Confession: I broke my streak on Duolingo.

Not on purpose, not because I wanted to.

But because I didn't plan.

On day one of the @rwprice2019RoadTrip, I erroneously assumed that I would have WiFi.

My assumption was wrong, and no WiFi meant no Duolingo. Then we ended up not having WiFi for the majority of the trip, so I didn't get any Spanish practice the entire time.

Meanwhile, back home, Julia was steady at it.

When I returned, I immediately noticed that she had put up little sticky notes everywhere.

On the stove, "Estufa de gas."

On the microwave, "El microonda."

On the light switch, "Interruptor de luz."

Even more noticeable was the progress she'd made. Her pronunciation had improved, and she was using all sorts of words I didn't even know.

In just nine days she'd made noticeable progress.

Over the previous 70 or 80 days, she'd been doing the same thing but, day-by-day, the progress wasn't as evident.

It reminded me of how my kids view their schoolwork. Every single day after school, they say they didn't learn anything - but somehow each one is a lot damn smarter than they were in preschool.

Moving forward often feels like standing still, and from the short-term vantage point, it's easy to feel like you're not making any progress.

From that feeling, many people quit. Or never even get started because they are afraid of feeling that way.

But those who start and then keep going are rewarded with a long-term vantage point from which they can look back and see just how far they've made it.

I'm looking forward to that, but for now, I've got a lot of catching up to do.

Duolingo, here I come.