For anyone just joining in, I’m cheerleading a group of people (bloggers and otherwise) from around the world who are aiming for 10 minutes of intentional movement each day in October.
(Here is the CBWC Week 1 Recap.)
Let’s get this party started! I’ll go first:
DAY EIGHT | 0.73 km
Between Kae arriving, a half day for the kids, and impending rain, I hurried out to do the literal bare minimum of 10 minutes.
Check.
To be fair, I spent some of that 10 minutes perusing a Little Library, but that feels like walking for my brain, so I counted it!
DAY NINE | 12.94 km
I was an extra cool walker today. Not only did I complete an almost 13 km hike, I DID IT WITH ANOTHER BLOGGER. (All the details and lots more pictures here!)
It was an absolute delight to share this local gem with Kae. As with Birchie, there was never a lull in conversation and I enjoyed every minute.
DAY TEN | 2.10 km
I walked much further than 2 km this particular day, but it’s the only walk I “recorded” via my Apple Watch.
Kae and I started the morning with coffee and then wandered around town, taking in the sights and enjoying more fall leaf peeping.
The afternoon was spent scrambling over rocks at Peggy’s Cove after collecting SHU at the airport! Best gym ever! (All the details and more pictures here!)
DAY ELEVEN | 2.53 km + 3.70 km
We walked around Wolfville/Acadia University, and then did a local woods trail. (You know the drill by now: full recap and a lot more pictures here…)
DAY TWELVE | 2.09 km + 2.85 km
We walked on the ocean floor. Literally! This same area was completely submerged with water just a few hours later.
After a delicious lunch at a local winery, we wandered around a local park.
Details and more pictures here.
DAY THIRTEEN | 2.32 km
It was ROUGH to get pull my body off the bed to do this mid-afternoon walk. I had just gotten back from dropping Kae and SHU off at the airport and I was lacking motivation to do much of anything.
We opted for a family woods walk and it was relatively short and sweet.
The instant I walked in the door, I prepped a snack, poured myself a giant glass of lemon sparkling water, and plunked myself down in a comfy chair in the corner of our living room and proceeded to read an entire book in a single sitting (Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy).
DAY FOURTEEN | 4.77 km
A beautiful fall walk with John. I was pacing myself after a busy weekend (and my knee started to act up a bit), so we set a leisurely pace. It was the perfect temperature; not too hot, not too cold…just right.
CBWC WALKING BUDDIES
- Kristen had to juggle a lot of night shifts at work as a nurse, but still managed to walk daily in Maryland.
- Diane continues to walk and pursue various other modes of movement (yoga, dance)…also in Maryland.
- Lindsay has been walking in Massachusetts with new puppy Maysie.
- Lisa has been knocking her workouts out of the proverbial park in Minnesota; look at this single day of exercise!
- Sophie didn’t photograph any kangaroos (yet), but check out the giant python skin (bottom right) she came across during one of her walks ON HER OWN PROPERTY. My heart may have skipped a few beats. Most of the other photos are from a family holiday in Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia, including Tacking Point Lighthouse which was built in 1879.
- Kae joined me for several walks here in Nova Scotia, but now she’s back to walking with Charlie in Wisconsin.
- Michelle is walking on her farm in Montana. Check out her great views of mountains…and cows!
- SHU saw palm trees — and coconuts — on a walk in Florida.
- Birchie and Doggo are walking in Ohio.
- Jana continues to walk in California and writes: All these photos are from the final weekend at the cabin [in Mineral King] for the year. The one with all the people was a small group of cabin folks heading up to the creek to work on our water system.
- Engie and Hannah continue to walk in Wisconsin; hats and warm-weather gear are starting to make an appearance. Check out all the details of her second week of CBWC here.
- Suzanne walked in…Massachusetts. Her summary post has amazing photos, all sorts of fun details about the Salem Witch Trials, and yummy food details from their family trip to Boston. She also spotted the beloved Fall Spiced Chocolate Chunk cookies IN THE WILD (at Levain).
- Melissa is walking (and running) in Australia; find all the details of her second week here which included time cheering on friends at the Melbourne marathon.
Jenny is walking (and running) in West Virginia. Here’s the summary of her week!
- Wednesday 10/8 – Went for a 1 mile run in the park. (And by “run” I mean “jogged very slowly”). Also did some walking for a warm up / cool down. (Saturday update: still feeling kind of sore).
