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Web Exclusive…
Why Walk?
By Tim Cahill, March & April 2006
The rewards of taking a vacation one step at a time
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Walking comes so naturally, we seldom realize it is a creative endeavor: the
mind will register landscape, an assortment of upcoming hazards, the various
delights of wildflowers, weather, and wildlife as well as the simple joys of
the foot upon the trail. All these things seem to fully occupy the mind, and
yet they don't. Not entirely. Certain problems we have encountered during
the day, during our lives—personal, mental, or emotional—find their
solution in the simple matter of a few thousand simple strides. As my coach
used to say when I got my bell rung in high school football, "Walk it
off." Perambulation is therapy.
Consider a walking vacation something of a retreat, in the religious sense.
You are not imprisoned behind a pane of glass in some motor coach where you
will have to deal with the loudmouthed ignoramus you've named Captain Loud.
If Captain Loud is on your walking trip—and 10 to 1 he
isn't—you are not confined to his presence. You can walk ahead or
behind. Pace is a matter of personal choice on such trips. Anyone who can
stroll to the mall from the parking lot is capable of taking a walking
trip.
Walkers feel the road. They notice more at their chosen pace than does the
coach-bound passenger, whose world whips by at 65 miles an hour. Sure, the bus
stops at all the must-see sights. You get to hear Captain Loud tell you all
about them while others of your group belabor the guide with questions about
where you're going to stop for lunch.
The walker, on the other hand, takes pleasure in solitude, then stops to
chat with the men building a rock fence, with the woman hanging her wash, with
a tinker looking for his lost horse. Walking brings you in touch with yourself
and with the people of the countryside. It raises questions in the
mind—such as how come you see so many foxes in the fields?—and
these matters give you something to chat about when you eventually stop in a
pub that caters not to coach traffic but to locals. For those of us who enjoy
the occasional adult beverage, walking has it all over coach traveling. Bus
passengers may want to "try" a different porter. The walker
doesn't "try" a Guinness or a Murphy's: the walker has
"earned" it. Whatever the preferred beverage, the walker finds it
tastes better and the conversation is more convivial and enlightening.
Finally, a walker does not worry about calories at dinner. He or she has
already walked them off. Enjoy.
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