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I'm not talking about Hiking but Walking in general. If I can do a lot of cycling, I'm more a walker in many of my journeys. In walking, I counts journeys with public transport. I'm feeling safer by walking than by biking because of the lack of cycle track in my town and around. It's not that the pavements are wide, regular but there are less risk to fall, to be hit by a car or a motorbike. It's not just in my common life or recently. It's a habit.
I remember when I was young with my grand father. He liked walking with me all around our house during long hours. We had games during that… and I don't know how many kilometers we have made like that. Sometimes we didn't see time and we were late for lunch. My grand father couldn't drive a car and bicycle was not an option in our suburb town. He had been an amateur racing cyclist but when he was younger, he went to his work by foot. When we were on holidays at the sea or in the countryside, I went with my grand parents and a small trolley to the supermarket at 3 or 4 kilometers from home. It was not a problem, and an occupation for the morning. I remember that my grandmother went to school by foot with many kilometers in the mountain. But my parents used public transport for work and the car for the shopping. Now, since SARS-CoV2 epidemic, I'm using walk around my home to do the most of my shopping. It's just for Organic shopping that I need to go with my car ...but perhaps not for long with a new shop not far (1,5km) from home. The key is the time we spent, of course.
I have noticed that as tourists, my wife and I are not like everyone else. For example, when I'm in Asia, I don't use motorbike like the natives. Sometimes a bus or subway, rarely a taxi and for big distances, it's by train, bus. After that, it's with a backpack, by foot. It's so interesting to get lost in big cities, to discover what is not in the tourists guides. I love walking in the morning in big towns, when everyone is waking up, when the goods arrive in the shops, when the shops are opening. I love walking when the night falls, when everyone is getting back home. I love that in Paris too, or in my town. But it's also a choice for traveling. I made it in Eastern Canada, Quebec and New Brunswick. Two backpacks, busses and that was very funny because busses are punctual and there's not much cars. Towns are very friendly for pedestrians, not like some in the US with great malls made for cars and nothing in the town centre. In Asia, it's sometimes difficult to walk on the pavement with the monsoon, the motorbikes that are parked everywhere. You must walk on the street, being careful with the traffic jam, etc… In NYC, it's very easy to do all by foot with sometimes the help of busses, subway and taxis, like in Paris. I had a car when I lived in Paris but just for the week-end to go to Normandy or to see the family. Shops were around the corner and when I came back from work, I used to walk from the main station to my apartment, not using bus or subway when the sun shined...most of the time because it was too crowded, or because of strikes.
Walking is also good for thinking... to think about everything, about your own life, to solve your problems, to have lots of ideas. Walking makes your mind work better. But walking is also good for street photography, as I did last month with my film camera. In Paris, I kept my camera in my bag to do that when I went to work or came back at the golden hour. Now I have fewer subjects for that, less time to think about my camera. But I often have ideas on the way home from work. The difference is that I wasn't very well trained for long walks before. When 15-20 km a day wasn't a problem for me, it's difficult now to do it twice a week. My joints hurt a bit... It's not just my age, it's a training problem. I don't walk as much as I used to. And when I hear young people say that walking is long and tiring and that they prefer to use electric scooters, I'm not very optimistic about human evolution. That's why I don't want to use too many electric vehicles. My classic bicycle and my foot are enough for now, and I have to find time to walk more, to train my muscles. If my health wasn't good enough during the last six months, it will be good again. Bad luck, it's one of the wettest periods of the year.
I only like rain for photography, not for walking. It's slippery and I don't want to break my ankles. With glasses on my nose, I don't like to walk in heavy rain. But that's life, with an umbrella and a raincoat. I was talking about Asia and the monsoon... In Europe we don't have long periods of rain, although the climate is changing. So it's another excuse for me not to walk enough and I have to change that. And although I like to drive sometimes, I'm not made for it. I have good memories of walking, not driving or anything else. My travels have all involved long walks in cities all over the world. So I have to admit that I'm a walker and I can't imagine the day when I won't be able to walk. I remember when my grandfather could no longer walk. He talked about death, but he survived for many years like that, he was sad, but that's part of life.
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