My goal for the day was to make it from our hotel to Vondelpark. A long park in the middle of the city with trails and green spaces adjacent to the famous museums here. After dodging bicycles, light rail trams, vehicles at various crossings, and crowds visiting the museums I arrived at Vondelpark.

Here you find long paved roads closed to cars and people. Again, these are reserved for cyclists which include most residents. The few runners and walking types were relegated to the dirt paths on either side. You quickly learned your pace or paid the price.

Lush, green, and surrounded by canals the park featured large green spaces and spectacular gardens. The residents were clearly taking advantage of all that Vondelpark had to offer including picnicking, beers at the many cafes, and the sport of sleeping.

I had few running mates in the large park on the many trails. I guess with all these bikes, running is the last thing people want to do at the end of the day. I have to say, my non-scientific observations have seen a significantly lower percentage of obesity than in the USA. The need for additional calorie burning exercise beyond cycling for the job commute, grocery, errands, picking up/dropping off the kids, and socializing seems low on the need scale. The health club industry likely will not find this country a growth market.

However, I did spot one female entrepreneur who was out helping those get a fitness “boost”. Always funny to me are the slight language differences in pop culture. She was leading a “boot camp” this day in the park (I only saw one participant to be accurate). However, on the side of her kind of bike pick-up, it said “Boostcamp”!

These are the kinds of experiences and observations I have on my six mile runs around the world. More importantly, the most common observation is that the majority of the people I observe are the same. They want to be loved, have less stress, enjoy life, great food experiences, and a decent life for their family.never-ending