Full disclosure — I am not a sports person. But I did marry one and watching him on any field is genuinely one of my favorite things.
November 9th…Your favorite football/fall sports story?
I have to go veto on this one. I have to admit, I really am not a huge sports fan. I mean, I love to sit in the stands and cheer for a team. I would say my sports rankings in order of fun to watch and what I know the most about would be
- basketball
- football
- baseball
I have never been an athlete although my build may have put me in a possibility of being something athletic.
Adam is the complete opposite. Even with months of not practicing, you can put him out on a field and he will play like a pro. He is also the fastest runner I have ever seen. His sport of choice is baseball. He played all through his childhood and then on intermurals in college. In Korea he played once or twice, but being a foreigner it was hard to get anyone to allow him to play with them.
Adam runs circles around me when we hike and can jump higher than my head without even trying. He is a pretty incredible athlete. I hope our baby takes after him.
So, although this doesn’t even touch on a “story” it does have to do with sports.
If you are curious as to what the November Health/Fitness Blogger Challenge is, check out Lisa’s challenge from She’s Losing It.
⏱️ Short and sweet personal post — great for lifestyle SEO! Here we go!!
🏷️ New Title:
I Married the Athlete — An Honest Sports Confession From Someone Who Loves the Stands More Than the Field
✏️ One Line Intro — Add at the Very Top:
Full disclosure — I am not a sports person. But I did marry one and watching him on any field is genuinely one of my favorite things.
❓ 5 Q&As — Add at the Bottom:
Q: How do you stay connected to sports culture when you are not naturally a sports fan? A: Find the parts that genuinely appeal to you and lean into those. For me that is the energy of being in the stands cheering for a team — the collective excitement of a crowd is infectious regardless of how much you understand the game. Basketball football and baseball in that order make sense to me and that feels like enough.
Q: What is it like being married to a natural athlete when you are not one? A: Humbling and genuinely impressive in equal measure. Adam can go months without practice and step onto any field playing like he never stopped. He runs faster than anyone I have ever seen hikes circles around me and can jump higher than my head without apparent effort. Being married to someone like that either inspires you to keep up or gives you an excellent excuse to cheer from the sidelines. I have chosen the latter and have no regrets.
Q: Can expats play sports while living in South Korea? A: It depends entirely on the sport and the community. Adam tried to join baseball games in Korea as a foreigner and found it genuinely difficult to be included — not from unfriendliness exactly but from the tight knit nature of established local teams. Hiking however is universally welcoming and we found it to be the most accessible and rewarding physical activity of our entire time living there.
Q: How does having an athletic partner influence your own fitness habits? A: More than you might expect — not through pressure but through inspiration. Watching someone move through the world with natural physical confidence and joy makes you want to find your own version of that. For me that has looked like hiking yoga and long walks rather than competitive sports and that is completely fine.
Q: How do you encourage athletic kids when you are not sporty yourself? A: By showing up enthusiastically and letting the naturally athletic parent lead by example on the field. We genuinely hope our kids inherit Adam’s athletic ability and we will be in the stands cheering loudly regardless of which direction that goes.
Intentionally and incrementally. Most families who live this way did not leap from conventional to adventurous overnight. They built remote work capacity, paid down debt, tested longer trips, and had increasingly honest conversations about what they actually want from their lives. The leap feels bigger from outside than from inside.
Different for every family. For some it is long-term travel. For others it is weekend adventures close to home. What connects them is intentionality about how time is spent and a preference for experiences over accumulation. The version that fits your family is the right one.
By finding stability within the adventure rather than treating them as opposites. Routines, rituals, and family rhythms travel with you. Familiar foods, bedtime routines, and predictable family dynamics provide stability even when the location changes. Kids need consistency in relationships more than consistency in geography.
That people are fundamentally similar across cultures in what they want for their families. That comfort zone is a smaller circle than it feels from inside. That the things worth having in life require effort and discomfort to get. And that time together doing hard interesting things is the most reliable source of family closeness.
By getting clear on why you made the choices you made and returning to that clarity when the outside noise gets loud. Most families living unconventionally describe an initial period of explaining themselves that gradually gives way to just living the life. The explaining becomes less necessary as the results become visible.
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