It’s the Time of the Season for Walking

After a bit of an extended summer and a brief dip into winter territory, it’s finally starting to feel like fall in my neck of the woods. While I don’t have as much affinity for all thing Halloween like others in my circle of friends seem to, autumn has long been my favorite season. In recent years, the main reason for that has been the crisp but not freezing cold weather that arrives around this time of year. This allows me to take advantage of one of my favorite activities: walking.

To be clear, while I have technically participated in a few half marathons, I’m not talking about jogging or running — just walking. If there’s a store, coffee shop, or other attraction within a mile of my house, why drive when I can walk instead? Heck, on nice fall nights like those we’ve had recently, my wife and I will walk a three-mile loop around the neighborhood just for fun.

You may be wondering, what does this have to do with personal finance? Well, there is always the fact that walking instead of driving can save you money on gas. Although a mile here or there won’t burn through much petrol, it can add up. What really adds up, however, is skipping some of the more expensive forms of entertainment that might be available and enjoying time in nature instead. Personally, I love our local parks all year, but they’re even more lovely as the leaves change. If you’re a photography buff, you can surely also find plenty of inspiration along your stroll and surely get some great shots.

And then there’s Sweatcoin. I actually talked about this app for the first time a few months ago and have continued to use it ever since. Sadly, I have yet to redeem my few hundred Sweatcoins for anything but I look forward to doing that.

If you missed my first mini-review, Sweatcoin is an app that rewards you for walking by converting your steps into a digital currency. Then, you can cash in these Sweatcoin for various promotional offers or for such items as iPhones or Starbucks gift cards. As I alluded to, collecting enough coins to purchase the more attractive items up for grabs can take a bit of time… ok, a lot of time. Still, even since the season changed over, I’ve seen my weekly earning increase as I’ve been getting outside more.

Honestly, taking a few walks isn’t really going to make a big difference in your finances or put much money in your pocket. That said, it’s always good to introduce healthy habits into your life — not to mention, take advantage of nature’s beauty. So before Jack Frost and friends arrive in just a few weeks, I say make the most of the autumn weather and go for a walk.

Also published on Medium.