Why Do You Walk?

[whynotwalk]

Morning all - this question has come up in various forms before, but I thought I'd stir the pot once again. I want to ask you why you bushwalk. Recently I've been posting pieces about a 1991 ascent of Federation Peak on my blog - see http://auntyscuttle.blogspot.com/

I've been reflecting on the significance of that walk in particular, but have broadened it out to the significance of walking in general. Here's a brief excerpt from the blog:

But the significance of Federation wasn’t only about the transformation brought about by one walk. I think I realised most of that 18 years ago. And yet I am still walking. That's because the other, more slow-dawning significance was how transcendent for me was the simple act of walking in wild places. It’s a feast I have enjoyed so often that it’s hard to discern all of its slow cooking ingredients. But for me they include connection to the natural world; the joys and trials of interacting with companions; physical exertion; challenge; self-reliance; the experience of beauty, silence, time and space. And perhaps there’s some kind of biological/theological imperative here as well. Perhaps we are designed for walking – originally as a means of maintaining bodily well-being through hunting and gathering, but still as a way to remain physically and mentally well. And as a means of leading us into an appreciation of the wonders walking feet can lead us to.

Okay - so what would you add to that draft list? What is it that gets you strapping your boots back on, and hoisting your pack onto your back one more time?

cheers

Peter

[the_camera_poser]

Sanity

[whynotwalk]

yep!

[dee_legg]

For me it's a number of things...
Usually the urge to get out there is spurred on by wanting to see new things and new views, often inspired by a photo or a trip report but i think it goes a lot deeper than that.
For me i love the feeling of being self reliant. Knowing that i have the means to survive on my back gives me a huge sense of achievement.
Being a huge self confessed gear freak i love seeing what others are using on the track.
I look forward to the little things like setting up camp and cooking dinner on the MSR and getting to enjoy the comforts of the gear i've spent so much money on yet use nowhere near enough!
Walking is something that was introduced to me at a young age by the Dad and since his death a few years ago, going walking has become something that allows me to appreciate him, i always feel like he'd be proud of me for being so into something that he loved as well.
I'm sure everyone else’s thoughts will make me remember things i've forgotten so let's hear them!

[Chris]

Sanity

Exactly
Whoops! just realised that some may say my relatively few walks in recent years would explain much

[stepbystep]

Sanity

Exactly

I second that emotion....it's a meditative, rejuvinative process that once done, just makes me feel better
Plus what whynotwalk said, spot on.
It's a privelage afforded a relative few and I count my blessings each time I get out there(and back )
Walk on........

[seashell]

All of the above

The sense of achievement of actually getting out there and walking to unique places. The amazing feelings of peace and serenity, being surrounded by only nature and yet enjoying the challenge it gives us, and sometimes being in total awe of it.

[corvus]

Because I still can and have a really nice group of friends to walk with who appreciate that I am not as fast as I once was and treat me gently
c

[flyfisher]

Because I still can and have a really nice group of friends to walk with who appreciate that I am not as fast as I once was and treat me gently

Ditto Ditto Ditto And I love the places it gets me to as well. During summer and autum it gets me into the western lakes and "others" for some fishing as well.

FF

[north-north-west]

*shrug*
Well, it's cheaper than driving, and helps pass the time between cradle and grave . . .

To be a bit more serious, someone (I think it was Robert Louis Stevenson, but I'm probably wrong and it'll turn out to be Samuel Clemens or sweet little Felicity Arkwright) once said "Walking is not a way of going somewhere, it's a way of being somewhere." I'll drink to that!

[tasadam]

"Walking is not a way of going somewhere, it's a way of being somewhere."

Excellent!

[north-north-west]

And - it's real. In a way that everyday life isn't. Roads and houses and shops and offices and factories and all that - it's crazy, and it's artificial. But the bush, the wild, underwater, underground - that's real.

[scubabob]

i walk primarily for the same reasons i dive - not to get away from it all, but to get back to it. There are other reasons of course, adventure, exploration, a sense of achievement, solitude, just the purity of it. it's that simple really