- Thursday 10/9 – Only had about 90 minutes between work and piano lessons to have dinner and get in a walk so I took a 15 minute walk in the park. The park is just down the street, so close I can pick up my own wi-fi signal in about 1/4 of the park. Used my mp3 player to listen to so music instead of taking my phone along.
- Friday 10/10 – Took a 1 mile walk through the neighborhood. Stopped in to check out the small gym in the neighborhood clubhouse. I’d forgotten about it, but it does have treadmills and a few other things i could use when it is cold or rainy. Outside the door I noticed two different birds nests atop a light fixture. I thought the different constructions were kind of interesting. (Photo 2)
- Saturday 10/11 – I was volunteering all day and was pretty hangry when I got home, but decided to take a short 15 minute walk anyway.
- Sunday 10/12 – Didn’t get a walk in today. Church in the morning and a band rehearsal in the afternoon didn’t really leave enough time. I did clean out the kitchen garbage can (with the garden hose – so I was damp and concerned I was stinky so headed straight for the shower), maybe that counts as a little bit of exercise?
- Monday 10/13 – Went for a run in the park again. My time was 50 seconds less than Wednesday’s run, but still much higher than it was several years ago. Inspired by the beautiful nature pictures other walkers shared, I tried to take an artsy photo of the sky looking up through a tree. (Photo 1)
- Tuesday 10/14 – Had evening plans so a walk didn’t happen. When life gets busy, exercise seems to be the first thing to get dropped from the to-do list. Would love to hear what others do. Do you cut exercise when your schedule gets too full or do you drop something else and if so, what?
- Rachel is walking in the United Kingdom: at home in Wales and this week in Leeds, England on a work trip. She spotted a Chick-fil-A (unexpected!) and Platform 9 3/4. Read all about it here.
Susanne continues to walk in Ireland and, as per usual, capture beautiful photographs wherever she goes! Here’s what she wrote:
I managed a full week walking streak, except on Sunday I did the walking in my garden to do some garden work for the winter, and took no photos. This is a good challenge for me! I used to stay inside working on my gym days and only walk on the other days, but really it’s refreshing and good to get outside every day, and pushing myself to take photos when there’s nothing seemingly interesting to photograph makes me look for new subjects and compositions and that is also a very good challenge! So your walking club can actually turn out to be very beneficial for my photography.
Laura is walking with canine pal, Koda, in New York. She writes:
This past week, we had a rainy day (when Koda had to wear her rain coat in order to agree to go on her walk), admired more on-campus plants, visited the Boston area (photos of the harbor and of a walk at a local park included), and went on another gorgeous hike in the Adirondacks.
- mbmom11 hasn’t seen many fall colours, yet, but the green leaves are still lovely. She also included a picture of her cat reminding her it’s bedtime. “She needs to sleep next to me in the cooler weather.”
- Rebecca fit in some scenic walking on her anniversary trip to Monticello, Virginia. And there was a lot of gardening! Check out more details and pictures here.
- Julie is walking in California and came across a pomegranate tree, a Free Little Library (which she left much neater than she found it); she bought stracciatella gelato and scratched her head over a rope ladder that seemingly led to…nowhere.
Your turn.
Let’s answer Jenny’s question: When life gets busy, exercise seems to be the first thing to get dropped from the to-do list. Would love to hear what others do. Do you cut exercise when your schedule gets too full or do you drop something else and if so, what?
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Strange things on walks- the Halloween decorations in some yards are wild. One yard has over 20 inflatables. I hate to think of their electricity bill.
And exercise is the first thing to go if I’m scattered/busy. It shouldn’t be, as getting outside for a walk can reser the brain, but I’m not making the healthiest choices right now. Oh well, that’s why I need CBWC to help motivate me.
Ha! Inflatables are a whole “thing” now. In general, I remember almost no decorations when I was a young trick-or-treater. My question is always where do people store all these things??? I guess the inflatables will break down into smallish sizes, but some of those giant skeletons.
I don’t tend to enjoy exercise, so I think that’s why it’s an easy thing for me to avoid doing. It already feels like work, so if I’m scattered or busy, I don’t want to add more to my borderline unpleasant task. Once I’ve gone for a walk, I love the feeling. But I never “crave” exercise. UNFORTUNATELY.
Ah, what a cute little library!! You had to stop there!
