Obstacle course racing with Endgame Adventures

Why run 12 miles and navigate obstacles where you have to pay money to endure physical hardships? There is a good chance your calf might cramp to the point where you have to sit on the ground in agony for 5 minutes. You might be so cold in the arctic enema that it will take you 2 or 3 attempts to get out and then you'll shiver for the next hour. The mental side is even more arduous.  When the Endgame Adventures team ran Tough Mudder in Central Florida on November 2nd, I personally was in unknown territory.
I never realized that one obstacle was navigating through a winding 50 foot dirt tunnel underground in complete darkness. I struggle with claustrophobia. This obstacle really tested my limits. The Endgame Adventures philosophy is to run into life not away from it. We want to safely test the unpredictable nature of life. Paradoxically for this event we had to sign a death waiver.
The unknown will either tear your team apart or create an unbreakable bond. At mile 3 one of our runners sat down and couldn’t move. He didn’t sleep well the night before and failed to eat breakfast. His energy system was shutting down. I was stunned by this. He was one of our more athletic participants and he had been training with me in prep for the race. However, the whole team immediately rallied.
One of our fellow team members ran and got him bananas. Random strangers offered energy bars. Its pretty cool to witness the human bond when you're in the middle of nowhere and exhausted. This is just one example of psych energy you get from your teammates. You are inspired in so many little ways. Someones face as they crawl through mud with strings hanging that can deliver a shock, but they keep on crawling anyway. Having a teammate help you over a wall.
Something I will never forget happened on the last obstacle called Everest. Everest is a quarter pipe that is coated in mud and grease. You sprint up it and when it becomes vertical you jump and try to catch the lip with your hands or the hand of a teammate so they can pull you up to the summit. Well, I'm the last one at the event and also the slowest, heaviest, and oldest on our team. It was raining and I could barely feel my legs. I felt slow and as I jumped for the lip one of my teammates grabbed my hand. Communication happened in our eyes. I could feel my eyes saying don’t let go as I saw his eyes screaming I have to let go.  I was too heavy for him, so he let me go.
Instead of sliding on my stomach or back smoothly. My body rolled sideways and I landed on my shoulder and then my head. My shoulder hurt and I wondered if I had a concussion. I was seeing stars. I got up off the ground and started asking myself really weird questions in my head. What is my wifes social security number? What is my mothers maiden name? I was attempting to self diagnose a concussion. I was dinged but fine. I fell more gracefully from the top 3 more times and each time a couple of things happened: More of my teammates assembled at the top to catch me and more of the other mudder participants stopped to watch the Endgame Adventures team. On my fifth attempt my teammates caught me and I felt at least six hands hoisting me over the top. The crowd of strangers went crazy. That’s the kind of moment I live for, and I want everyone that goes on an Endgame Adventures trip to experience. At Endgame Adventures you will never sign a death waiver, but you might be asked to sign an agreement to live a full life contract.
-Rob Biasotti- Chief Visionary Officer

The Philosophical case for Endgame Adventures

Have you ever thought about what it means to be?  What are you?  Are you an IQ?  Are you the number of likes you get on a Facebook post? Do you become your occupation?  When we think about life this way we have lost the meaning of being.  When we decide to live an ordinary life and follow the conventions of others we forfeit our being.  We become unauthentic people.

We hide behind these conventions because we think they will protect us. Time flies not because we are having fun but because we are busy identifying our being with objects. What kind of car do you drive? Iphone or Droid? Mac or PC? We all agree that the acceleration of time is not a positive thing, but I think that most of us secretly like it. It’s the busyness that protects us from the truth. At the very end when it’s too late we can look back on our life and rationalize that we never had a choice to begin with. We followed the conventions and this it where it led us.

Somewhere deep down we know that is a self-deception designed to make us feel better. It was better to wrap ourselves in the warm blanket of conventions than to come to grips with the fact that our existence is finite. Our life was a blur and then it was over. We embrace the blur because the truth is too much to face. The saddest part of this premise is that subconsciously we don’t even think about it. It’s a forgetfulness. The world neither elicits awe from us or enthralls us and the painful truth is that we have forgotten that it is supposed to.

