"And since all things are subject to change, nothing exists in a permanent condition, nothing is able to remain the same under its own independent power. Thus, all things are under the power or influence of other factors. So, at any given moment no matter how pleasant or pleasurable your experience may be, it will not last." -The Art of Happiness, The Dalai Lama Preparing for Another Week It has been a few days since I wrote. This week was an interesting week. My girlfriend's visit ended and shortly after I was visited by Matt, an Australian that I met at Maling. I hiked the Big Buddha trail with him and ate some Thai Food. Saturday was simply spent editing videos from my girlfriend's visit. Today, will be spend doing the same thing. New Stores on Soi Ta Ied There are some new restaurants and bars along this street. One of which opened up right in front of where I live. It's a bar, called "UBar", that serves drinks and does... karaoke really late into the night. Big fan. I love trying to sleep to bad renditions of today's most popular songs. Completing those "Important Tasks" Last post, I hinted at some "important tasks" that I had for this month. Well, I've been working on those tasks. Extend my visa Right now, I am on a 60 day tourist visa in Thailand. Meaning, I have until April 29th to either extend my stay by another 30 days OR leave the country. My plan is to go to the Immigration Office in Phuket on the 27th or 28th to extend my visa. This will get me through my three months at Tiger Muay Thai. Decide on "Month 4" plans But, I don't want to leave after 3 months. I'd like to stay for four months. Using the fourth month to see other parts of Thailand. What I want to do is head up north to Chiang Mai, live/train there for a few weeks and finally head back south to Bangkok for a week before returning home to the States. Decide if I want to compete in Sanda This one, I'm still going back and forth on. On one hand, I'd like to keep fighting throughout this year. On the other hand, registration, flight, hotels, and more are all so expensive. Then again... what use is money if I don't use it? You see my predicament? Book Travel Tickets This has been taking the most research. Especially since I can't refund my original ticket that I booked. (In fact, I have to pay to cancel it or face a "no show fee"!) The good thing is this: most of travel throughout Thailand is pretty cheap. So all of my crazy ideas of go here and go there are possible. We'll just have to see how much money I have by the end of this four month trip. 😬 Reflecting on Choices What is really important right now? I said it last week but I already feel bad about not training as much this week. Don't get me wrong, I've had a lot of fun seeing Karon Beach, Big Buddha, Phuket Central, and doing things I normally wouldn't. Looking at my choices throughout the week it makes me realize what I think is important in the moment. That usually is other people or exploring something new. On Saturday I made the decision to not go to class. This way I could spend the weekend focusing on just editing photos and videos. My Sunday has been spent planning out and pricing the rest of this journey, as well as editing and writing. Are these bad decisions? No. If I keep making videos and eventually make money off of them, then I'll be able to keep my adventures going longer. Are these bad decisions for becoming a better fighter? Yes. This will be a constant balance that I will be playing with throughout my entire adventure. Struggle with Consistency This struggle with being consistent is never ending. Instead of reading online about how to become the best, most fit fighter in the world. I'm doing what fits my ability and schedule. I know I can do more during the week, which is why I'm gradually pushing myself more and more. And I know that the weekends are for working on my "business". I just need to get better at compartmentalizing "this is work time" and "this is training time". Hope you all have a Happy Easter! Stay tuned for this week's video. 📿Johnny Want to support the journey? Check out the links below! Donate to Keep the Journey going... …or check out my Dad's book "21 Day Personal Journey" …or support my buddy's clothing brand "Canine Clothing - For Those on a Journey"

“One very therapeutic thing I like to do is drive my car around and see normal people… I see an old lady with their groceries store bag, and I’m thinking, she doesn’t care if I win the fight Saturday or not. Then I look, there’s a guy yelling to another guy because of whatever problem. This other guy is going to the bank to pay his mortgage. They don’t care…” -Georges Saint-Pierre Departure 🛫 My Girlfriend went home today. That leaves me to return to training. Honestly, the time spent with my girlfriend made me realize a few things: 1) You can do a lot in a day, you just have to plan and push yourself. 