​Just completed a cross-country move 1500 miles from one end of the Earth to a new rural practice/group at the other end of the Earth. At least I'm consistent -- I do enjoy rural medicine. And a new adventure is always fun.

But phew, I'm pooped. It's not my first rodeo with the whole moving thing, but every time there's a big life change, there must be lessons, right? Here goes....

#10) 2 drivers + 2 cars is much harder than 2 drivers + 1 car. Especially traveling through major metro areas together. Note to self: automatically add 20% drive time when it's 2 cars.

#9) One cannot sustain road rage for 1500 miles. Not without precipitating an aneurysm.

#8) Kitties + traveling = tranquilizer. And not for the animals.

#7) There really ARE millions of different combinations of Subway sandwiches!

#6) 2 Subway sandwiches/day x 4 days = unique GI consequences.

#5) Driving 10 hours/day does not feel the same now as it it did when I was 20 and invincible. Now I say things like "dadgum sciatica" and "I have to pee AGAIN?" and "my dyspepsia is firing up again" (see item 6). Yeah, fabulous.

It's an honor to be asked to host Reading Alley for a guest post on my blog. If you haven't heard of Reading Alley, it's a neat website that I'm lucky to have stumbled upon a few months back. Reading Alley has been an excellent way to get this "newbie" author's books in front of fabulous reviewers and romance enthusiasts.

For you ravenous readers out there, I recommend joining Reading Alley for access to thousands of excellent books -- free reads if one is willing to post an honest review. That's a fabulous deal!

​So hubby and I signed up for an "active" vacation in Canada. Hiking each day in fresh air, meeting the locals, eating fabulous fresh meals. And my parents would come along as well. What could possibly go wrong?

A few caveats, because I feel the need to defend myself before I perform the analysis of a some very bad decision making.

Hubs and I are not slouches. In fact, we're training for a 1/2 marathon and can easily run 10 miles. The glossy trip brochure was not specific as to the schedule -- had the torment been detailed, we wouldn't have gone. The trip leaders were super nice people who worked hard all week long -- it's not their fault. And finally, I started the trip exhausted. A colleague went on emergency leave, and I picked up a week of Ob/c-section call the week prior to this trip, and in fact was on call up until midnight prior to leaving, which is not the optimal way to begin a vacation. I get that. No one's fault. The fault was signing up in the first place.

With that having been said, I give you: The Great Canadian Death March -- otherwise known as a week of adult summer camp minus arts/crafts and daily nap time.