Endgame Adventures strives to make sure that every participant experiences their being as pure astonishment. It’s crystal clear. No distortion. Not forgotten. It’s what you will marvel at as you look back. Experience the sound of silence in a desert canyon. Come up for air after being in the washing machine of a wave. Don’t look back and say oh well. Let nature in the form of a mountain or ocean reveal itself to you on its own terms in a way we can never manufacture with technology.

Because we have a limited time we need to discover who we are in the context of our environment. We can make a difference. That’s why Endgame Adventures is my life work. If someone can see beyond the conventions and objects and become a truly authentic person than Endgame Adventures has achieved its mission.

One authentic person can transform the world.

-Rob Biasotti-Chief Visionary Officer

How to Stay Excited About Your Travel Path (cont'd)

Last week I shared 5 tips to help you stay in love with traveling after a long, hard trip. Here are 6 more that I think will be useful:

6. Work on a post trip activity.

• Photobook
• Pinning a map
• Scrapbook
• Get a scrolling frame to keep memories going
• Hang pictures
• Add to a travel journal
• Edit your travel videos/photos

7. Lock in your travel experiences

Cook yourself a meal you learned about on your trip. Create a playlist of all of the songs you learned about along the way. Share both with friends.

8. Clean up physically and mentally.

Have a free day planned. Allow yourself to relax. If your trip has been a long one, treat yourself to a relaxing day to get your head back to reality. Could be drinks with the guys or girls or just cooking a meal at home and relaxing on the couch. This will keep you moving forward and looking forward to what is next, feeling fresh.

9. If possible, take time away from those you traveled with.

Introverts and extroverts have their strengths, but become ambiverted (enjoying solitude as well as time with friends) and you’ll have it made. The silence you hear when you are finally alone, really alone, is priceless.

10. Ignore your bag for a few days or a week.

Don’t unpack right when you get home. It’s the last thing you want to do so...make it the last thing you do.

-Supervising Educator Hunter Cambon

How to Stay Excited About Your Travel Path

Use the following tips to stay in love with traveling after a long, hard trip:

1. Re-booking Straight Away

If you can afford it, do it. Not that you have to have all of the money at once, but at least mark a trip on your calendar. If you don’t, you’ll put it off like everything else. Maybe just book a reservation on a hotel or book a ticket to your destination. This way you have something in the pipes to look forward to and something to work toward.

2. Map out a trip

You can work on creating itineraries to keep on file. It is always entertaining and challenging to map out the best trip possible. Start a file for your top 3 destinations and begin the research now. It makes life easier later on and keeps you stoked on your passion for travel.

3. Plan a meticulously vague trip

Once you’ve selected your locations you can start to actually plan the details of the trip. This will ensure a comfortable place to stay, a full stomach, and a more manageable transition from destination to destination if traveling long distances. But, if you’re interested in authentic experiences and meeting the people who will change your trip (and maybe your life) allow flexibility. Take recommendations for restaurants from locals, veer off the beaten path, and find what you didn’t know you were looking for.

4. Enjoy the anticipation.

Converse with others that are going on the trip or have already traveled to your destination. Start a group text or group email and keep everyone in the loop. Sparks will fly, ideas will be shared, and the anticipation will build. The anticipation is what travel is really about anyway. It’s great to look forward to a trip. 

5. Give yourself some wiggle room upon return.

Needing a vacation from your vacation is cliche for a reason. Traveling can wear you down and why should you return to work looking like you’ve just exited the Congo, Heart of Darkness style, when you can confidently walk in looking more like Indiana Jones. Give yourself a day for recovery, maybe even two.

Check back next week for 6-10!

-Supervising Educator Hunter Cambon

The Power of Multi-Colored Gummy Bears

So I decided I was going to snowshoe the White Mountains in New Hampshire during December of 2008. I got lucky because it was the most intense snowfalls on record that year. I had decided to bring my 11-year-old son with me. I may have implied that he was 13 when we signed up, but as someone dedicated to adventures I thought this exaggeration would be worth it.

