs. Ego and I plotted out a few months ago. It will leverage our relationships in the property management industry. We are both excited about this new endeavor.

[IlliniDave]

I was a bit of a skeptic too. There have been times in my life where for different reasons I've had to operate for a time on serious sleep underruns, so I know what they feels like. And despite scores that's aren't off the charts, I never wake up feeling unrested, or sense a lack of energy through the day except for the occasional early mid afternoon lag which I've come to understand is typical of human circadian rhythm. It wasn't until I started trying to optimize everything that I ever gave sleep a second thought.

I poked around looking for any data Oura had that might break down average sleep score by age and gender. Didn't find anything that had it broken out by age, but by gender the average score for men is 73.9 (I averaged 71 in '24 and 79 YTD in '25). That while the total sleep average for men is 7.7 hr and mine was 6.1 in '24 and 6.7 YTD in '25. I think Oura's scoring puts a substantial weight on sleep timing and I score near perfect on that (very consistent bed time/wake up time) which is maybe why I am able to overcome having shorter sleep times in the scoring algorithm. I wonder how similar or different the Oura and Garmin scoring systems are. I've been tempted to get a Garmin just to have a second measurement source, but so far have resisted the temptation.

Those numbers make it look like I am improving, and maybe I am, but in a few weeks I'll be heading to the hideout for ~4 months, and last year my sleep numbers took a nosedive there. One of the things I had on my list of potential drivers for that is the mattress on my bed there is very spartan compared to my bed here. I'll probably add a topper to see if that helps. I'll be interested to hear how your ongoing experiment with mattress characteristics goes.

I also see the irony of my dipping into your journal and risking a hijack, lol. For the record I have no objection whatsoever when people share their own numbers/progress over in mine--It's something I think adds value to my journey, at minimum.

[Western Red Cedar]

@ego - Now that the trip is coming to an end, do you have any reflections you are willing to share? How did it compare to previous trips? How do you feel about returning home? Has the nomadic experience changed much?

[Ego]

I've been tempted to get a Garmin just to have a second measurement source, but so far have resisted the temptation.

The Quantified Scientist guy tested all of the devices for sleep tracking and found the most recent Apple Watch the best and Whoop/oura ring second best, but it seems that they are training their algos by comparing them against professional sleep studies, so I suspect they will all get better eventually.

One of the things I had on my list of potential drivers for that is the mattress on my bed there is very spartan compared to my bed here. I'll probably add a topper to see if that helps. I'll be interested to hear how your ongoing experiment with mattress characteristics goes.

I look forward to your results after adding a topper as well. We will have a Murphy/Trundle Bed in the apartment, so we are somewhat limited in what we can add.

Now that the trip is coming to an end, do you have any reflections you are willing to share?

Absolutely. We solidified the idea that three years on / one year off rotation works best for us. Any longer for either and we begin to itch for a change. We enjoyed our month to six-week long stays in Seville, Porto, Naxos and Salerno. I would have enjoyed a few more weeks in Koh Samui. That model, fewer places, longer stays, worked well and we would like to do it more often. It really gives a feel for what it would be like to live in those places. We made friends in some and we can now (somewhat) envision the world through their eyes.

As we pack for the flight tomorrow morning, we were talking about how fortunate we are to have spent this time together and how lucky we are that we get along so well. I am not sure how we got so lucky and it is a good thing that neither of us take it for granted.

How did it compare to previous trips?

This was the first time we spent a lot of time (about 40% of the trip) in places where we had been before. It was nice to see the changes in the Algarve and Naxos after thirty years as well as Luang Prabang and DaNang after nearly twenty years. We always find our way back to Bangkok, because it is a hub and we love it. In the future we hope to return to Langkawi and KL while visiting some new places in Malaysia.

This trip has been our most luxurious, which is not really saying all that much as we are still really frugal. We were willing to spend a bit more on places with a little more space or a kitchen, and that really makes a difference in quality of life. In the past we would prioritize cost over comfort, perhaps sometimes to a fault.

How do you feel about returning home?

This is the most excited we have been to return home in a long time. Largely that is because we have some exciting plans for a new business. It is kinda good that the new property management gig did not work out as we will be returning to a place we know well and we will be able to spend most of our energies on the new projects. The initial conversation for the plan came about because we were trapped in an apartment in Luang Prabang on a rainy day. Gradually we each added pieces to it and it took on a life of its own.

In the past, we began and ended our trips in October. This is the first time we are returning in spring, which I look forward to.

Has the nomadic experience changed much?

The nomadic experience has changed a lot and so have we. Mrs. Ego did not bring a phone with her on this trip so we were often reminded of just how different it was to travel pre-phone. If I didn't bring my phone for the day, we would have to ask directions, which no one ever does anymore. It is amazing because using charades to figure out how to get somewhere was such a big part of travel. Thirty years ago we got to know the guy at the American Express office in Athens very well because we would stop in often to check for mail delivery from home. That year, we called home once. Now, we are in contact constantly.