2) I still don't understand time. Positive Actions Taxi Gangsters The morning was spent sleeping, packing, eating, and sitting in a taxi. After dropping her off at the airport and waiting for her to get on the plane (due to China flights still suddenly cancelling), I tried to find my way back to Tiger Muay Thai. What I was surprised to find out was: you cannot use any ride sharing apps to get picked up from the airport but you can use it to drop yourself off. Instead, you either have to take a 5-10 minute walk outside the airport and arrange a ride or you just use the taxi hasslers at the airport. So I did, after paying 800 Baht I was told to go past the smoking area. Before reaching the smoking area I was talked to by a bunch of guys smoking. They started looking at my beaded necklace and bracelet, not before I saw one guy sitting try to nab the 100 Baht bill I had in my hand. They asked me if I did Muay Thai, to which I replied Yes, and kept walking. Going past the smoking area, I saw that there was no one there. Then it dawned on me as I turned around. The group of smoking individuals were the people I was supposed to meet. One of them was waving me back, and began talking on their walki-talki. Eventually I was put in a taxi and driven back. Luckily, the driver was more pleasant than the rest. Back to Training, Asking Why? After coming back to my hot, empty accommodation. I decided to get right back to training. It was already 4:00 pm, meaning I couldn't get to class. Instead, I decided to use the weight room and run a little bit. One thought that came from this video was, Why am I training? I've thought about this question before and the answer hasn't changed in a long time. Right now, I simply train and fight because it is something that I enjoy. Is that enough of a motivation? People talk about using troubles, issues, or things like getting bullied when a kid as their why to fight. For me, I believe I dealt with any of that at Maling. Training gives me a peace of mind. I train and my brain goes silent. There are very little to no thoughts that go through my brain during training or fighting. Maybe I'm not being mindful enough but, I really enjoy that feeling of not having anything going on in my head. People ask me about my fights and a common reply for me is, "I honestly don't remember". I just get in the ring, silence my mind, and fight. This probably won't make me a champion. It does let me enjoy my life though. What Will This Month Bring? I wrote about it before, but I'm restating it for myself. I want to run, lift weights, and go to class consistently this month. If I can, I'd like to add variety to the classes that I take but I don't want to try and do too much. There are some important tasks that I need to do this month: Extend my visa Book Travel Tickets Decide on "Month 4" plans Decide if I want to compete in Sanda I'll explain these tasks in another post. Reflecting on the Holidays One thing that has been odd is, the holidays passing by with nothing. Lent, Passover, and eventually Easter will pass with nothing going on. Just me working and training. Making content, trying to make this life that I want possible. Again, the visit from my girlfriend made me realize all the other stuff that I'm missing. I'll have to treat my fights like my own personal holidays. Thank you as always for reading. If you're from my past jobs or family, thank you for the support! 📿Johnny Want to support the journey? Check out the links below! Donate to Keep the Journey going... …or check out my Dad's book "21 Day Personal Journey" …or support my buddy's clothing brand "Canine Clothing - For Those on a Journey"

"Sunflower! if you grow in the dark 向阳花！如果你生长在黑暗下 xiàngyáng huā! Rúguǒ nǐ shēngzhǎng zài hēi'àn xià Sunflower, will you continue to bloom 向阳花 你会不会再继续开花 xiàngyáng huā nǐ huì bù huì zài jìxù kāihuā will you be afraid? will you be afraid? 会不会害怕 会不会害怕 huì bù huì hàipà huì bù huì hàipà" -向阳花，谢天笑 Preparing to Relax Another week flew by. This weekend I actually have a plan that isn't editing videos. I'm taking my girlfriend to a hotel on one of the many beaches in Thailand. For the next few days, I will be doing all of the usual touristy things like going to night markets, buying souvenirs for home, laying on the beach, and seeing cool sights. April Begins... New Month, New Goals As stated in my previous post, I'm still going to be focusing on these goals throughout April: 📖 Start consistently studying Thai 📷 Keep Making Content 🧘 Keep Meditating/Stretching 🥊Keep Training 🏋️ Start Lifting weights 👟 Start Running again Looking back at the goals I made at the beginning of the month, I think I did pretty well. It just didn't feel like I was being consistent as the month went on. How my Week went... The week started off normal but hit a bump in the road on Tuesday as my Girlfriend's flight was cancelled. Originally she was supposed to come on Wednesday, instead she had to change and get a flight for Tuesday as it was the only one actually leaving China. After that, Training has been going just like normal. Still need to add weight lifting and running into my schedule...that is something to worry about for next week. Expectations for Next Week We will be in a hotel on the beach for 4 days, which means I won't be focusing on training. This is something that I have to remember and acknowledge now. In order to not beat myself up about not training. If I want to train, I can run, do some pushups, or (if I really need to go to class) find a gym on the beach. Hope you all are doing well. 📿Johnny Want to support the journey? Check out the links below! Donate to Keep the Journey going... …or check out my Dad's book "21 Day Personal Journey" …or support my buddy's clothing brand "Canine Clothing - For Those on a Journey"