I’ve noticed how much easier it is to stay consistent when there’s a goal or structure – that’s why something like your Cool Bloggers Walking Club is so brilliant (MBMOM11’s lovely comment proves it!).
It gives a bit of purpose and accountability.
When I’m training for something, my workouts are non-negotiable and I stick to it with great discipline. But without a goal, I tend to be more flexible (or just flat-out lazy, ha!)
I’m having a VERY hard time picturing you being lazy, Catrina 🙂
I love this roundup – it is so fun to see all the photos and imagine all of us walking together, but separately. Your time with SHU and Kae sounds amazing!
And Wild Dark Shore!!!!! Best book I have read all year. What did you think???? Email or text me all your reactions please!!!
It was so fun/special to get to walk with other bloggers!
I loved the book. Texting you now…
I love seeing all these pictures of people walking all over the world! This is such a wonderful event, and I sure appreciate you for starting it and hosting it! I can’t think of anything weird I saw out walking – certainly nothing like a huge snake skin! It’s so easy to let exercise go when life gets too busy. I’m working on changing my attitude about that because exercise really helps me feel better.
It’s all context: walking and seeing mountains and cows right outside your front door would surely be VERY strange to some people 😉
Sigh. Exercise is such a battle for me. I fight against it more and more the older I get. Mostly because I think I prefer to spend that time elsewhere. Which is a terrible attitude to have, but this walking club is very helpful for me, too! It forces me to get outside daily and I know it’s a net positive in my life.
Yay CBWC! Obviously you, Kae, and SHU “won” this week, but there are no losers here.
When life gets busy, exercise stays unless there is an extenuating circumstance or if I can’t sleep. Part of it is that I know that I’ll feel better, and the other part is that I work out first thing in the morning when nothing else is conflicting with my time. What I would tell Jenny is that short workouts are workouts too, and that working out regularly does not mean working out everyday. Sure she *could* get up at 5AM every morning to work out, but that sounds pretty terrible. A more sustainable schedule would be getting up very early once during the week and carving out a weekend session so that she has two longer/intense workouts each week and then on the other days she can grab “snacks” of short walks/strength sessions. My other hot tip is to coordinate with your partner. When the boys were young, Hubs was on kid duty in the mornings so that I could work out. I returned the favor by being on deck so that he was free to work out at night.
Ha! I’ll take your trophy with pride! It was special to walk with bloggers (and you got me all warmed up for CBWC with your visit in September).
Love the reminder about short workouts “counting.” The short workout we do is much better than the long workout we don’t…
Wild Dark Shore was one of my favorite books of this year !!!!! Can’t wait to hear what your thoughts were 🙂
Stay tuned! The Cole’s Notes version is that I thought it was gripping and really enjoyed it!
Well, damn. I forgot to send you any photos! But rest assured I am still in the club! Last week I walked in Marrakech, Paris, AND along the greenway with Rex. Reunited and it feels so good! I’ll try to remember photos for next week 🙂
What an epic array of locations! Love it. Also, you have a billion things going on right now, so photos for CBWC should be very low on the list of priorities.
All the best settling back in at home. I’m sure Rex is delighted to have his walking partner again <3
All these gorgeous pictures from everyone’s walks! 😀
I don’t know about strange sightings, but I get rooster-crowed at on the regular when I’m in the yard for garden work or walking, lol
That is something that never happens to me! Love imaging this being your walk soundtrack!
I also forgot about sending you photos, but I will send you some this week. All of the sights on everyone’s walks are amazing, but I could do without the snake skin! I exercise every day, but I will skip my afternoon workout/walk if I have cleaning activities that are active, like mopping. The strangest thing I saw this week was someone who is getting an inground pool in their backyard and the thing is so huge, it’s their entire backyard. And they live on a corner lot. No privacy!
The snake skin is one thing…my issue is that it MEANS THERE IS A REAL PYTHON AROUND. Eeks. I do not like things that slither around on the ground.
I mopped today and now I’m counting that as exercise. It definitely gets my heart rate up.
Love the photos and learning where people live. The variety in geography is so fun, as are people’s comments. Thank you for doing this. My input is somewhat random—not keeping track of days, mileage or which day I take what photo. I just feel happy to be able to participate.