In the past, our lodging was always a surprise. Today, Booking.com has proved to be invaluable. It just works as advertised and the places are usually as the reviews present them to be. I still find it somewhat magical when I use a Bolt/Grab/Uber, though we do not use it very often as we like to walk. Speaking of walking, we are doing a lot more of it. I am not sure if it is a result of the fact that we are counting steps, but it is our default and we did more of it than ever before.

We rarely ate at restaurants as we had kitchens for most of the trip and when we didn't have a kitchen we used our stove. In fact, the times we went out with you folks, 2b1s and C40 was probably more than half of our restaurant visits for the entire year. We really enjoy shopping in the markets and cobbling together meals. Though we did really enjoy meeting you and the other forum members, with the Christmas party being the highlight.

Next time we will start out with very few pieces of clothing as second-hand stores are everywhere and allow us to fine tune our wardrobe to the place.

Pickleball is a thing in Vietnam. We had never played before and I always looked at it as a somewhat silly game, but gave it a try in Danang, then challenged Mr. & Mrs. 2b1s to several death matches. It turned out to be a lot of fun.

Our morning runs have become increasingly important and we now will not commit to a place long-term if we are not sure to have a good run. This limits the places where we can go, especially places where women cannot run. Someday we might get to Saudi now that they are opening up, but it will have to be a short trip for that reason.

[Stasher]

I appreciate your reflection on digital dependancy reduction, your simple in person experiences reflect why person to person interactions without a digital device are so important. We might just get back to a better place if more people start doing this, I am taking note from others on the forum also doing it like you are and will start to step it up a notch myself. Cheers

[jacob]

I appreciate your reflection on digital dependancy reduction, your simple in person experiences reflect why person to person interactions without a digital device are so important. We might just get back to a better place if more people start doing this, I am taking note from others on the forum also doing it like you are and will start to step it up a notch myself. Cheers

I'm practically certain that anyone will be better off keeping a leg in all camps (technosphere/socialsphere/biosphere) going forward. I avoided "getting into smartphones" for a long (~15 years) time only to realize that this choice would eventually leave me left behind in terms of even the simplest interactions when it came to dealing with a society that's relentlessly moving onwards. Basic stuff like filing taxes, buying bus/train/plane tickets, passing basic 2-factor security checks, likely eventually paying tech-support $100 to click an "allow cookies"-pop up start the app...

Ultimately, I decided that it's better to keep up or at least keep a backup, lest I depend on anyone over than age of 5 once I'm over the age of 75.

One weakness of ERE1 is how it relies on one's personal the ability to maintain the ability to think and adapt. Whereas a lot of people over the age of 50-60-70 tend to resist change/insist that the world as such needs to conform to whatever it was 50 years before.

I'm currently finding myself dealing with this constantly when it comes to my own parents as well as certain neighbors. Even the simplest stuff like "pressing the obvious button for an obvious context" is beyond many people now. Because seeing as they recognize neither the button nor the context of pressing said button, it turns even the simplest problem into a massive obstacle that prevents even basic engagement with society. It's like not knowing how to operate a switch on the wall to turn the lights on ... or not knowing how to use a phone. DW, working seasonally preparing online tax returns, confirms how this is now a general problem for some people affecting most of their live/lifestyle.

Those who never cared about getting online are now getting left behind, struggling to accomplish even simple basic everyday tasks,... like paying bills, talking on the phone (now that landlines have been deprecated in parts of the world), navigating the health care system when it's only available on a webpage, ...

I focused my life between 2015-2022 trying to go 1930s/Luddite in terms of functioning. Reducing plastics, apps, ... but this basically turned it into a struggle to "get along with the rest of the world". Instead of buying a ticket at the train station, which now no longer existed, I had to find someone who still owned a printer in order to print out a QR code in advance. Even this was a problem since most people no longer owned printers .. because why bother when they could just show the QR code on their smart phone. Indeed, try to pay with cash in a country where the dropout at the cash register doesn't know 'rithmetic or what the difference between debit and credit is. Fun stuff?!$!@?

Tricky stuff, though. If someone offered me a horse to get from A to B, I wouldn't even know where to begin. I can barely drive a car as it is. I also note that kids these days no longer read or write cursive. I've personally forgotten Morse code even if I once knew it...

[Ego]

I agree 100% with @Jacob. Mrs.Ego was issued a pre-Blackberry cell phone with her big corporate job back in the late 90s. We quickly realized that it made the job 24/7, so naturally we resisted adoption. We held out for a long time, but found that we were becoming those old people he described above. There was one precipitating event where Mrs. Ego did not get a part-time job she really wanted after a tech mishap during the interview that caused us to jump back in. I was able to get back up to speed pretty fast. She has lingering issues that frequently require me to tech support solutions.