"Say a little, do a lot, woo, no excuses... Had to make my own plans, I don't need your two-cents, ay Yeah, I don't wanna hear excuses I just like to make moves and make improvements" -NF, No Excuses New Week, New Goals Bruises. Swollen Foot. Sore Jaw. Positive Mood. Thanks to everyone that saw my fight on Saturday Night. I spent Sunday recovering. Sleeping in late, eating some good food, and writing down what I want to do. Last Week of March Same Goals, New Order... A month has passed and I feel that I haven't done enough in that time. Training has been going well. Living in Phuket has been great. I have to focus on my financial budget more, and check some goals off of my list in the new month. 📖 Start consistently studying Thai 📷 Keep Making Content 🧘 Keep Meditating/Stretching 🥊Keep Training 🏋️ Start Lifting weights 👟 Start Running again This time, the goals are put in an order of importance. Meditation/Stretching has gone above training as my last fight has me doubting if I could really coach martial arts. Also, I've realized how much I really enjoy the Yoga classes at Tiger Muay Thai. Sick Ride... One of the things I've been kicking myself about is not getting out there. Doing new things. Going to see places. Shoot, I still haven't used my place's pool yet! This led me to renting a scooter for a week (2000 THB deposit, 1000 THB for the week). I want to learn how to drive this thing since I have a long term plan of staying in Thailand. To many this is a small, easy step to do but for me its a big step. As I did with this month, I have some goals for this week and next month. It's just like the usual goals. I want to go see some places, do some things, and make content consistently. This word plagues me as it is the main thing that I need to work on. Doing positive stuff consistently. Reflecting on the Fight There was a lot of positive support for me in my fight. I thank everyone for showing up or watching online. As often as people will say,"You went in and gave it your all" or "You're a winner for stepping in the ring". It still feels bad to lose. Especially getting knocked down three times. It is so weird to watch my fight footage and compare it to how I drill/spar. It is like two different people. I'll keep trying, I'm not going to give up. It is just hard. The coaches were disappointed, I was disappointed, my aussie bud lost a few Thai Baht. I just want to win. To be good at something. 📿Johnny Want to support the journey? Check out the links below! Donate to Keep the Journey going... …or check out my Dad's book "21 Day Personal Journey" …or support my buddy's clothing brand "Canine Clothing - For Those on a Journey"

"Our 生き甲斐 (ikigai) is different for all of us, but one thing we have in common is that we are all searching for meaning. When we spend our days feeling connected to what is meaningful to us, we live more fully; when we lose the connection, we feel despair." -Ikigai, Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles What Happened? During those 3-4 days, I felt really lazy which put me into a slump. Even though I've talked to many other people who've had food poisoning at Tiger Muay Thai; they all said they were out for about a week. Those days were not a complete waste. I did study a bit more Thai, edited next Monday's video, started freelancing online as a video editor, and watched too much Youtube. Now, I'm back to training. Finding my Ikigai ~ 生き甲斐 I remember playing video games in Shanghai, China with friends from Missouri. Just like I had done every day since I had arrived in that foreign country. My friends all logged off, heading to bed while for me it was only noon. Which left me there with my thoughts. Staring at my character on the screen I thought, "I could learn how to do this stuff". It was such a simple thought, but I ended up finding the Kung Fu and MMA gym to train at. Ever since then, I've been chasing this... "dream life" that has formed in my mind. They say your ikigai is simply the reason that you get up in the morning. The passion that makes you happy. The thing that gives you meaning in life. When I think back to that day where "something changed", I believe that was when I discovered my passion. Maling was a wonderful experience for me. For two years, this plan to train, travel, and learn was what motivated me to get up in the morning. Now that I'm here, the one thought that has replayed in my head is, "I'm content with what I'm doing". Continuing On... The first month of my Thailand journey is almost over. I haven't explored as much as I wanted to, haven't found a Thai language school, and haven't trained as much as I wanted. To be honest, part of me thought that getting to Thailand would just be the end. Roll credits. Create a new character. Guess I better start doing stuff. 📿Johnny Want to support the journey? Check out the links below! Donate to Keep the Journey going... …or check out my Dad's book "21 Day Personal Journey" …or support my buddy's clothing brand "Canine Clothing - For Those on a Journey"

