Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!
You registered on WordPress.com 7 years ago.
Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.
Thanks to everyone who joined me on this journey!
Irie!
Calvin Williams
Category: Lifestyle
Articles discussing lifestyle and walking into the future.
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Poetic Flow: Control (Repost)
Life’s limitations can only limit what you allow
You have control over all circumstances
This I will avow
The simplicity of life will make you see
The things most important can be
Right in front of you
But you have to stay true
The vision you have requires additional work, time and effort
Put the past behind
Start to remove the limitations from the process and let the simplicity of life
Guide your path
Calvin Williams
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2025 Negril, Jamaica (in pictures)
“Wah gwaan”?
My Walk into the Future ventured back down to Negril, Jamaica for spring break this year. This is not a huge revelation since I make this trek yearly. I’ve written about my adventures in Negril to include great food, reggae, snorkeling and enjoying irie vibes.
This year was a little different since the water was choppy and there were days we were instructed to stay out of the water. I still found ways to entertain myself and enjoy my time in my adopted hometown. 😊
So, instead of writing about similar adventures I have each year, I’m sharing my Negril trip with pictures—enjoy! 😊
Samsara views (Day 1)
Negril sunsets
Negril cliffs
Samsara
Irie!
Calvin Williams
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Samsara!
“Home away from home in Jamaica”.
(#IslandGetaway)
Once you go, you know!
That was the old tag line to promote Jamaica as a tourist destination. I never got the tag line when I was young but fully get it now. Jamaica is an island getaway destination full of energy and adventure. Yes, that last sentence sounds like a Jamaica travel endorsement. Hopefully, I can get to work soon as a travel blogger. Fingers crossed! 😊
I started coming down to Jamaica back in 2005 to explore and experience the culture. I was hooked on that first trip and have only missed a few years since. My goal is to make it down yearly to enjoy my second home—yes, I adopted Jamaica.
I picked Negril back in 2005 because I wanted to try something different. Most folks that come down hit the major tourist spots (Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, etc.) but I never heard anyone mention Negril. I wanted to give it a run because it is smaller and less tourist type activities. It’s a fishing village and has a slower way of life than the better-known areas.
Truth be told, I got lucky when I picked Samsara as my resort. It was listed as a 3-star resort, but I loved the pictures of the resort and how close it was to other things in Negril. Centrally located on the cliffs and I can walk to other points of interest with no problems. The cliffs provide another level of adventure for cliff divers, snorkeling and scuba spots. All this can be done without leaving the property.
The chefs at Samsara are just as amazing as the views. Breakfast, lunch and dinner have a unique Jamaican flavor and allows visitors to explore multiple food options. I used to get the all-inclusive package but now I like to hit other locations for food when I’m in Negril. I still eat breakfast and other meals at Samsara but love the freedom to explore and hit other food spots:
- 3 Dives / Jerk chicken
- Push Cart / Ox tails
- Rock House / Grilled snapper with callaloo
- Xtabi / Pan fried snapper
- Chances / Best pizza in the world 😊
- Samsara / Breakfast buffet with blue mountain coffee
Samsara continues to provide a level of comfort and enjoyment. Most of the staff have been there since I’ve been coming to Jamaica. They remember me like I never left and this makes me smile.
I recommend Samsara if you’re looking for an Irie feel for your vacation. No big production or resort type feel. I love this location because it allows me to explore as a Jamaican instead of being stuck in a large resort with tourists.
Give Samsara a run if you’re looking for a Jamaican getaway. Tell them that Williams sent you! 😊
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“Chasing sunsets in Jamaica”.
(#SunsetLovers)
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WPBF Interview
“You’re not famous until your mother has heard of you”.
(Jay Leno)
Love this quote from Jay Leno and it fits my life quite a bit. 😊
My mom is the only person who introduces me as Dr. Williams. She gets a lot of joy introducing me that way and I think it’s a cool dynamic. She does not think of or view me as famous, but she has heard of me and the work I’m doing on my Walk into the Future.
