Healthy Across America Road Trip- We Made It! Boston, MA!

I feel like there should have been a marching band on Newbury street to harold in our grand arrival. Alas, we pulled up to our destination with Pat Benatar blaring and had our own little celebration.

We made it! 3000 miles, 100’s of playlists, countless gallons of gas, and less than $30/day per person for healthy happy food.

It’s time to let you all in on a little secret: The trip cross country was actually not just for a fun challenge. Things have been getting busy on the East Coast for Nutritious America and the time has come to have Karen closer. For the immediate future she has made a move to Boston in order for us to have the ability to work hard on some pretty exciting projects.

Ladies and Gentleman the Nutritious America Boston office is now open!

So Boston it is. As we were settling Karen in to her new place the loveliest thing happened. There was a knock on the door, Karen opened it, and the neighbor from across the street was standing there holding dinner in his hands. Seriously. We had the budget to grab some food for the evening but we were exhausted, and so touched by the gesture. Guess what he made us? A lovely couscous salad w/ asparagus, tomato, grilled chicken and feta AND he belongs to a CSA and is committed to healthy, local, sustainable food. I mean we couldn’t have planned this if we tried. Kindness from a stranger. Check.

Dinner was delicious and nourishing and free, which brings us to the dreaded final tally.

Frankly it was touch and go there for a few days, with Karen’s splurge in Chicago and our splurge in Omaha, Nebraska we weren’t so confident that we were going to make it. Shockingly our final, final tally was… drum roll please…

Final Tally:
Beginner Provisions – $24.50
Day 1 – $50.26
Day 2 – $67.11
Day 3 – $60.92
Day 4 – $71.35
Day 5 – $67.25
Day 6 – $78.50
Day 7 – $6.75
Day 8 – $5.00
Total = $431.64

WAY UNDER BUDGET PEOPLE!!! WAY UNDER BUDGET!! This is somewhat miraculous, really it is.

We did use 2 (sort of 3) of our lifelines, and the stop home to see the family should have been factored in because of course we didn’t have to spend money there. Even so, we ended up with $68.36 left over which easily could have gotten us through if needed.

To sum up a long week on the road here are the highlights/lessons learned:

1. Every single day we ate fresh fruits and vegetables. No exceptions. It happened.
2. Every single day we were able to get some kind of activity in; a hike, a mini yoga session, a short stint at the gym or a quick run with Willie.
3. Each day at least 50% of our food was sourced from local or nearby farms.
4. Sometimes when you find yourself smack dab in the middle of the country you can have one of the best meals of your life, cooked by one of most talented chefs in the USA.
5. A jar of organic peanut butter lasts a long time
6. There are healthy choices everywhere. Sometimes you need to look a little harder, or be persistent and ask the right questions.
7. Healthy food keeps you full longer, this is a fact.
8. Your eyes never tire of natural beauty and our country is full of it!

Healthy across America indeed. We did it. I’ll be editing some of our videos for your viewing pleasure this week. Mostly, I am happy to report that I am currently on my way home to NYC and I’m really looking forward to not having to see the inside of a car for a long, long time. Thanks for following along with us, we loved knowing you were out there wishing us well on our adventure.