"I understand there's a guy inside me who wants to lay in bed, smoke weed all day and watch cartoons and old movies. My whole life is a series of stratagems to avoid, and outwit that guy" -Anthony Bourdain Getting Out of my Slumber Saturday night, I had food poisoning. Eight hours of vomiting following by a day of sleep. Monday was spent hydrating, eating bread, fruit, and some instant noodles. The pharmacy had given me some hydration packs as well as medicine which helped some. Tuesday, I felt like I was just being lazy. I went out and ate some lunch but followed a similar pattern as the past two days. Watching Youtube videos, drinking water, and sleeping a ton. Not a very motivating few days. Prepping for the Fight A Fight? All of this happened before my amateur fight on Saturday. I've lost a bit of weight. My energy is coming back but the hardest thing to get back is the little bit of discipline that I was building up. Sluggishness and lethargy have been my two big moods for the past few days. With all of this, I won't give up and I won't pull out of the fight. The Prep I simply plan on taking a single Muay Thai class each day. Running each day. Doing some light Gym Ring work again. The most important thing will be eating some safe and healthy food to get my energy levels back up. Reflecting on Three Days Even with three days passing, I still managed to edit a video, write this post, and make an Instagram post. It has been interesting being left alone with my thoughts for this amount of time. Makes me want to return back to my meditation practice that I learned in China. Man, so much I want to do. So little discipline. 📿Johnny Want to support the journey? Check out the links below! Donate to Keep the Journey going... …or check out my Dad's book "21 Day Personal Journey" …or support my buddy's clothing brand "Canine Clothing - For Those on a Journey"

"Through discipline, we prevail." -Librarian, Warhammer 40k Prepare the Mind... What it takes to be a fighter is dawning on me. Training twice a day, running, lifting weights and keeping track of what you're eating. It's insane. All of that, on top of what ever you do to make money. So, what I'm saying is that it is Friday, I'm tired, and didn't go to morning class. A Fighter's Schedule Current Schedule Above is what this week has been like. About 18 hours of Muay Thai, 4 hours of upper body work with the Gymnastics Rings, and two hours of stretching in Yoga. This schedule isn't too bad compared to what other folks I've talked to are doing. I've ran into a few patterns since I've started training here. Wednesdays and Thursdays, I wake up wiped out. This leads to me not going to Morning Muay Thai. If I sleep in the afternoon, I can train Muay Thai twice. Everyday. But, then I don't get blog posts written, no videos edited. I've been managing to sleep at a decent time most nights, but my sleep hasn't been good. Waking up in middle of night, waking up sore, or just sleeping like garbage. (I haven't used an alarm clock the whole time I've been here) "Fighter" Schedule Which brings me to the schedule that I'd like to be on. This isn't some random schedule I've made up, it is a schedule based off of what others are doing and some research into what actual fighters are training like. Running is added in the morning as well as an additional meal. Muay Thai six days a week, with studying tacked on in the afternoon. Weight training replacing Gym Ring Training, this way I'm able to train my legs as well as upper body. How Will I Get There? Slowly. This week, I focused on adding a couple of Muay Thai classes while maintaining my Gym Ring and Yoga workouts. Next week, I will have to push myself to go twice a day; Monday through Saturday. The week after that, I can focus on adding running in the mornings. The final thing I'll work on adding is the weight lifting as that will be a big shock, to my already adapting system. As I add more work, this means I'll also have to choose better choices for diet, rest, and recovery as well. My goal is to have this full "Fighter Schedule" by May. That way, I'll have two good months of "Fighter Training" before I go home. Reflecting on my Wants Phuket has been great. I haven't traveled much beyond "Fighter's Street" yet as I just want to train for the first month. This "Fighter Schedule" is a goal for me to strive for while I'm here. If I don't have a goal of some kind, then I'll probably just laze around eating food all day. Which sounds nice. Work must be done. Training must be done. Through these means, I'll be able to improve myself. All the hard work will make the relaxing time even better! 📿Johnny Want to support the journey? Check out the links below! Donate to Keep the Journey going... …or check out my Dad's book "21 Day Personal Journey" …or support my buddy's clothing brand "Canine Clothing - For Those on a Journey"