I was asked to come down to WPBF in West Palm Beach, Florida to discuss some of the work we do with our military and veteran populations. We have a large number of enrolled students with military affiliation and conduct a lot of outreach in the community. This outreach caught the attention of the WPBF news director, and they requested we come down and do a live TV spot to promote the event.
I was a regular on the local news scene when I worked in the Florida State University’s Career Center. This was my first opportunity to get back on the air at my current institution.
You can view the interview here: https://www.wpbf.com/article/florida-indian-river-state-college-supporting-local-veterans-hobbies-helping-hands/64185475
I’m not sure I’m famous now but it was a fun experience. Hope you enjoyed the interview.
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it”.
(Henry David Thoreau)
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Five Minute Thursday: Favorite TV Show
“I can’t be with someone like me. I hate myself”
(Jerry Seinfeld)
We are back for another run at the Five-Minute Thursday writing prompt. I’m always looking for new ways to share content with readers of my blog and this writing prompt allows me to explore and take a few chances.
It may come as a surprise but I’m still a huge Seinfeld fan. I started watching the original series and continue to watch reruns like I have never seen before.
This Five-Minute Thursday prompt is: My Favorite TV Show.
Seinfeld is still my show! Jerry identified it as a show about nothing but there is a ton of substance to the show and the way they developed the characters. The main characters Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer were must see TV when the show was still in active rotation. It remains a great show in rerun format, and I still stop to watch full episodes.
The show covered daily activities but provided a clever and funny angle to each of these activities. A lot of content was centered around Jerry and took place in his NYC apartment. The other characters would flock to Jerry to share daily interactions and wait for Jerry to provide commentary. Jerry’s take was always shallow and brought a new level of fun to whatever his friends complained about. Each character had unique hangups and this was enjoyable to watch during each episode.
A few of my favorite episodes are:
- Yada, yada, yada
- Shrinkage
- The Close Talker
- Not that there’s anything wrong with that
- The Soup Nazi
- Sponge worthy
I’m not sure if you can YouTube Seinfeld episodes by these titles but they will make you laugh if you can find them. There’s a ton of Seinfeld episodes available on TV daily and I’m sure you can watch them like it’s the 1990’s all over again. This classic comedy never gets old to me, and I watch episodes like they are brand new to me.
My one issue with the Seinfeld series is how it ended. The last episode was one of the most watched shows of all time. My problem with the ending is it wasn’t funny! I thought they spent more time rehashing previous encounters and forget to leverage the last episode to complete a comedy masterpiece. It left me wondering WHY and wanting more from such a successful run. Oh well, this doesn’t stop me from watching the Seinfeld reruns daily when I get home from work.
What’s your favorite TV show and why?
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“Serinity now”.
(Frank Costanza)
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Back to the Future
(Image by Tumisu from Pixabay)
“Opportunities don’t happen; you create them”.
(Chris Grosser)
What did you want to be growing up?
This was an icebreaker question in a recent meeting we had at work.
It seemed like a simple question, but it made me pause for a second. Why do you ask? Great question as always Maria! 😊
Well, I had my mind set on being a forest ranger when I entered high school. I didn’t know anyone who was a ranger, but I always saw them around growing up in rural northern Florida. My hometown is Jasper, Florida which is right on the Florida / Georgia line. It’s known for farming and fishing, so I spent a lot of time outdoors and wandering in the woods.
I thought being a ranger would allow me to enjoy this aspect of growing up and help make a difference in the world. I researched everything about becoming a ranger and joined 4H to develop additional skills. I thought being in the woods and protecting the environment was going to be my career.
Well, that all changed when I took a TV Productions class in my senior year. We got a chance to host live TV segments that aired in our school. I never thought I would enjoy that aspect of the class but found a new joy going to school. We got a chance to produce segments and conduct interviews with different topics ranging from sports, education and life after high school.
I changed my mind about becoming a forest ranger due to our TV Productions course. I started watching nightly news shows looking for pointers I could leverage in our class. Journalism was going to be my new career, and I was excited about this. I put a lot of extra effort into this course and a few of us were requested to video football and basketball games and provide the tape to coaches. This was an exciting time and showed another aspect to the course. I was hooked! Journalism was my thing.