The hike from Crawford Notch to the Zealand Falls hut is about 8 miles. You complete it with a group of about 20 hikers and 2 guides. As soon we began the hike off the main road, Johnny and I began to fall behind. About 30 minutes into the trek one of the guides stopped the group and came back to speak with me. His name was Anthony and he told me that John and I would have to go back to the lodge because we would not make the hut by nightfall. I pleaded with him and was met with a firm no. I offered him $200 and still he said no. After more pleading, he conceded that if we didn’t make one of the checkpoints by a certain time we would have to turn back.

The group split up and Anthony stayed with John and me. The mountains were beautiful. That hike is where I learned that no matter how tired I was it was critical to keep my head up to enjoy everything around me. Anthony prompted us over and over again to look up because as we grew tired are eyes would drift toward our feet.

To be completely honest, John and I only made it on time because of Anthony’s coaching. Making it was such a confidence booster for John. He was feeling so pumped when we got to the hut. That night I encouraged John to eat as much as possible knowing that we would need all the energy possible to snowshoe out the next morning. Like a lot of fatherly advice, it fell on deaf ears. He barely touched his plate.

On the way out the next morning, John and I were so cold and the gear immediately started weighing on our backs. When we stopped for lunch and took off our gloves we couldn’t feel our hands. John was a trooper; even though he was tired he kept up. Throughout the entire experience, Anthony made only one mistake. As we made our way out of the forest and onto a side road he announced we had a made it. John interpreted this as the hike being over.

However, we were still about a mile from the main road. As we continued to walk, John grew more upset that our journey was not over. At some point he sat down in the snow letting the wind and snowflakes swirl around him. He announced that he was not going one step further. I was attempted every motivational angle from my years of parenting and coaching. Nothing worked! Things began to escalate between us when I felt a hand on my chest.

Anthony gently pushed me aside and asked to speak to John privately. Anthony didn’t say a word to John. He took out a Ziplock bag from his backpack. The bag contained 7 gummy bears and ¼ stick of a Hershey’s chocolate bar. As John began to eat the gummy bears one by one I could see him becoming energized. It was like watching a glass being filled. By the time he got to the candy bar he was on his feet. He powered his way to the main road. When we got to the heated van we were beside ourselves because they had hot chocolate waiting for us. The feeling of accomplishment was palpable. It is a moment I will never forget and an
adventure I was happy to share with my son.

All it took to get John on his feet was a handful of gummy bears. What would it take to motivate you when you’re on your last leg?

The Yin and Yang of Yoga

In Chinese philosophy, the concept of yin and yang is used to describe polar opposites or how seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn.  Yin is the stable, unmoving, hidden, aspect of things while Yang is the moving, changing, revealing aspect of things.  Both always coexist and we are always aware of the other.

A regular Yin practice keeps the hips, back, ankles, knees, and shoulders strong and mobile.  It’s amazing how good and limber you will feel after a Yin class.  When your back and hips feel youthful, YOU feel great!

Now, the reason I want to talk about Yin and Yang
is to discuss why I love Yin yoga classes.

There is a great definition from the book, Yin Yoga by Paul Grilley.  He writes, “…When we move and bend our joints doing Yoga postures, both muscles and connective tissue are being stretched.  The muscles are Yang because they are soft and elastic, the connective tissue is Yin because it is stiff and inelastic.  To illustrate the different elasticity of these two tissues imagine the carving of a turkey.  The actual “meat” of the drumstick is muscle, the ‘gristle’ at the joint which must be cut through or snapped off is connective tissue.”

The postures in Yin yoga and the length of time in which each is held gently stretches and rehabilitates the connective tissues that form the joints.  The connective tissue doesn’t respond to quick stretches as muscles can.  Because connective tissue is tough and fibrous it must be stretched slowly and carefully.  In order to focus on the connective tissue and not on the muscle, the muscles need to be relaxed while in the Yin poses.  The connective tissues will not be able to take the stretch while the muscles are tense.

