So… what did you do for 5 hours last weekend?

Typically…

Flying from Los Angeles to Miami…

Flying from Dallas to New York City…

Flying from Hong Kong to Bali…

Receiving a four-hand massage at Tonson Spa in Bangkok…

All… typically take around 5 hours to accomplish.

HOWEVER.

This past Saturday I hiked. For 5 hours. Around a body of water. Not even a big body of water. I mean, I could see the whole body of water within the first 5 minutes of starting the hike. No real mystery to uncover. Just kidding, we did see the South China Sea and visited some beaches long the way.

The hike started at 9:15am. Before that, I had gone to the grocery store, the gym and had breakfast. During which time I contemplated backing out of the hike about 863 times. But, I didn’t as it would be the last chance to hike with my good friend. See, one of the very first friends I made after moving to Hong Kong, two and half years ago, is soon to be moving back to the US. Sad? Yes. Horribly.

Little did I know at the time, when my good friend asked if I’d like to join him on a farewell hike, that those words would end up delivering more pain than when he said he was moving. [side note: This is the same guy that said many, many, many, many times… “I will never move from Hong Kong… I can’t ever imagine moving back to the states”, is now moving from Hong Kong and moving back to the states.]

Actually, the hike was pretty awesome. Just like my friend.

At the beginning… all smiles and dry shirts!

Those little twigs on the beach turned out to be people and that rock was a tent!

I was told you could camp on this beach… breakfast buffet not included.

I really want to know how these stepping stones made their way to this mountain.

Found this little guy along the way. I never thought I’d find product inspiration out here! Cute visor. I was particularly impressed with how it stayed on top of his head. It was attached with…. sorry. Let’s move on.

I learned a few things while on this hike. For example, I do not like having someone point out from the top of a mountain the trails we still need to walk. The big picture was a bit too much. I liked focusing on one step at a time.