Fast forward a bit and I received a partial Journalism scholarship to Lake City Community College. Turns out school was not my thing at that point in my life. I flunked out of community college and joined the Air Force. I had an outstanding Air Force career but never forgot about journalism.
I started the Walk into the Future blog to share adventures and stories. It’s not a traditional journalism role but I have people around the world reading my blog and sharing experiences with me.
I’m not writing for a large newspaper or covering stories from New York as a photojournalist, but I am chronicling adventures and stories to share with folks around the world. This may have been an unconventional route to get where I wanted to be back in high school but I’m here pounding out articles weekly.
Hooray for that TV Productions class back in Jasper, Florida! It opened opportunities and doors for me in life. Well done, Mrs. Klepper!
What did YOU want to be when you grew up? Let’s make it happen.
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop”.
(Confucius)
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2025 Town of Celebration Half Marathon
“When your legs get tired, run with your heart”.
(Unknown)
The Walk into the Future blog made a return trip to Celebration, Florida to give the 2025 Town of Celebration Half Marathon a run. This race has become one of my favorite races on my calendar. I love the town of Celebration, and the people there put on a great race and after party. Yes, I call it an after party because the entire town comes out to celebrate (pun intended) with race participants. 😊
I doubled up on my races in January with the Vero Beach half marathon on the weekend prior to the Town of Celebration race. The weather is milder in January, and I don’t have to worry about heat and humidity early in the race year. The Vero Beach half marathon has two bridge crossings within the first 5 miles of the race, and this can hamper runners for the rest of the race. This will be my last year running the Vero race. I want to explore additional race options in January and may give the 2026 Houston Marathon a run next year instead of the local race.
The Town of Celebration racecourse is completely flat, and I love this aspect. This is a great component of the race regardless of the temperature. We had cool weather this year and I had to decide if I was running with layers on or go with my traditional running tank top. It was 47 degrees at the start of the race, so I decided to dress warmly with multiple layers. This was a great choice since the temperatures never got much higher than 51 degrees. Great for running but not for standing around waiting to start the race.
I lined up at the start line with the intent to leverage the cool weather and improve my time from last year. My goal was to hit the 2:08 mark for the half marathon with the cool weather and wanted to see how fast I could go. My fastest time for this race was 2:09:16 back in 2023 and I wanted to see if I could go this fast again. Well, the short answer for this year is no. I ran 2:14:27 which was a full four minutes faster than my 2024 time. I’m always happy to go faster in a race than the previous time out and I will take the results from this year. I struggled a bit in the middle of the race with my legs and had to stretch them out around the 8-mile marker. This helped me continue to push forward and I got a bit faster in the final 3 miles of the race. I’m happy with my final kick and completed mile 13 at 10:08 and a huge smile on my face. The crowd at the finish line was very inspiring and helped me enjoy the final stages of the race. I grabbed my race medal and took a few finish line photos to document my time in Celebration, Florida.
The after party was relocated closer to the finish line this year and I headed over to take my eating and drinking tour of the town. The race participants receive a food card that highlights each of the restaurants present for the event. You take your food card to each vendor, and they provide a food sample from their restaurant and mark your food card to signify you have been served. My first stop was at the Michelob Ultra table to get my two beers to get things started. I ventured to the Mimosa table next to get a sample before hitting the food tables. Fast forward and I made my way to every table available this year. The samples were a bit smaller than last year, but the food was delicious, and the atmosphere was outstanding. I hung around the after party a bit longer this year to soak up the atmosphere and chat with Orlando runners. I’m thinking I will spend an additional night in Celebration next year so I can just chill after the race and socialize a bit longer.
My next big race is the 2025 Nashville Half Marathon in April. I am looking forward to getting back to Nashville and enjoying great live music. Who’s going to join me in Nash Vegas?
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“The person who starts the race is not the same person who finishes the race”.
(Spectator sign)
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2024 Palm Beaches Half Marathon
“Shut up legs. We got this”.
