Family Gap Year Post #19: 5,000-Mile Road Trip—Exercise & Budget (June, Part 4)

Here’s the final post about the first leg of our Family Gap Year: a 5,000-mile road trip from Austin to Los Angeles via Indiana, Wisconsin, Montana, Washington, Canada, and Oregon.

Exercise

Highs

My favorite exercise memory from this month was swimming with Matt in a public pool along the ocean in Vancouver and then going for a walk with each other in the woods.

Or maybe it was the time we swam together in Arcata but then I went for a walk by myself in the redwoods?

Or the time I walked along the beach by myself in Arcata, listening to a book about ikigai?

Or my solo walk through the streets of San Francisco while listening to a book about trauma to swim at the community pool?

It turns out I’ve had some great moments of exercise this month! Like really joyful exercise. I love walking and swimming in new places. It’s such a relief because that’s how exercise is supposed to feel—more like joyful movement and less like drudgery.

Lows

I haven’t had as much time as I would like to get out and exercise because I’m also working full-time.

Budget

Phew, it’s been hard to stick to our budget this month! We ran out of money at the end and had to dip into next month’s budget (which is not great because next month’s stop—Hawai’i—is so expensive!).

We are tracking our expenses by hand, which helps keep us really close to our spending. It’s really cute to involve the boys in the conversations, as well. I think they are developing more appreciation and awareness related to what things cost.

Stay tuned for next week’s post when I talk about island hopping in Hawa’i. In the meantime, you can see daily update on Instagram or weekly updates in my newsletter!