Breathing, part 2

The other day, I wrote about taking breathing for granted; the story doesn't end there. My wife decided to book us on a tour of Mauna Kea. I said, "whatever" as I usually do when she wants to book something. It wasn't until the night before that I looked at the tour website and got a little panicked as there are numerous warnings about the high altitude and the inability for rapid emergency response in case something happened. We made it to 9200 ft and I was still breathing without difficulty. Then we climbed to over 13000 ft where I was still able to breath, but felt a little light headed. You really don't think about breathing until it becomes difficult.

The view from the top was definitely worth the trip.

View from the top of Mauna Kea:

We really were at over 13000 ft:

Local tours by local guides

It seems that in many places we visit, tourism is so rampant (if you will) that there aren't enough tour guides that are native to an area. We went on a kayak trip the other day in Kona, Hawaii where the guides were from Long Beach and Colorado, so we didn't get a flavor of native culture. On the flip side, my wife and I just got back from a tour of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park with Warren Costa of Native Guide Hawaii. It was an excellent tour where we learned so much that my head is about to explode! If you're on the Big Island of Hawaii, we definitely recommend a tour with Warren.

Taking breathing for granted

I rarely think about breathing through my mouth and nose, except when I am congested and can't adequately breath through my nose. Today we went snorkeling and when I first put the mask on which prevented me from breathing through my nose, I almost couldn't handle it. After a few minutes in the water and some heavy mouth breathing, I got used to it for a little while. I'm not sure how people can SCUBA dive and strictly mouth breath.

The comforts of home

One of the things that makes vacationing uncomfortable is sleeping in beds that are usually uncomfortable. Why do hotel beds have to be so uncomfortable? Going back home to my own bed is the best thing about vacation :-)