Category: Adventure

SLEEPING ON THE PORCH

I slept on my porch last night. Lived here for like six years now, but finally did it. A piece of tyvek, an inflatable sleeping pad, my camping quilt, and a for-real pillow. Laid under the stars, but I could only see three of them because of all the light pollution. I absolutely had to wear an eye mask.

Nearby a refrigerator compressor would kick on every 10 minutes or so. It got cold enough to put on a hoodie in the middle of the night (it’s August). I woke up about quarter to six in the morning. It was cloudy, but I could see the sky brighten.

Part of me wanted to do this just to try the “cowboy camping” thing in a safe place. I can’t believe people really do that in the woods, or on mountains. But that was fun, and I’m camping again later this week, so maybe I won’t set up the tent and instead I’ll lay in the middle of the woods and see what happens.

WALKING INTO THE NIGHT

Late start for my walks today, and also oppressively hot. This meant two trips to the gym, four miles walking each time, which took about an hour and 10 minutes for each. Still didn’t wrap up all my walking till 9:30pm.

Today is 73 days in a row, and I’ve covered 823 miles so far since May 26th.

70 DAYS OF WALKING 10+ MILES PER DAY

Today was day 70 of walking at least 10 miles per day. Since May 26th I’ve walked 787.6 miles, about 11.2 miles per day.

I start most days with a three mile walk, which takes about an hour.

After I get through some of my work, I try to get in another three mile walk before noon.

My afternoons are still up in the air, but my best days I get in another 2-3 miles before 4pm, then another 3+ miles in the evening, usually at a park or some trails.

I do run some of these miles, but not much. Maybe 10-15 miles per week. I was able to run 30-ish miles per week a few years back, but then I’d get some sort of injury and just grind to a halt. I wanted to do something like this because it felt more sustainable.

I bought two new pairs of shoes during these 70 days, and I’m definitely going to need to buy another soon. Right now I’m fond of the Brooks Men’s Ghost Max 3 Neutral Running & Walking Shoe.

KEEP IT MOVING

At 50 my car is filled with running shoes, bags, various gear, and jackets so at certain points of the day I can go for a spontaneous adventures. Today was a run and a hike. Not much has changed since I got my drivers license some 33 years ago.

Good run up and down my favorite hill (880′ feet or so up to the Appalachian Trail). Then a solid hike 3.5 mile hike around the lake. Dusty roads and lots of sun. Day 61 of moving at least 10 miles a day and feeling great.

50 DAYS OF 10+ MILE DAYS

A few days after my 50th birthday (on May 26th) I set out to walk (and run) 10 miles total per day. Well, 50 days later I’ve covered 555 miles.

A total of 341 miles in the last 30 days, averaging 11.4 miles per day. I hit 12 miles per day the last four days, too (with some 3 and 4 mile runs sprinkled in).

I’ve walked in the rain, and a few heat waves (in the middle of one right now), and I’m tearing through shoes. Whew.

My longest streak is 60 days, but I don’t wanna get too ahead of myself.

WALKING 11 MILES PER DAY FOR A MONTH

Since May 26, 2026 I’ve been walking at least 10 miles per day. I started this because I’m 50 now and it’s never going to get any easier to “lose weight.” But also because I hate that it’s so easy for my phone SCREEN TIME to creep up to three hours per day, so I thought – maybe I can just walk three hours a day.

It’s not all at once, and some days it takes me till 8pm to get all my miles in, but I love it. Up and out of bed for a three mile walk to start the day, and any time I’m grumpy sitting at my computer, I just get up and go for a walk.

IT HAPPENS WHEN IT HAPPENS

I haven’t been running as much.
I haven’t been making music as much.
I haven’t been writing here as much.
I haven’t been walking as much.

We are humans, living through seasons, under the weight of the ambient doom that most of us have been feeling for years.

But today I got out for a run.
Today I streamed my music for about an hour.
Today I wrote this post.

TEN SNOWY MILES

Woke up to a few inches of snow outside my window, and thought of how difficult it’ll be to walk10 miles. Sidewalks filled with snow and ice slow down my walking pace, and sometimes forces me into the road, which isn’t ideal.

This photo was from my first walk, around 9:11am. I had a Zoom call at 10am, and knew I had to get some distance in before that. It was just 0.5 miles, but every bit helps for later in the day.

It’s a Saturday, so town is pretty quiet, aside from snow blowers and plow trucks.

I walked through the college campus twice. Doubled back on some streets. Slipped a few times, but never fell.

The photo above was from my 2nd walk of the day, at 1:17pm, just after an hour-long live stream I did on Substack talking about Break Up With Social Media Day.

After this walk I was at 4.46 miles for the day, with 5.54 miles to go.

My third walk of the day was my longest. When I set out at 4:17pm it was 33°F, but 84% humidity, so I felt comfortable wearing my new shorts (Path Projects, sooo nice).

The photo above was at 4:34pm, with the sun setting nicely.

By 5:07pm there was a good amount of steam fog, where moisture evaporates off the snow. Can’t really tell from this photo, but it was wonderful.

This walk was 4.17 miles in one hour and 15 minutes, which brought me to 8.55 miles for the day.

I stopped at my house, grabbed something to drink, and checked my mileage: just 1.4 miles to go. I went back out for my fourth walk of the day, which took about 30 minutes, bringing me to 10.1 miles total.

Total walking time was three hours, six minutes.

According to my Apple Health app that’s 24,628 steps.

So 17 days into the new year I’m at 177.3 miles, about 10.4 miles per day.