"So, the first step in seeking happiness is learning." -Dalai Lama, Chapter 3, "The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living" Are You Ready? Prepare your mind, heart, and schedule. Almost three weeks in Thailand. That's crazy. The three weeks have gone well but they haven't gone the way that I planned. So, this week I might be a bit busy as I try to get started on some things. Plus, my training is ramping up to two a days. New Goals! Even though the weeks haven't gone as planned, I've still gotten a lot done. Those goals that I set on day one were blasted out of the ballpark. This allows me to set some new ones! The New Ones: 🥊Go to two classes Monday thru Saturday. (Can be group classes or privates) 🥊Train Legs twice a week in weight room 🥊Keep Gym Rings going 4 times a week 🥊Do Dexa/Body weight scan on Monday 🥊Study Thai and Chinese a few times a week ❔I realized while walking around, my Chinese reading ability has gotten worse. 🧘Keep Stretching and Meditating! What's Important... ...is that I'm still healthy and happy. This whole take it easy/acclimate idea is really working well. Sure, I get a bit envious of the guys moving on to the advanced class or going to fights within a month of their stay but I know that, if I really want it, life will give me the chance once I'm ready. Hopefully, those that are reading this blog can get something out of it. Reflecting on Myself One thing that I said to the QA Team before I left the factory was, "I'm nervous, but usually if you're nervous you're heading into the right path". Two years of me saying, "I'll be training in Thailand/China", and now I'm actually here. To train. To fight. It's spooky. I've fought these jitters everyday before class. But, I think I'm being smart enough to not rush in too early. Let me get used to the weather, let me get used to the jitters, and let me see what I'm really getting myself into. I'm more patient. I'm more disciplined. I'm a little smarter. Time + Effort = ??? 📿Johnny Want to support the journey? Check out the links below! Donate to Keep the Journey going... …or check out my Dad's book "21 Day Personal Journey" …or support my buddy's clothing brand "Canine Clothing - For Those on a Journey"

"Fuck plan B We got plan A And hell yeah I be going for it all day" -E-dubble, Plan A Pushing Myself Today, I had my first taste of real "Thai Style" coaching. Saturday Morning. First training session of the day. My body and mind were tired but I showed up just to build that habit of coming in 6 times a week. We did five rounds of sparring followed by padwork and Wai Kru (พิธีไหว้ครู). All I could think of after sparring was, "People at the factory would've loved seeing that". I regret taking three months off (see Regrets). The important thing was I showed up, kept my hands up, and kept throwing attacks. That wasn't when I saw Thai Style Coaching, that was when we did the padwork after sparring. Sweating, sore, and mind focused on just standing and understanding this coach's thick Thai accent. At one time I swore he said two kicks, and when I threw the second I noticed that he dropped the pads so I stopped my kick. He wasn't happy with that which led to two strikes at me. Bam, bam. I threw an punch instead of an elbow. Bam, bam. Uppercut instead of a knee. Bam, bam. Needless to say, I was struggling. By the end of the three rounds the coach was done with me. I still said thank you for holding the pads. So you'd think, with how tired I was I'd simply call it a day. No, for some reason I had the drive to go back to the evening session. I'm not sure if my ego was hurt or if I just wanted to prove to myself that I still had some skill. What ended up happening was a bruised left leg and a scratched up face. It was a tough day, but I want to keep trying. Keep training. I want to come how with some better skills than I had when I left. Win something. So What's the Plan? Sunday Rest. Relax. Enjoy myself. Maybe go see a beach or temple. If I can, rent a scooter and figure out how to drive that thing. Keeping it simple as I don't want to spend too much time on distracting stuff. I feel that I've done good this week. I've pushed myself and allowed myself to recover. Given myself good food (I love mango sticky rice). Even meditated a few times this week. Next Week Plans? With how I'm slowly increasing difficulty of my week; I'd like to either do two Muay Thai sessions a day or add BJJ to my training. I'll keep my gym ring training going too. Someday I have to add running (especially sprints) back into my training. Maybe next week? Monthly Goals I've talked about the Monk Manual in the past. Another one of the many questions that it has you ask yourself is, "What is really important right now?". It's a good question to ask myself as I make the transition into "Thai life". At the beginning of the year, my goals were: Meditating Train Consistently Keep Reading and Studying Go to another tournament/fight Start making videos/start