Lately — as you can see by my recent posts – I’ve been obsessed with media about traveling and backpacking. It’s out of necessity, really. I mean, here I am in Japan, working all week to save up for a trip that starts in exactly one year. It has definitely helped the savings process to write about travel and have a constant reminder of what I’m saving for.

So, you ask, what’s this unusual piece of gear I won’t travel without? Well…  If you’ve ever backpacked, you know that carrying around a heavy backpack for months at a time can absolutely destroy your shoulders and neck.

Last year, I had some pretty bad problems with my neck and shoulders. After a year of backpacking around Southeast Asia and India, my neck was completely wrecked. At it’s worst, I actually went to the hospital here in Hamamatsu, for fear I might have a pinched nerve, or worse. After some x-rays and a CT scan (in Japan they give you a CT scan if you have a cough…), it turned out that my neck and shoulders were just incredibly tight. I managed to get the problem under control with a lot of stretching, self massage and religious use of relaxation tapes. But what really helped – what reversed the problem completely, was… wait for it…. a tennis ball. Seriously. Maybe this is common knowledge, but I didn’t know about it. I knew about muscle trigger points and deep tissue massage, but I’d never heard of “the tennis ball thing.”

There’s not much to it really. You just get in a comfortable position (on the floor or against the wall), and lean into the tennis ball while it’s on a tender spot (a “trigger point” or muscle knot). Put a little pressure on it – until you feel “good pain” (not enough to make you cringe) and hold it there while the knot relaxes. If the knot is really tough, it can take a few days of sessions, but believe me, I can’t say enough good things about what this has done for my neck and shoulders. My shoulders have never been this relaxed.

From now on, I can say that – despite being an obsessive travel minimalist — I will never travel without one.

For a link to more info and how-to stuff: http://laurensfitness.com/2008/02/24/tennis-ball-part-1-a-tool-you-never-knew-you-had/ Lauren also has how-to guides for using trigger point therapy on upper and lower body, with pictures.