While I found the no tech moments interesting, I was not particularly happy when she insisted she would not bring her phone on the trip. Think about all the times couples text one another to coordinate things. The number of times she asked to borrow my phone to take a photo drove me absolutely bonkers and made me adamant that we will both travel with phones in the future. And we have no backup if something goes wrong with an app. For instance, if Uber or Grab decides to require account reverification right when we need it to get to the airport this morning, we have no choice but to revert to an old fashioned taxi, rather than simply using her account. So, while the tech free moments where enlightening, we will not be going completely without ever again.

[loutfard]

I'm practically certain that anyone will be better off keeping a leg in all camps (technosphere/socialsphere/biosphere) going forward. I avoided "getting into smartphones" for a long (~15 years) time only to realize that this choice would eventually leave me left behind in terms of even the simplest interactions when it came to dealing with a society that's relentlessly moving onwards.

Basic stuff like filing taxes, buying bus/train/plane tickets, passing basic 2-factor security checks, likely eventually paying tech-support $100 to click an "allow cookies"-pop up start the app...

I am now near the edge of what can be done without a smartphone. I do things like:
- look up where I am going before travelling, and follow the mental map. Works most of the time.
- 2fa using a desktop 2fa application or sms. The desktop 2fa application is especially interesting. It's not even advertised as runable on anything not a smart phone, but it works in almost all cases.
- put my plane tickets on my e-reader. I could just print them too, but this is an easier workflow for me.
- photograph using a small standalone digital camera. It broke on a recent trip though.

Here's a few things I've found tricky or impossible:
- receiving packages. The national mail company delivers packages to locked safes by default. These have no interface except a smartphone app. We set our "noone home" preference to delivery at neighbours.
- sending packages. The same automats are also used for sending packages. I go to a parcel shop. Five minute walk.
- navigating public transport. This is very tricky outside the country.
- buying public transport tickets.I pay a few cents more per ticket because it's not in the app. Gets refunded by my employer anyway.
- getting a taxi when on a holiday. We rarely do, but recently, others saved the day when on the other side of the world.
- car sharing. This used to be rfid card based. Now I get my wife's phone the rare times I pick one up.
- banking. Web apps still work for this, except for some neobanks like Revolut.
- food waste app. I found out I could use an old device without a mobile subscription to collect, as long as it had intermittent wifi access some place some time within a week after picking up.

Ultimately, I decided that it's better to keep up or at least keep a backup, lest I depend on anyone over than age of 5 once I'm over the age of 75.

You just made a very strong argument here for keeping a backup. It might surprise you I hadn't considered that before. Not looking forward to spending energy getting a cheap google-free android device though...

Tricky stuff, though. If someone offered me a horse to get from A to B, I wouldn't even know where to begin. I can barely drive a car as it is. I also note that kids these days no longer read or write cursive. I've personally forgotten Morse code even if I once knew it...

It's not just the resilience of keeping old skills in parallel. Living without a smartphone/with only a backup also forces creative solutions and use of social capital.

[Stasher]

I should clarify that I extensively use digital tools, platforms and connectivity with great appreciation and ease. My comment was directed towards the social interaction and discourse that has evolved in a negative way as well as the isolationism that is also a slippery slope for some. My community work, business, personal life/finances and friends is a highly digitally connected. But my reflection of late is that while utilizing digital tools is key to how we navigate and interact with society on all levels currently, we can't loose sight of the absolute literal DIRE need to meet and interact with people in person for the sake of society and the extremism we are experiencing.

[IlliniDave]

I finally capitulated to a smart phone in late 2022, for two primary reasons. One, somewhat like Jacob, is that some app developers stopped developing for PC O/S. I now have several devices whose utility is dependent on, or at least severely limited without, a companion app that would only run on android/ios. Second, is that once voip became a possibility up at the hideout (where I still have no actual cell coverage) it was a big boost to peace of mind. Email had been possible up there, but everyone in my family had abandoned it years back. I was a late adopter because I saw what Ego observed--the workday had expanded to 18 hrs and the work week to 7 days for the first waves of my coworkers who were issued Blackberrys.

I'll be the first to admit that I still struggle with balance with a smart phone. I keep it on do-not-disturb for all but about 20 minutes a week. I don't carry it with me around the house. But I've started taking it with me when visiting my dad--it's just too easy to look up something he's stuck on with his crossword puzzle, or some piece of trivia he's trying to recall. My addiction to information has me listening to podcasts during a very large fraction of my walking/hiking. One nice thing about the hideout is once I get out of wifi range streaming isn't an option and I feel that disconnecting is one of the primary advantages to getting out in the woods--I'm just not disciplined enough to enforce it when I'm near civilization.