making a form of income I wrote those in my little notebook after New Year's. So, I'd like to start studying Thai. That would let me get out of this room more and see more of Phuket. Before I came to Phuket, I said I'd find a place to help teach me more about meditation. I haven't done that yet. So there are still a few things that I can work on this month. Regrets This week, especially today, has brought up some thoughts of regret. Things like: Man, I wish I didn't take three months off MMA Should've practiced Sanda more at Maling I wish I would've taken martial arts more serious, earlier I should've wrestled in High School The endless thoughts continue going until you're regretting silly stuff. Luckily, there is always the opposite side of the coin that you have to remember when thoughts of regret come. I wish I didn't take three months off MMA; If I didn't focus on work, I probably wouldn't have made as much money, wouldn't have trained the next person as well, and could've gotten hurt. Should've practiced Sanda more at Maling, Maling changed my thoughts about so many things and made me forever appreciate Kung Fu of all kinds. If I just did Sanda instead of learning what I did, I would be a different person. You get the idea, just see what good has come out of the decisions that you've made. This way, you will have more confidence in your decisions later on. This method can also give you peace for your past actions. 📿Johnny Want to support the journey? Check out the links below! Donate to Keep the Journey going... …or check out my Dad's book "21 Day Personal Journey" https://thefugitsuway.com/ …or support my buddy's clothing brand "Canine Clothing - For Those on a Journey" https://canineclothinguk.com/en-us

"Sometimes it's very difficult to explain why people do the things they do... You'll often find that there are no simple explainations" -Dalai Lama, "The Art of Happiness, A Handbook for Living" Opportunities in Thailand One of my reasons for coming to Thailand was to have more opportunities to fight. I'm not saying that there are not opportunities in America, but they are fewer. Plus, travel, training, and living is just more expensive. This week alone, there are three fights going on. A fight on Wednesday, a fight on Friday, and a fight next Monday. All stacked just like the first fight I went to and all taking place at different venues. I think I came to the right place. One of the training partners in the intermediate class is fighting tomorrow. All I have to do is take both classes and book privates, then I'll be able to fight. Ten Days of Adventure Today's Grind My second week comes to a close. I'm pretty happy with how I spent this week. Two yoga sessions, gym ring work, and I went to Muay Thai every morning. Sure, I'm sore and I wake up tired but this is what I want to do. Train, travel, eat, and sleep. What a great life. Friday will be finished by doing the same thing! Training, Stretching, Eating, Sleeping. Keeping the journal has helped me build the schedule I need to stay focused. I'm reading, journaling, and working on the "Johnny's Adventure" brand more. To make some potential income, I'm looking into freelance websites like Fiverr, freelancer, or something else. I think I could do Photo/Video editing for folks at a reasonable price. Each time I travel, I get a little wiser to how much everything costs (On Soi Ta-iad, "Fighter's Street", I usually spend about 20 dollars a day on food, laundry, and drinks). Add that to the relatively cheap accommodation and transport costs, it doesn't take much to live here. Weekend Plans? As much as I'd like to go out and explore the beaches and temples; I think this weekend will be a "work weekend" for me. I've been putting off editing some videos for a while now. On top of that, there are a few video ideas that I'd like to shoot as well. (Handstand on top of mountain?) Before shooting new stuff, I really have to finish the videos already on the burner. If I get that all done, maybe I rent a scooter and head to the beach. Friday Morning Cerebration Getting carried away on the next big thing is so easy. That is why I'm taking things a bit slower than planned. Eating right, training well, stretching, recovering, all while giving myself time to work on my blog and videos. As much as I'd like to jump in to become a fighter, I realize that anyone can become a fighter here. As much as I'd like to rent a scooter and head off to all the places, I know myself. It would be another distraction for my already undisciplined mind. I want to make this lifestyle sustainable. 📿Johnny Want to support the journey? Check out the links below! Donate to Keep the Journey going... …or check out my Dad's book "21 Day Personal Journey" https://thefugitsuway.com/ …or support my buddy's clothing brand "Canine Clothing - For Those on a Journey" https://canineclothinguk.com/en-us

