Hi Reader!

I hope you're having a great week! Today's newsletter is coming to you a little later than usual. I've been gallivanting around Seattle after being away for almost two years. It's refreshing being in my hometown as a visitor and playing tourist.

Happy belated Mid-Autumn Festival to those who celebrate! 🥮🏮 I spent the holiday eating way too much Chinese food at my mom's house. 😋

Let's dive into this week's issue!

Adventures

I spent a couple days this week backpacking in the Enchantments in Washington, which has been a longtime dream -- but it didn't go as expected. I'll have more to write about it in the coming weeks, so for today I wanted to share a major lesson from that trip: the importance of stretching throughout backpacking adventures.

One of my best friends and my boyfriend joined me on this trip, and it was only their second and third backpacking trips, respectively. I knew this trail would be a challenge for all of us, but they absolutely crushed Havasu Falls as their first trips, so I was confident they'd do great on this one as well.

Perhaps I should have better prepared the group for the grueling climb that we'd face at Aasgard Pass, climbing around 2,000 feet in just three quarters of a mile. 😱

This little guy had no problem whatsoever.

This is by far the steepest section of trail I have ever tackled and it took us two hours to complete at a slow and steady pace. We were left with less daylight than we expected after conquering the pass, which meant we spent the next couple hours speed-hiking (partially with our headlamps through the dark) until reaching camp.

Trust me when I say we were all feeling it the next day. 😵

I believe we could have saved ourselves some pain if we had squeezed in a few stretches between dinner and heading to bed. Each of us was feeling soreness in different places, so I recommend covering all your bases until you have an idea of what you should focus on for your own body.

Start with some basic runner's stretches. I like this list of 5 stretches that will take care of many of the main muscle groups used while hiking and backpacking:

Hamstring stretch
Calf stretch
Glute stretch
Chest stretch
Quad stretch

I like to add in some cat-cow to loosen up the back and core muscles after carrying my heavy pack all day. You might feel a bit silly busting out the yoga moves at camp, but your body will thank you.

My calves tend to be the most sore after long days of hiking, especially when lots of downhill is included, so I focus on stretching those muscles. My friend feels it most in his quads and adjusts his routine to cater to his body.

I'm sharing this here as much for myself as for anybody else. I've spent far too many days suffering the dreaded delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) to have not learned this lesson yet. 🫣 You can learn from our mistakes and enjoy more pain-free adventures.

Shoutouts

My shoutout this week is a bit different. My friend, Perry of @perryzha0, has been starting his social media journey and sharing some valuable and inspirational content -- not to mention his filming and editing skills are leagues beyond his mere weeks in the game.

He set a 30-day challenge (currently on day 25!) for himself to create daily reels and they've all been a delight to see. Give Perry a follow if you're looking for some quick, daily insight and motivation.

Munchies

One of my absolute favorite meals has to be hot pot. It's so nostalgic for me and I remember needing to stand on my chair as a kid so I could reach the big pot of hot broth in the middle of the table.

Hot pot is usually a meal reserved for larger gatherings and especially holidays or special occasions, though in my household we would have it whenever the craving hit. Each person around the table cooks their own food piece by piece in the shared pot of broth, before dipping it in their own sauce dish and eating it. Often the pot is split down the middle and has one side for spicy and one side for regular broth.

The foods you'll cook, the broth, and the dipping sauce all vary by culture or from person to person. Our hot pot sauce has a peanut butter base and can also be used as a delicious dressing for noodles. Most hot pot arrangements will include lots of veggies, thinly sliced meat, fish or meat balls, tofu, and my favorite part -- noodles.

I'm taking full advantage of staying at my mom's house for a few days and eating hot pot as much as we can. As I type this, we're about to head to the Chinese grocery store to pick up more ingredients for tonight. I can't wait! 😋

On My Mind

I'll be the first to admit that there are quite a few days where I'm dragging myself to get any work done. There are two main techniques I use to get the ball rolling when I'm struggling to feel motivated.

Both methods start with me listing out the tasks I need to get done that day. Key word here is need. Keep the list short and stick to priorities that move you toward your goals. Sometimes the act of making this list is enough to start my productivity juices flowing. If not, I'll try one of the following.

😌 The first technique is to start easy. I'll choose the most fastest, easiest, or most fun item on my list and tackle that first. Checking off the first item is usually motivation enough to get me started on item 2, then 3, then 4...

🐸 The second technique is often referred to as "swallowing the frog." This is practically the opposite of the first method and involves starting with the most difficult or daunting task first thing in the morning.

This is my preferred method for a couple reasons:

The tasks I'm least looking forward to are never as bad as I make them out to be in my head. The worst part is the anticipation.
Once this task is out of the way, a huge weight is lifted off my shoulders for the rest of the day. Checking off the rest of my list feels like light work in comparison.

What have you been procrastinating on recently? 🤔 Maybe it's time to swallow that frog and relish in the satisfaction of a job well done.

Reading

I had another zero week in terms of books due to all the traveling and backpacking the Enchantments. I'll be back with some catch up next time!

Everything Else

Mid-Autumn Festival fell on September 17th this year and it was great being home to celebrate with my mom for the first time since moving to Los Angeles. For many (my mom included), this is the most important holiday of the year!

We compare this holiday to the American Thanksgiving. It's a celebration of the year's harvest and involves getting together with all your family members to have a big feast. Growing up, this usually meant hosting my mom's friends since her family was still living in China. Nowadays, Mid-Autumn Festival is a smaller gathering, but still revolves around lots of food and mooncakes, one of my favorite treats.

This year was special since we got to include my boyfriend and introduce him to a bunch of Chinese foods and customs. I've been writing down my mom's recipes for our favorite dishes so we can try making them for ourselves when we're back home in LA. I'll share some of our attempts (and failures) once we've had a chance to try them out! 😊

I hope you have an amazing weekend and I'll see you here next week!

Happy adventuring,

💚A