by Jessica Green
After 17 days of driving from Brooklyn, NY to Portland, Oregon and almost as many hotels, I can't tell you how many times I tempted the idea of waking up early and just dealing with the hotel gym to get my workout in after pulling in to our hotel late in the evening. Most of the cities were foreign places to me - and many of them involved less than 2 hours of awake time before moving on to the next westward location. Time was precious and needed to be used wisely.
The thought of spending a ton of time figuring out the best place to run outside started out daunting, but soon I learned that if you pick a hotel near a city park area or along a river, you'll most likely find a nice pathway waiting for you to get your workout in. Not only did I get to run OUTDOORS instead of at a makeshift gym inside a room the size of mini hotel room, I also got to explore a part of each of city (no matter how random they felt), find morning inspiration along hidden river pathways and feel part of these cities even if only for brief moments in time.
Next time you can choose your hotel, don't get the one closest to the highway. Instead, pick one close to a river park or within the city limits so you're close enough to access outdoor areas without taking too much time out of your travel schedule to actually get there.