Small Town, Back Road Kentucky

When I left North Carolina and hit the road to small town Kentucky, it hit me that this is my new lifestyle for the foreseeable future. My week in Asheville felt like a vacation, but Kentucky feels more like reality.

Gym struggles

This week I’ve really been struggling with energy and motivation to workout. Partly because the gym is 40 minutes away, which is typical of a small town. And partly because I switched to a Planet Fitness Membership since it seemed like the best option for now. I also changed my programming to dumbbells only since Planet Fitness doesn’t have barbells. Meaning no more real squats, deadlifts, bench pressing, cleans, presses.. (does that make me sound like a meathead?).

Everytime I walk into a Planet Fitness I can’t help my negative feelings, because it’s not my preferred gym and doesn’t have the equipment that I like. I recognize that, one, I sound spoiled, and two, I need to adjust my mindset and my feelings will adjust over time. Really I should be grateful for having any gym in a drivable distance, that is also cheap, and has warm showers.

Afterall, life is largely about our mindset and perspective. It’s as simple as that. Whatever triggers you have are really an invitation to question why? What ingrained, unconscious belief are you holding onto?

Be as truthful and blunt as you can be with yourself. This is how we adjust our mindsets to be more accepting, tolerant, and loving towards others and ourselves. It’s how we separate our true thoughts and beliefs from those we were brought up and told to believe, or unknowingly developed along the way.

To give you an example, deep down I know why I currently feel disdain towards Planet Fitness. It has absolutely nothing to do with Planet Fitness – they provide a great service to thousands of people at a reasonable price.

I know it’s because a large part of my identity has to do with working out and having a certain body composition. I’m afraid of what will change by just doing dumbbell movements, and I’m afraid of losing strength. I’m subconsciously blaming Planet Fitness for not having barbells because that’s what I really love to use and attribute to my strength. I’ve realized I’m sort of attached to that part of myself.

Learning to let go

Fortunately, I’ve learned this lesson before. The lesson about being too attached to anything physical and relying on it too heavily for your identity – a job title, a relationship, a hobby. If you lost that ‘thing’ you so closely identify with, what would be left of your life? Are you nothing without that other person? Do you cease to exist because you retired from your fancy job at a fancy company?

Our egos think so – and that’s why it’s so difficult for people to lose things they grasped so tightly to. It’s why people pass away a few years after retirement, and why people feel so lost after a breakup. I went through my own ego crisis when I got demoted at the shipyard after a ‘spans and layers’ exercise.

Becoming a manager at 28 and having a great reputation, I thought I was untouchable. My identity was so strongly tied with being an engineering manager, that when I was pushed back to an engineer 4, I didn’t know how to act or be for awhile. I was angry, and couldn’t believe ‘they‘ let it happen to me (whoever they even were).

Then I went on my road trip. I had time to just be alone with my thoughts and feelings. That’s when I realized my negative feelings were purely from a place of ego. I also realized I didn’t like my job that much.

There were rewarding moments, I loved my coworkers, but I was just chasing the carrot to feel good about succeeding. It wasn’t fulfilling beyond that in any way. There was no real sense of purpose, no sense of contributing to the greater good of the world or society. I was successful at my job, but I wasn’t able to use my talents to their fullest extent.. or find out what they were.

Making peace

Once I was able to fully detach from my old beliefs and former self, I really started to question my path forward. From that point on, I felt more conscious of the life I was living and how I wanted to live it. I know I have more questions to ask myself, because the work you do on your self never stops.

The gym thing is just one small example of something I have to fully make peace with. And I know I’ll get there. It’s part of the growing pains of giving up on the comforts I once had. Aka physical attachments and old held beliefs (but totally worth it!)

Making peace with triggers and letting go of attachments is part of the evolutionary trajectory we should all be on as humans. Reflecting back on old versions of yourself, remembering how you once would have reacted to something that no longer bothers you – that’s progress. It’s an elevation of self, and thus humanity. And if you can’t relate to this, well, it’s never too late to start asking yourself those uncomfortable questions.

One more point I want to make before getting back to Kentucky things..

Going through the experience with my shattered ego also taught me there’s so much good that comes out of ‘bad’ experiences. If I didn’t reach the point of being so pissed off, who knows how long it would have taken me to realize I was in the wrong occupation. If I never had a terrible boss, I may have never gone on that road trip. I may have never signed up to be a health coach, and then would have never found the current job I have, and adore, that allows me to live this lifestyle!

No matter what terrible, dark period you’re going through, I believe there is a light at the end of it, and there’s some bigger reason for it. Keep your heart and mind open to the possibilities, and amazing things will happen for you!

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Things to do in small town Kentucky

Alright, enough deep thoughts for one article, back to the travel stuff.

Being that I’m in the middle of nowhere, there’s not too much to do around here (hence the above digression). The RV park has a few trails right on site that I checked out as well as kayaks. If you’re into fishing and disc golf, you can do both of those here too.

Kentucky Bourbon Country

The biggest attraction by far to this part of Kentucky is that it’s in the heart of Bourbon Country. There are 4 distilleries 20-30 minutes from the RV site, and I had to check out at least one before I left.

When I first moved to Virginia, I got really into Bourbon and wanted to visit the Bourbon Trail ever since. Luckily one of the brands I actually like, Four Roses, was close by and had tours available. Some of the distilleries are so popular that you need to plan your visit months in advance.

The tour was $22 which included a tasting at the end and they let you keep the water glass! Definitely a ton of value for $22. The tasting was around 2 shots between the four drinks, maybe even less, but it got me pretty buzzed. I enjoyed myself, however this was one of those things that would have been better with a group of friends. It reminded me of going on a wine tasting outing in Charlottesville, which is a phenomenal time!

After a week with terrible cell service, long drives to, well, everything; I’m ready to hit the road again!

If you missed my first post about my first stop in Asheville, check it out here.

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