So, this sounds pretty easy right?  Go to an hour Yin class and hold a number of postures for around 3 minutes each.  Now, depending on your flexibility this can actually be pretty difficult in certain poses.  However, the great thing about all and any kind of yoga is that you only go into a pose to wherever your limit is, so really no pose should be painful, just take yourself to your own personal edge.  When the hour class is up you will be walking on a cloud the rest of the day.  Really!

Have you ever tried a Yin class?  If so, how did you feel after?


Namaste
Lori

The Story of Ranger Jay

Last November, when I began planning a bike adventure through Death Valley, I was having a huge problem trying to coordinate the bike and tent rentals for the team. It was proving difficult to rent gear for our 4-day adventure.


I called the Death Valley Visitor Center for advice. The person who answered the phone identified himself as Ranger Jay. I told him about the difficulties I was experiencing along with the travel dates. He said he would meet me at the airport with everything I needed—tent and camping supplies. He even suggested that we stay at his house, which would be unoccupied for a number of days. He was picking up a friend at the same time we were arriving in Vegas. I asked how much I owed him and he said nothing. He was going to give us the equipment at no charge.

I was in disbelief. Was this some kind of con? I was in a jam so I just went with it. Our departing flight was delayed so I missed my meeting with Ranger Jay. However, when we landed I had a voicemail. It was Ranger Jay and he said he would meet us in the morning with all the equipment we would need to camp in Death Valley. I honestly did not believe it was real. I thought I was going to be the victim of a scam or that this was some sort of prank.

The next morning I met up with Ranger Jay and extended my hand to formally meet this generous stranger. He told me he didn’t do handshakes, only hugs. We then proceeded to unload his car of all the camping gear we would need for the adventure: tents, mats, sleeping bags—the works. He even threw in a bag of apples that happened to be in his car.

We took some pictures with Ranger Jay, thanked him profusely, headed to rent bikes, and ultimately traveled on to Death Valley. The time we spent there was truly amazing. The gigantic mesquite sand dunes make you feel like you are lost in the Sahara desert. The view from Zabriskie Point leaves you wondering if you have entered a cartoon. Devil’s golf course is a place that has to be seen to understand how it got its name. After a couple of days in Death Valley I wandered into the visitor’s center to purchase a couple of souvenirs. I met some other rangers and decided to ask them if they knew Ranger Jay. It was immediately apparent that Ranger Jay had an interesting life story.

He had once been a professional but had lost his passion for a conventional life. He decided to walk across the country. Along the way he mostly stayed in national parks and said he couldn’t have done it without receiving help from people along the way. That’s why he will always go the extra mile for anybody who he encounters. He specifically chose to become a park ranger so he could educate as many people as possible about the benefits of visiting national parks. As we were leaving the park I saw him swearing in some Junior Rangers. I just thought to myself that this guy is the real deal.

Traveling experiences like this are exactly why Endgame Adventures feels so passionately about giving back to the community. Anytime we take a group of kids on an adventure we set aside some time to help out the local community in whatever way possible. Lending a fellow traveler a helping hand is rewarding for everyone involved and Ranger Jay reminded me of that during my trip to Death Valley.

The Benefits of Yoga

From lowering blood pressure to increasing pain tolerance, a regular yoga practice can lead to the following health benefits.

Blood Pressure: A consistent yoga practice decreases blood pressure through better circulation and oxygenation of the body. Any inversion pose and pranyama (breathing through the nose with full inhales and exhales of equal length) have been known to lower blood pressure.

Pulse Rate: A slower pulse rate indicates that your heart is strong enough to pump more blood with fewer beats. Regularly practicing yoga provides a lower pulse rate.

Circulation: By transporting nutrients and oxygen throughout your body, yoga practice provides healthier organs, skin and brain function.

Respiratory: Like the circulatory system, a lower respiratory rate indicates that the lungs are working more efficiently. Yoga decreases the respiratory rate through a combination of controlled breathing exercises and better fitness.

Cardiovascular Endurance: A combination of lower heart rate and improved oxygenation to the body (both benefits of yoga) results in higher cardiovascular endurance.

