April 14 started off quite nicely. I got out of bed to prepare a home-cooked meal for my husband before he headed to work, and invited him to join me for a walk with the dogs around the campground.

Within 30 seconds, Napoleon decided to pee on a neighbor’s concrete slab, while the neighbor stood just six feet away watching us. We looked back, embarrassed, and apologized.

I went back home to grab a gallon of water and a broom to clean up the mess, feeling frustrated that the dogs weren’t behaving. They haven’t been for a while because they haven’t been getting their daily exercise. They have too much energy, and when we do go for walks, they’re the ones dragging us around, not the other way around.

The weather last week wasn’t helpful either, and I guess boredom plays a part in the reluctance to go on the same walk every single day. I’m alone most of the day, so I end up walking one dog, then the other, which gets tiresome.

I wish I had a way to tire them out so they’d behave better on walks, but the dog park at the campground had its fences removed before the pandemic, and they haven’t put them back up. So, for now, it’s just looping around the RV park and not much else.

I brought the dogs with me when I came from Guatemala at the end of November. We drove all the way in my Land Cruiser to visit my boyfriend at the time. It was a fun road trip that lasted about a week but was exhausting because I tried to do it quickly, so the dogs wouldn’t be on the road for too long.

I had to stop every couple of hours to give them water and let them stretch. They loved those breaks, especially when we shared a rotisserie chicken in our hotel room every night. We even went to the beach in Baja California, where Kodiak saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Napoleon had already been to the beach in Guatemala. They still love running in the sand and digging as if they’re on a mission to reach China.

In these strange and uncertain times, I’m so grateful to have them with me. I can’t imagine what I would be doing right now, with Guatemala on lockdown, if they had stayed there. It cost me a lot to drive them instead of just flying myself, but it was money well spent. That’s what financial independence is for—to make decisions like that without stress and to enjoy every moment.