Another thing I enjoy about the hideout is that it's much easier for us to just walk over to a neighbor's place to communicate, and that includes several of the businesses out near the end of the road. I feel like those neighbors and acquaintances are much closer to friends and positive social connections than the people I communicate with more regularly on-grid. A little inconvenience goes a long way towards developing a sense of community. It's one thing that most of us have come to realize. We all love the quiet, the slow pace, and the edge-of-the-wilderness milieu, but most of us who are in the all-season gang have realized we value the quality of interpersonal interaction above all. Of course we're all a little older, I'm the youngest of that subset, and we remember a time when that mode of interaction was the only choice. So maybe it's nostalgia. But I feel like having some balance helps.

[Western Red Cedar]

@ego - Thanks for the detailed response and reflections. Your 3/1 model definitely gives us food for thought in terms of approaching travel. You seem to have found a sweet spot in terms of a low-cost means of maintaining a home base without a lot of overhead costs.

I'll be curious to hear about your observations on the US after you've been back for a while. I still notice some of the cons, such as homelessness, but I feel like I'm appreciating the pros a bit more after being away for more than a year. The natural beauty of my own community, along with the friendly, casual nature of Americans have really stood out since returning.

[Ego]

I'll be curious to hear about your observations on the US after you've been back for a while. I still notice some of the cons, such as homelessness, but I feel like I'm appreciating the pros a bit more after being away for more than a year. The natural beauty of my own community, along with the friendly, casual nature of Americans have really stood out since returning.

Yeah, it will take a while to get a broader perspective. We have been focusing on getting both ourselves and the property management gig settled. The property went through a mindboggling amount of turmoil in our absence and we've been welcomed back with something like euphoria, which is kind of nice but also.... I don't know... a little weird. I will get to see my friends in the next few days, which I am looking forward to.

[Ego]

Before leaving on the trip, I had about two dozen paintings that did not sell for a good price so I wrapped them in a strong cling film and put them in storage. This morning while strolling around the swap meet, one of my friends mentioned that he regretted not buying a painting from me before we left. I could not remember if it was one of those that I kept, so I went to storage and brought all of the paintings back to the basement. The one he wanted was in the bin. He was thrilled. I asked him what he felt was a fair price. He said $300. I agreed instantly! As he pulled up in front of the building to pick it up, Mrs. Ego heard the ding on my phone and said, "Wow, this is fun!".

Now I will begin relisting paintings on ebay.

Today I bought a chair ($30) and a painting ($20) at the swap meet. We had left the other two folding chairs in the basement and they were in the same spot when we returned. Using crates as a dining table. Gotta start somewhere.

[suomalainen]

Do you ever have the sense of ".... siiiiiiigggghhhhhh ... I don't want to do this any more?" I get the sense that you don't, but would be curious if you have any thoughts around that. At least in this area of your life, you don't seem that impacted by some variation of hedonic adaptation, but perhaps it's just that you're able to compartmentalize it into these 3/1 chunks of your life.

[Ego]

Do you ever have the sense of ".... siiiiiiigggghhhhhh ... I don't want to do this any more?"

It really depends on what "this" and "anymore" mean. If you're talking about a permanent weariness with this type of life itself, then no, I don't experience that. Challenges arise, sometimes overwhelming ones, but we have the agency to make changes. Often, those difficult periods, while tough to navigate, ultimately build our resilience.

For example, sleeping on the floor on camping mats for a week isn't ideal, but it's a temporary adjustment. We adapt and find contentment.

On a more serious note, my father's experience with early retirement and rapid decline after becoming bored has shaped my perspective. I've been wanting to gently share this with @sky, given his recent posts. I believe that boredom can be deadly, so we tend to lean towards engaging deeply with life rather than staying in our comfort zones.

I understand that your demanding life might make our "voluntary challenges" seem strange. Your responsibilities are significant, and it's natural to wonder why we choose discomfort. Simple answer, if I have too many days where I dread getting out of bed, then I might as well be dead. Erring on the side of engagement, even if it means some discomfort, is preferable to the risk of stagnation.

[suomalainen]

Yeah, specifically looking at those pics I imagined (projected) a possible sense of “I’m getting tired of starting over from scratch for the nth time.”

I do wonder how I’ll react to retiring/empty-nesting - if I’ll want to lie down and die or start to seek different challenges from the ones I’m moving on from. Having @gravy’s kids on the 50/50 custody schedule will ease that transition methinks.

[sky]

I hear you. Boredom is not a good place. It is combined with a lack of interest in anything, low motivation, isolation. I'm trying to work my way out of it.

At the same time, I have a life that many people would want to have, adequate income, no need to work, no responsibilities, lots of free time.

I don't post online about some of the issues I am dealing with, because of privacy issues. I will say that if I write about a challenge in my log, it is because I am working on a response to overcome the challenge.