Organs: Yoga practice massages internal organs, thus improving the ability of the body to prevent disease. Additionally, an experienced yoga practitioner becomes better attuned to her/his body to know at first sign if something isn’t functioning properly, thereby allowing for quicker response to head off disease.

Gastrointestinal: Functions have been shown to improve in both men and women who practice yoga. 

Metabolism: Having a balanced metabolism results in maintaining a healthy weight and controlling hunger. Consistent yoga practice helps find the balance and creates a more efficient metabolism.

A healthy mind and body will make your adventures that much more enjoyable so get started on your yoga today!

Namaste ~ Lori

How to Capture the Moment

I’m knee-deep in near-freezing water, groping for footing across stones and pebbles rubbed smooth by the water rushing off of Laurel Fork Falls. The lush foliage surrounding the falls smells fresh and full of life, but I can’t see it; the heavy mist spewing from the turbulent water to my right blinds me. The roaring water drowns out the shouts from my fellow hikers giving me words of encouragement to keep going. I taste nothing but my own cottonmouth; if I fall all of my gear will be soaked. The goal is to reach what will be a make-shift camp ground in an out-of-bounds area circa the falls.

Days, weeks, and months pass with little notice when you're not present and aware of yourself. So, when traveling, it can be maddening to board the plane on your way home and have that "oh my God that flew by" feeling. There are ways to avoid this, some of which I'm sure you already know. Journaling, photography, and saving scrapbook mementos are a few of the popular memory-savers, but one I've created (and have been using regularly) has been really helping me to save individual moments during an adventure.

Try the following:

1. Become aware of yourself and your surroundings and remind yourself of where you are.
2. Choose 1 of your five senses to focus on and ignore all of the other four.
3. Repeat step 2 until you finish all five of your senses.
4. Combine all five senses to complete the memory.

It can be tough to focus on one sense at first, but after very little practice you can focus in on each sense with great intensity. Try writing them down using the format below to help. This gives you a small slice to remember from any given adventure which you can access at anytime to help you remember why you work so hard to escape into an epic expedition.

Sight:
Smell:
Touch:
Taste:
Hear:

Extra Tip: When focusing on sound, smell, and touch close your eyes to heighten the strength of the sense you are focusing on.

-Supervising Educator Hunter Cambon

Why Endgame Adventures Will Conquer Tough Mudder

Just the fact that Tough Mudder is a 12 mile run is enough to persuade some people not to do it, but it’s so much more than that. You are putting yourself in an alien landscape of obstacles, and as an individual you ask yourself “How am I going to do this?” At Endgame Adventures, that foreign experience and extreme challenge is exactly what we look for.

I was attracted to Tough Mudder because this race represents some of the core aspects of Endgame Adventures. The shared anticipation of the race and the connection not only with your teammates, but the other participants, is something you’ll never get to experience again. You could show up alone and have 150,000 teammates who will support and challenge you to achieve the very difficult or you could run the race with a team. You’ll be able to feed off of the energy from all the competitors and push yourself to accomplish what you thought impossible. How often to people get to experience that again or for the first time?

The chance to be authentic and find out who you really are only happens as you move forward into an unknown. The Tough Mudder race represents the unfamiliar and will challenge any participant—new or returning. We want to push ourselves both mentally and physically to conquer the Tough Mudder race and we want to do it as #teamendgameadventures. Will you be there?

-Chief Visionary Officer Rob Biasotti

Age Doesn’t Equal Experience

I met a girl named Fred. She was heading south through Costa Rican hostels while I was working my way north. Fred was beautiful, but I couldn’t help but notice how young she looked, too young to be backpacking through Central America alone.  Every morning, we would be the first two people up in the hostel and would take advantage of free pancakes and O.J. Our hostel, Tranquillo Backpackers, was across the road from a beach in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. This continued for three mornings.

We talked about our travels and where we had been; her list was so much longer than mine. She had hit every continent at least once and explored Canada, the US, and Europe extensively. She explained she was a French-Canadian model and whenever she was low on funds she would return home to Canada, work for a few months, and then head back out and continue exploring. She had no parents and no extended family for as long as she could remember so she really was on her own.

