FIELD NOTES #16
BOSTON,
MASS.
Surprisingly good for MCAS and great for homeschool.
Dates
Oct 6 29 – Oct 10, 2026
Miles to camp
160
(2,424mi travelled so far)
Weather
35-65
Sunny
Symptom Score
9
(baseline: 23)
WOuld we return
Probably Not
How I Felt
During our stay my average score was 9, which was unexpected. We weren’t in Boston to test, but this is a certainly interesting result.
What We Did
We spent three full days in the Boston area. The boys and I made the journey one day into the City, which was about a 45 minute drive followed by a 45 minute subway ride (my kids being themselves choose to ride siting on the floor 🤪). Touring the city for a homeschool day we did our best to imagine ourselves walking around in 1775, just as the revolution was beginning. We walked through where British soldiers would have been camping, where colonists were meeting to discuss what to do next and where the British pushed back against those very same colonists. We even walked through Paul Revere’s home and saw his final resting place. The boys did great so we finished our day with a stop at the 24 hour bakery Bova’s for some awesome tasty treats.
Besides our trip into Boston we spent a couple evenings at the DelCarte Recreation and Conservation Area. The park had an awesome playground where the kids practiced their budding ninja warrior skills (a show they are getting into at dinner times) and where we walked around the scenic lake.
Symptoms wise I did very well. I don’t have an easy explanation for this other than it was a short visit. Looking back at my historical tracking, I commonly had similarly good three-day stretches while living in Michigan, so this result could simply reflect normal short-term variation. It was very windy while we were there which could have been a big factor.
Our Favorite Moment
Hiking and playing at DelCarte Recreation and Conservation Area
Observations
The Journey Continues
We are visiting 45 campgrounds in 300 days to find a place where our family thrives and my symptoms improve. Follow along as we share what we learn along the way
Graham Simplified
Scorecard
9 / 10
7 / 10
3 / 10
7 / 10
7 / 10
2 / 10
Maybe
Overall
6
/ 10
- Boston produced surprisingly good symptom scores. My average over our three-day stay was 9, with a high of only 12, making it one of the better short stretches of the trip.
- Three days is not enough to draw much of a conclusion. Looking back at my historical tracking, I commonly had similarly good three-day stretches while living in Michigan, so this result could simply reflect normal short-term variation.
- The weather may also have helped. It was extremely windy while we were there, and consistent air movement has repeatedly lined up with better symptom periods during this trip. Whether that explains Boston’s results or we simply arrived during a good few days, I really don’t know yet.
- For now, Boston goes in the “interesting, but needs more data” category. The result was very good, but I wouldn’t use such a short stay to say that Boston itself is particularly good or bad for my MCAS.
Next we are headed to:
Frederick, MD
This is our wildcard stop. Fredrick is the in mountains west of DC and might provide some symptom relief.
