A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so the old saying goes. But also: a journey of a thousand miles must begin with that intent to travel that one thousand miles or the likelihood is that the single step is all you will take.
So much for profundity, today I'm going to talk more literally about a journey of a thousand miles, every one of them on foot…and none of them remotely profound, or even profoundly remote.
I first set myself the challenge of walking a thousand miles in a single year over 20 years ago. I never came anywhere close. At the time I hedged it about with so many rules about what counted towards the mileage that I was almost certainly sabotaging my own ideas. I can't remember what the best I did was. I'll find out later this year, when I start boxing up old photo albums and journals prior to moving house. That's all history. Somewhere along the line, I lost the plot…and almost stopped walking altogether.
A few years ago, Country Walking magazine picked up on the idea that walking a thousand miles in a year is eminently do-able for most of us, which is when I picked it up again. . This is how I came back to the idea. I've never joined in the CW thousand-mile community thing, because I don't run mine in synch. I don't start on 1st January – it would be too much like a 'resolution' – instead my year starts on my birthday in November. It runs across my personal year and has the added advantage of already having a few miles under my belt at the start of the calendar year, proving that I don't need to make it a resolution: it's just something I do: given the choice, I choose to walk.
2017/18 was the first year that I actually managed to hit target, completing 1238 miles. It's early days, but I'm on track for this year.
"So what?", you're probably thinking.
The January edition of CW celebrated a number of successful participants in their 2018 challenge and said that 89% said they felt more optimistic about their long-term health prospects, 63% felt "more body confident", 71% said they had fewer colds than normal. Other personal stories attested to more confidence generally, improvement in arthritis, and improvement in mental health. The comment I think I liked most said: "The best thing was just discovering how beautiful some of my local area is…"
That one sums it up for me, because this last year the year in which I first hit the thousand mile milestone, was a year in which I did very little what I would call "real walking". I had no major holiday. I didn't climb a single hill. I didn't even complete the full round of my official favourite local walk. I only hit double-figures on a single day on 9 separate occasions. See? That's how easy it is. Anyone can do this. It isn't about yomping across the fells (although I confess I miss that) it can be as simple as being willing to put on a pair of shoes or boots and get out your front door with the aim of absolutely NOT getting in the car. Explore where you live. You might be surprised.
The 'official' Thousand Mile Challenge is under the auspices of a magazine called Country Walking – and I heartily endorse the idea of doing as much of your walking in the country as possible – this is the year I get back to doing that – but sometimes LIFE gets in the way. Last year LIFE got in my way big time. The result was that there was precious little actual country walking. I made up for it with a huge amount of city walking.
And here's the thing: cities are beautiful places to walk.
They are full of history and art and architecture. Carry a camera and look for beauty and you will find it everywhere.
They are full of green spaces: parks, churchyards, riverbanks, lakes, university campuses. I seemed to spend a fair amount of time in cemeteries. Seek out local nature reserves: they may be tiny, but sometimes all you need is a focal point, a destination, somewhere to walk to.
Now my life is more or less settling into its new rhythm, I'm looking forward to getting back to "walking proper", but in the meantime I'm pleased to have discovered how much natural awesomeness is to be found within a few foot miles of my own suburban front door: marsh, heath, woods, cemeteries, riverbank, broad, parks. I've found a new delight in street art. I've started to look more closely at walls, especially those above street level, where the history is less adulterated.
I know that a journey of a thousand miles can take you a thousand miles away: but, unless that's what you want, it really doesn't have to. It can just make you very much more acquainted with the wonderful place you already call home.