On the last morning of my stay in the hostel, Fred and I met again in the community kitchen. I had learned a lot from her but still had so many questions about how she managed and what life was like, always on the run.

I asked her how old she was as we were parting ways after breakfast. She shook her head so I asked her again. Although I pushed for an answer she wouldn’t tell me. She simply explained: I have seen so much in my life, more than most people three times my age. Age isn’t important, age is an invention and one that leads people into thinking the older someone is, the more experienced they have to be. That’s simply not true. I won’t reveal my age because you’ll only feel that I am “too young” to be venturing out into the world like this alone.

She asked me to drop the subject, I smiled and nodded, she gave me a hug and I never saw her again.

So…I never found out Fred’s age and thinking about it now, I doubt Fred was her real name. Such a peculiar but insightful experience. Endgame creates an environment for our teammates to experience these types of relationships authentically and naturally.

There’s so much to be learned and in the strangest of places. Keep your ears and eyes open and actively search for knowledge.

-Supervising Educator Hunter Cambon 

Breath into Control

Yoga is, at the root, a practice of meditation to reach a higher level of consciousness.  One great way to reach this higher level of consciousness is through steadying the breath and keeping awareness on the breath.  This kind of breath control is referred to as Ujjayi.  To do this correctly, inhale and exhale through the nose with the back of the throat and the vocal diaphragm contracted.  Your breath will be louder than normal, which is what you are looking for with this practice.  The breath does not need to be loud, just noticeable to you for your awareness. The deep inhales through the nose brings in oxygen and prana (life force), and the exhales through the nose removes the carbon dioxide and toxins.  The breath through the nose is important as it is more controlled than through the mouth and warms the body.  Keep the inhales and exhales at an equal length and allow space between the breaths.  So, if you inhale for a count of three, then wait a second, and then exhale to a count of three.

Continued awareness to the breath leads to a connection of the mind and the body and can create a meditative like state leading to a deeper relaxed or meditative state.  This can be practiced anywhere, anytime.  This is a great way to relieve stress and calm your mood.  I practice Ujjayi in the car a lot as traffic can make one very stressed... and it works.  I also practice when we travel on our adventures because it keeps me focused and grounded.

Try Ujjayi breath now for 10 inhales and exhales with a minimum of three seconds each.  See how you feel during the practice and after.  While practicing breath control and awareness, try to quiet the mind and only focus on the breath.  Compare your mood and feeling after this short practice to that of before your practice.
Namaste ~ Lori

A lesson from adventure travel

I was walking out of Havasu Falls  for the second time in 2009 and was utterly exhausted. The hike into the Supai Indian Reservation and ultimately the waterfalls is an alien landscape and I am sure the only differences between the landscape of Mars and Havasu is the temperature and the lack of Nitrogen/Oxygen atmosphere.

I felt pretty ridiculous as I was supposed to be the leader of a 13 person adventure experience. I was last. There was even another hiker on the trail who was clearly not conditioned and was wearing low-top non-hiking canvas shoes. He passed me along the 10 mile trail. I had spent months physically preparing for this adventure which would be my second time at this location.  Candidly, I was disappointed. I understand that adventure is not necessarily a competition. It’s about the experience.  

Walking up the switchbacks and rounding a corner, Leeman Leclair (cameraman) sat on an outcropping at about 150 yards out. His elevation was at about 60 degrees. He had a couple of hikers sitting with him and while he filmed me they made light of my lack of progress. “Come on Coach B!”  “Run Forrest Run.” I found myself exhausted, mad, and laughing at the same time. When I got to the top, I asked Leeman why the hike was so difficult for me when it appeared to be so easy for him. We were good friends and he told me bluntly, “That’s what you expected to happen, you have been saying how hard this was going to be from the very beginning, you came looking for something and you found it.” 