(Unknown)
My Walk into the Future helped me discover the Palm Beaches Marathon as I graduated from running half marathons to the full marathon distances. Nothing scientific on how I selected this race to start running marathons. West Palm Beach is less than 50 minutes from Fort Pierce, and I wouldn’t need to get on a plane after the race. This was attractive for me since I didn’t want to be cramped up on a plane and did not know how my body would respond. The race course was described as completely flat and that was a major factor for me as well.
My first full marathon was completed in 2022 at the Palm Beaches event. I wanted to improve my time, so I toed the line again in 2023. I enjoyed the first attempt a lot more than my 2023 run. The weather was a lot warmer, and the sun beat down on runners for the final 16 miles. I decided not to attempt the full marathon again in Florida and set my sights on the 2024 Chicago Marathon. I won’t rehash my training and time in Chicago, but I caught the bug to run larger races in the northern part of the country to enjoy cooler weather. The full marathon is hard enough without adding Florida heat and humidity.
I still wanted to run in West Palm Beach but decided to scale back my race to the half marathon. This would allow me to complete the 13.1-mile loop only one time vice doing it twice for the full. Fun fact—running the same route two times is not a lot of fun. 😊
The 2024 Palm Beaches Half Marathon was the weekend after the 2024 OUC Half Marathon. I wanted to finish 2024 with a series of races and this fit my schedule and is close to home. The race EXPO consists of 10 tents outside in the Meyers Amphitheater. There are a few vendors but the setup is strictly come get your bib, t-shirt and Garden of Life giveaways and then leave. I grabbed my goodie bag, bib and headed across the street to ER Bradley’s Saloon. It’s a funky place with a ton of South Florida history and great food. They normally have a DJ playing throughout the day and it’s a great place to people watch: https://www.erbradleys.com/
I made my way back to my hotel to relax and stretch a bit. I didn’t have a set finish time in mind but wanted to ensure I got off my feet so I would be ready to perform the next morning. There was forecasted rain in the morning so I didn’t know how that would impact me getting to the starting line and running the race. My hotel was within walking distance of the start line, and I used the distance as a race warm up. I always like to stretch my legs before racing and this was a great way to ensure I was ready to race. There was no rain on my way to the race, but the skies opened after I got down to the race area. I found shelter from the rain under one of the vendor tents and waited out the rain there. A lot of runners stood in the start corral and got wet for some odd reason. Yep, they just stood in the rain even though the race organizers made an announcement that the race would be delayed until the rain let up a bit because it was too dangerous to have us running on the wet and slick streets. Oh well, I stayed dry under the tent. 😊
The 13.1-mile course travels through multiple West Palm Beach neighborhoods and along the waterways. The views are spectacular so this is a race I would recommend just for taking in the sights. There are not a lot of spectators so it’s a bring your own motivation type of race. The Chicago Marathon has spoiled me because the spectators inspired me to run faster throughout the entire marathon.
My goal was to run as fast as possible and enjoy the views. I was hoping to run faster than I did in Orlando the weekend before but that did not happen. The temperature at race start in Orlando was in the 40s. The temperature in West Palm Beach was in the low 70s with humidity since we got all that rain. I was still able to pull out a 2:14 half marathon (10:13 per miles) which was 3 minutes over my OUC Half Marathon time. I was happy with this time and made my way to the race village to get my beer and pancake breakfast. I got my beer, but the pancake line was too long. Headed back across the street to ER Bradley’s and had a huge breakfast and beer there. It was a great way to complete my last race of 2024.
I’m working to finalize my full 2025 race calendar. I want to add some new races and still compete in familiar races close to home. My new reveal is I didn’t get accepted into the 2025 Chicago Marathon, but I will pivot and race the 2025 Atlantic City Marathon with my homey Lauren Apgar. https://www.acraceseries.com/course. Marathon training starts on 6/15/2025 and I’m sure there will be articles that highlight my training progress. 😊
What do you have planned for 2025?
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“Running is a mental sport…and we’re all insane”.
(Robin Williams)
Walk Into the Future 