One of the other great challenges that I face on my “Quest for PQ: The DMB Project” is the lifestyle of my work.  I have always been a big believer that you should not live to work.  I believe that your work should fund your lifestyle and after many attempts, I think I have the right combination.

I am currently living and working in The Hague, Netherlands for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (www.opcw.org) as a chemical weapons inspector and health and safety specialist.  This allows me to live in Europe, which has always been a dream of mine, and to travel to the ends of the world for my job.  I go to those many great nations and many great locations that once used their powers for evil instead of good in the science of chemistry by developing and producing stockpiles of chemical munitions.  In fact, where I am right now is not the end of the world, but I can definitely see it from here.

The question I get a lot is, “What ever possessed you to do that?” and for me the answer is simple:  lifestyle.  I am on the road at least 70% of the year.  When I am not on the road for work, then I am travelling for fun and leisure or making those rare of trips back to my home in the Pacific Northwest.  I call Portland, Oregon my “base camp” and return there as often as I can.  The rest of the year I keep a flat in Amsterdam which resembles the lost luggage department at the London Heathrow airport rather than a place of quiet, comfortable residence.

This creates many challenges for me when it comes to training for Primal Quest.  I am not able to bring my bicycle with me wherever I go and sometimes I am limited in my movements in some countries.  The reason I mention this continues with the tread from yesterday about getting creative with my training methods.  It also means that I must travel to even newer and stranger locations to find suitable areas to climb, mountain bike, and trek.  To say that the Netherlands is flat would be like describing Mt. Everest as just another hill in the woods.  Without the variety of places like the Bavaria Region of Germany, the Alps, the hills of Wales, or any number of foreign places, my training would consist of endless hours on the treadmill/stationary bike/rowing machine which would surely kill my spirit for this adventure.

I will be sharing these various travel stories with you along the way.  These will not just be travel stories, but a dialog of out-of-the way locations that will serve to provide me the terrain needed to fulfil my goal.  I will share these antidotes from time to time and also will be using my SPOT unit to show you where I am in the world each time I write.  That way you will know where I am, what I am up to, and how I am using your training tips.  Ever since I got my SPOT unit last year, I have taken it everywhere I travel for work and play.  I have it programmed through their website (www.findmespot.com) to keep my family in the know of my whereabouts which is important considering the state of some of the internet systems I struggle to use.  Unlike the internet in Russia, it works like a charm every time.

So, you know where I am right now and I will be here until the end of January.  That means that starting in February keep your eyes open for the link that I will include each Sunday when I post my training plan for the upcoming week.  Oh, and Mom, if you are reading this, since the SPOT unit will tell you where I am every week, do I still have to call?  Somehow I already know the answer to that one.

Until next time…..TODD

Quest4PQ@gmail.com

Photo by Will Ramos

This entry was posted on Monday, January 12th, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under Primal Quest, Todd Phillips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.