That's what I love about adventure travel. You always end up learning something about yourself--at the core of who you are--good or bad. My second trip to Havasu Falls taught me something that I apply to my everyday life: Your attitude about the situation is what can make or break it. So approach challenges with a positive attitude and you'll get the best out of them. DREAM BIG, TRAIN HARD, NEVER SETTLE

Travel is Education

Hunter Cambon, Supervising Educator

I don't know anyone who doesn't think Indiana Jones is cool.  He is famous for his adventures and of course, his whip, but we must remember he always returns to his professorship. The development of Endgame Adventures is focused on travel, intense self-transformation and learning about ourselves and those who adventure with us.

Spending 17 years traveling through Bahamas (Abacos and Exumas mostly) on my family’s 40’ Trawler gave me the hunger to travel independently and gave me the confidence to do so. Now with a platform to work from, I have been spending my time working to create new travel experiences that will put our participants in situations that will encourage growth in both character and in mind.

Like most travelers, I’m hungry for more. More meeting interesting people, more life changing experiences, more stamps on my passport. But recently I’ve been focusing on a new aspect of travel. Planning has always been important, but the romantic idea of finding your way once you’ve landed has always been my M.O. Not so much anymore.

Planning a seamless trip from beginning to end is a time-consuming and daunting task, but is one filled with opportunity to learn. And when I write “seamless” that’s what I mean. Having the foresight and experience to think of most every detail and obstacle that may arise, filling even our downtime with something productive, and connecting the dots to create an as-close-to-perfect trip as possible is a challenge with great rewards. Reflecting at the end of a journey and realizing that all involved have changed, in some aspect, for the better (including myself) is a hard-to-top feeling and fuels my passion for Endgame Adventures. This has changed the way I view education of the mind and soul. It is what truly sticks with us.

In all of our travels we spend time working on academics and service with local, underprivileged students. And in all of our journeys we have discovered that learning occurs so frequently outside of the classroom. At the time (I must have been 10 years old), sitting in the backseat of the family truck watching Indiana on a 12'' TV wedged between the two fronts seats, cords running into the 12v outlet, his line about getting out and learning globally seemed profound. Now, it's the only thing that makes sense. 

The things we are doing today will be our habits in the future, so make a habit of getting out and seeing this world...cause it’s outta this world.

I’m Rob the Chief Visionary Officer of Endgame Adventures. I also work as the Dean of Students at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Endgame Adventures is a project I came up with as a way to explore both of my passions: Travel and Fitness. I have always pushed myself to the limits to stay fit. My passion took off when I started training the St. Thomas Aquinas Raider football team as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. From there, I began personal training to push others to reach their goals.

I decided to take my training to the next level by exploring the toughest terrains the world has to offer, and then Endgame Adventures was born. Since starting this company, I have been lucky enough to train clients in awesome locations from Havasau Falls to Costa Rica.

Make sure to check back in to read the stories from my travels and for the chance to see the videos and photos I take on my adventures.~ by rob biasotti

Adventures in Yoga

I started working out in the weight room as a Sophomore in High School. I stretched constantly, never ever sitting still.  I loved feeling light, agile, and able.  Being physical was part of my life.  I weight trained, ran, took aerobic classes, hiked, water skiied, etc. If I was watching TV, I was stretching, doing sit-ups, or doing the 'flash dance' routine...whatever I could think to stay moving.  This continued until years later when I became a mom at the age of 28 and my entire world changed.  I didn't care that much anymore about getting my daily workout into my schedule.  I just wanted to be a MOM.  

After about a three year absence from physical activity I got back in the gym doing what I had been doing for years before I had my kids.  I found that the gym and the usual training didn't have the same appeal and I was bored with the workouts.  That's when I stumbled into my first yoga class 2006 and I knew that I had found something exciting.

The movement of yoga feels good.  There are no weights needed, just gravity and body weight.  Just try holding some of the postures and you quickly realize that weights aren't needed.  When you combine the strength and space gained through the postures and stretching, you almost immediately feel better, both physically and mentally. I was well into my practice when I realized that I had found a sort of peace of mind through my exercise without even trying.

I became a Registered Yoga Teacher in January 2011. I continue learning through workshops all over the world. There is so much more to yoga than just the physical poses that my learning will never end.  I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experience of yoga to as many peope as I can through our adventures. ~ Namaste
by lori