Update: Year-end 2020 – Walk Across the Country

Well, it’s year-end 2020 and it’s been a full year. An awful year by most standards, but it’s over now and we face a hopeful 2021. The vaccine is now available and while it will take some time to administer across the country and across the world, it provides a glimmer of hope that someday soon we can… well you fill in the blank. 

Self-challenge to motivate myself

At the beginning of the year, I started a self-challenge to motivate myself to get outside each day to walk. Part of the reason I posted throughout the year was to keep motivated and accountable. It proved pretty successful. Not necessarily in terms of steps and miles (as you’ll see below) but for getting out there much more often than in past years. I’ll continue my journey in 2021 as I didn’t get close to crossing the country. So let’s take a look at the numbers.

374 miles added

In the last quarter of 2020, 374 miles were added to my virtual walk across the country. That’s a paltry average of 4.06 miles a day. Down 29.6% from my last update. I’m not really sure what actually happened during the last three months. I began October with high expectations but never got back into my grove. Later in November, I had a back injury that sidelined me for a couple weeks. My memory has already faded about December, but my numbers in the early part were really rough, although I finished the year strong and have continued that into the new year. I’m cautiously optimistic here in the first week of January. We’ll see…

Three months three states

In three months I covered three states. Not terribly great but motivating to improve.  Leaving Carbondale IL in October, I crossed over to Moussuri and headed up to Mark Twain National Forest in Rolla MO. During November, I sauntered 136 miles southwest toward Strafford MO. With just 31 days left in the year, I crossed another state border in December. I ended the year in Arkansas at the Razorback Greenway. 

Sixteen states in 12 months

So that’s year-end 2020. I’ve walked over 1,829 miles short just 191 miles of my 2,020 mile goal I set in my last post. I had no idea where I’d end up this year with challenge and I’m pretty happy with what I’ve done. I’ve virtually crossed sixteen states in 12 months. Just over 152 miles each month. In 2021, I’ll continue walking each day and strive to improve on my monthly totals. For now, I’m thrilled to see my list of states for this year:

• Massachusetts,
• Rhode Island,
• Connecticut,
• New York,
• New Jersey,
• Pennsylvania,
• Delaware,
• Maryland,
• Virginia, 
• West Virginia,
• Ohio,
• Indiana,
• Kentucky, 
• Illinois,
• Missouri, and
• Arkansas

Charity update

My other update for the year-end 2020 involves an extra charitable gift. I told you in September that I broke down bought my favorite ice cream. Well, it didn’t stop there. I continued during the fourth quarter (For more in my back story on why I wasn’t purchasing my favorite dessert, click here). As I promised in the last update post, I continued to add to our special charity donation fund despite my breakdown. 

As we ended December, Mrs. P2F and I had $600 to donate to a worthy charity this year.

And while there are so many worthy charities out there we chose two that are meaningful to us in 2020.

The first was Meals on Wheels. For those not familiar, Meals on Wheels provides delicious healthy meals to seniors keeping them independent and healthy. We are happy to support this organization as we know first hand the benefits it provides to a member of our family. Especially during this tough year, it was reassuring to know our uncle was receiving not only a hearty and healthy meal each day, it was also a point of social contact for him. 

The other charity we chose to donate with this challenge is the American Eagle Foundation. The American Eagle Foundation is committed to the protection of the Bald Eagle and all birds of prey. Their website has multiple camera views of bald eagles nested in northern Florida. We chose to contribute to honor my father who sadly, passed away earlier this year. He truly enjoyed watching the birds nest, hatch and feed their young until they were ready to leave. We hope our modest donation helps to provide as much enjoyment to others as it gave my dad.

That’s my update for year-end 2020. Next month I’ll let you know if I’ve picked up my steps (so far so good…although the weather has been really nice around here). 

I sincerely hope you and your families and friends are staying safe and healthy as we move forward in this new year.

Thanks for stopping by.

Take a moment to subscribe by email below to receive notification for each new post. You can also follow me on Facebook @Prepare2FIRE.com or on Twitter @Prep2FIRE.

 

Post photo credit: Photo by Amrit Sangar on Unsplash