I’ve never really enjoyed exercise (ugh to all sportsball) but know if I don’t there will be unpleasant consequences. It helps to say, “I get to exercise” instead of “I have to. . .” Having gone through a broken pelvis (a stupid car wreck) and a broken ankle (clumsy—yes, I have been both stupid and clumsy) helped me realize that being able to walk is a HUGE blessing. Now I push through despite peripheral neuropathy. If I didn’t, I’d just die when at our cabin (elevation 7800’), I’d be even chubbier, and maybe I’d be a full-blown diabetic instead of just “pre”.
Random tracking is very much welcome <3
I do not naturally lean toward exercise. I've never been particularly athletic and I find it such a mental struggle to convince myself to exercise. It's much harder now than it used to be, too. When I was in university I HAD to walk a lot each day getting to/from class. When the kids were little, taking them on a walk was a good use of time. But now I have so many things I want to be doing so I almost feel like exercise is a waste. I know it's NOT, but sometimes it can be hard to shake that feeling.
You girls are so organized to keep such detailed logs! I just check off a box & maybe take a few pictures. I did post some on Instagram of my walks this week….I need to send you pictures. We are having some gorgeous views right now. @jennylovescharlie
For me, I try to drop screen/reading or craft time. I’m probably not as busy as most of you are though. I’m an empty nester. I do keep my grandson 2 or 3 nights a week….those mornings that he’s with me mean I don’t always get to walk. But I walk my own property so that makes it so much easier to get out. And if I can’t walk, I hop on my stationary bike.
I can’t think of one strange thing this past week. Everything was pretty normal. But it’s autumn fire season here….living in the woods, everyone is cleaning up debris. It’s pretty much a year round thing that happens actually. So for two days I’ve stayed indoors because of people burning brush near me. And we have a pile ourselves we need to work on as well.
It’s lovely you’re able to walk on your own property! I can’t wait to see some pictures. I’m not on Instagram, but when you’re describing is lovely.
I love seeing walks from around the world! And especially when people are traveling around the world WHILE doing walking and photographing it. This must be so much work for you – thanks for keeping it up and sharing with us all.
The first week is A LOT of work, but once I get that under my belt, it’s much easier because I have templates.
I love seeing where people are walking – from the rural towns (like me!) to big cities. It’s so fun and such a varied set of routines and sights.
I’m still going strong and have only missed one day all month. The walks have been so good for my mental health. I need to remind myself how good a walk feels. So if I can’t do a workout, I should try to go for as long of a walk as I can fit in!!
There are so many giant inflatables in our neighborhood. People really go over the top for Halloween!
I am SO proud of you, Lisa! This is awesome.
I’m loving seeing and hearing about everyone who’s joining in. Thanks for taking the time to put this together Elisabeth. Last week and the next few weeks will be busy because I have a couple of work projects on the go and I’m filling in for AR while our finance manager is away and I can tell you that the first thing to go was my blogging and blog reading/commenting, hence why I missed posting on Friday and haven’t been able to comment as much on blogs. I’m making a big effort not to drop my scheduled runs and strength, but I’m not getting much mobility done.
The wonderful thing about exercise is it can ebb and flow with our schedules. Glad you’re fitting in daily movement in a variety of ways.
A great week of walking and so many lovely photos from everyone! Peggy’s cove looks so much like the west coast of Sweden! It makes me think of places like Smögen and Fjällbacka!
It happens that I cut walking when life gets busy, and if anything else, I cut housework. I never cancel the gym, that’s my lifeline and too important to remove from life. Perhaps with this walking challenge I’ll also see that walking doesn’t really take too much time away from work.
I cut exercise AND housework. Oops.
I love seeing everyone’s wrap ups and the gorgeous fall colors. I’m so glad we do this challenge in October as it’s such a pretty time to get outside!! Thanks as always for putting it all together; I know it’s a lot of work to do it! ❤️
I’m a bit biased since I live in a part of the world with fall foliage, but I think October is the most beautiful month of the year. And that’s a big reason I chose it for the walking club!
Oh I love this so much. We all go out and think of each other. So many fun fall colors.
I am trying hard not to drop the exercise these days and without my arctic adventure and the CBWC I might have dropped lots of walks.
These days it’s cleaning the house I fear.
Ugh. I feel like I want to do a deep clean, but the minute I finish one room, it gets messy again. I guess that’s life? But it sure can be frustrating!
Hooray for all your exercise in preparation for your big trip. I cannot wait to follow along.