We’ve been at sea for the last 7 consecutive days doing the Transatlantic. I would have liked to report that it was amazing and that I was very productive in my free time creating new products for Stickmen & Unicorns but in reality, it kinda sucked.

Like Albert Einstein said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” And that’s sort of what it felt. It felt like I was repeating the same day over and over and over again. The same routine, the same meals, I’m pretty sure even the same conversations. Rinse and repeat. To make matters worse, I forgot to go get natural sunlight for the entire time. Turns out, not having sunlight for an extended period of time does some funky things to you. I felt my behavior getting progressively weirder. To be fair, I’ve always been a bit weird but I like to think of it as quirky. This was something quite different. I was actually getting worried. It was like I was the thirteenth monkey from Twelve Monkeys.

The turning point I think was yesterday evening and wondered for a moment “is this real or some bizarre recurring dream?” I got up and looked in the mirror and kind of freaked out. “Who ARE you?” I thought to myself. Then I turned on the light in my cabin and everything was okay. Well, not quite – I still didn’t feel myself. I suspected that I was serotonin-deficient.

I immediately recalled how my friend Wayne cured his depression by running. I’m not talking about fun runs around the block, this guy did a Forest Gump and ran across Canada! Currently, Wayne is running across the world to promote his cause. Which is really marvelous and ironically a bit crazy.

I headed to the gym. Rather than do my usual weight training routine, I ran for an hour. I forgot how awesome it is to have a rush of endorphins from a runner’s high. It’s almost like eating nutella from a bottomless jar while riding a unicorn over a double rainbow. It’s easy to forget how important these little things are to stay centered. You know: sun, regular exercise, fresh air and good nutrition. Anyway, I’m happy to report that I’m back to my happy-go-lucky and mostly marvelous self.

How do you stay centered while traveling?

^{This post was sponsored by How To Work On A Cruise Ship – complete eGuide.}