"Humble: not having or showing any feelings of superiority, self-assertiveness, or showiness" -Merriam Webster Dictionary Building a Structure As the heat continues to kick my butt day in and day out, I realize that I have to be mindful of what I'm eating, drinking, and doing or else I feel like garbage during training. After some research online and talking with folks training here, I found that you should be drinking 6-8 liters (1.5 - 2 gallons) of water a day on top of drinking smoothies, coconuts, and electrolyte drinks. I drink a lot of water at home but never this much. In order to keep track, I'm logging how much I drink in the journal I carry. This little journal is also helping me see when I sleep, wake up, and what classes I train. That way, I can slowly build a schedule based off of what my body needs. Intermediate Class The next thing I have to do is start doing "2 a days" for training. Meaning I go to the morning and evening sessions. This week, I've been going to the intermediate class which is more intense than the beginner class. Longer sparring times, more push ups and sit ups, and difficult pad work. Thai training is all about toughness and endurance. A lot of volume training, whether it is kicks, punches, sit ups, knees, or elbows. They make sure you get your reps in. It makes me wonder how the advanced class is? Getting Goals Done! Monthly Goals Crushed When I think back to the first post that I wrote, I laid out some goals. At only 8 days into the adventure, I've been doing well getting these done! ✔️Making an Instagram post each week ✔️Writing a blog post two times a week ✔️This month I'd like to see one or two temples ✔️I'd like to try 10 different Thai Dishes Looking at how much I can get done in a short amount of time makes me hopeful. Hopeful that I can start to work on making what I enjoy doing into a job. The energy and time just need to be put in. Challenges for this Week Staying focused on the reason that I'm here has been difficult as I don't have much energy. I thought by now I'd be acclimated to the weather and climate. Maaaaan, not yet. Another challenge is working on my shoulder/neck strength while I'm here. Hopefully I won't get KO'd as easily if I build up these areas. My space calendar told me it was International Women's Day. So... Happy International Women's Day! 📿Johnny Want to support the journey? Check out the links below! Donate to Keep the Journey going! …or check out my Dad's book "21 Day Personal Journey" https://thefugitsuway.com/ …or support my buddy's clothing brand "Canine Clothing - For Those on a Journey" https://canineclothinguk.com/en-us

Where the Road Goes Weekend Shenanigans The weekend went by fast. Saturday, I began to journey out of "Fighter's Street" and find things to do. So far I've only walked where my two feet are able to take me in this heat, which is about a thirty minute walk. Surprisingly, there is a good amount of stuff within thirty minutes of fighter's street. It wasn't until Sunday that I found Wat Chalong, the Lotus Supermarket, and a farmer's market full of fruit, veggies, and meat. After eating at a cool restaurant, I headed to the market and bought... way too many bananas. My eyes found the peak of Wat Chalong nearby, so with a bag full of groceries I marched towards the temple. People walked all around the temple. Taking photos, praying, and just looking. Incense and firecrackers filled the air. The temple's walls were painted with murals about Buddha's life. The first floor had "sleeping Buddha" and the second floor had the more traditional "sitting Buddha". There was a third floor as well that contained a relic of some sort. "Lord Buddha's Relics Mantra 啊杭 卟差咪 凸啦蔸 啊杭 卟差咪 他土优 啊杭 卟差咪 仨啪嗖 A-Hang, Bu-Chae-Mi, Tou-Ra-Tou A-Hang, Bu-Chae-Mi, Ta-Tue-Yo A-Hang, Bu-Chae-Mi, Sup-Pa-Soe Repeat 1,3,5,7,9, times, then make a wish." Looking at my phone, it said that there was a Watson's nearby. In China, I remember Watson's having sun screen without whitener. Meandering about the streets, I found it but to my surprise it was a massive supermarket/mall like you'd find at home. Backpack filled to the max, I ordered a Grab Ride to take me home. 260 Thai Bhat later, I was home. When I got home... I had forgotten all about my bananas I bought at the market which were now pretty beat up from a few hours of walking around. So I cut up the beat up ones to freeze them into banana bites. The good ones (which are few) will hopefully be eaten quickly. Monday's Over Thailand is cheap, but everything takes money. Eating three meals a day at 100-200 Bhat (3-6 USD) a meal slowly adds up. Then your Grab Rides (8-12 USD), the protein shakes/smoothies after class (6 USD), SIM card fee, and private classes to get better... You see what I mean. Not only that, but I'll have to rent a scooter one of these days so that I can get around more freely. For now, I'm trying to build a habit of training so... maybe that is something for at the end of the month. Happy Birthday to my sister! 📿Johnny Want to support the journey? Check out the links below! Donate to Keep the Journey going... https://www.buymeacoffee.com/johnnytr... …or check out my Dad's book "21 Day Personal Journey" https://thefugitsuway.com/ …or support my buddy's clothing brand "Canine Clothing - For Those on a Journey" https://canineclothinguk.com/en-us