I’ve been doing a lot of walking lately. It’s a great way to explore a place, on foot. You really get to know it. You get a feel for it. Your aching feet are proof of that.
In Milan, I’ve stumbled across cute little cafes, and in Amsterdam, secluded green parks, the like of which I never would have had I skimmed past them in the back seat of an Uber.
Walking is a part of the human story. It’s part of our DNA. A hundred thousand years ago or so, a group of homo sapiens walked from Africa and spread across the globe. Walking is as much one’s psychical capacity to move as it the human inclination to explore.
But so few of us actually walk anymore. The conveniences of modern living has made it so. Cars clog the streets with traffic; groceries are delivered right to our doors, and we spend most of our days with backsides planted firmly on cushioned chairs.
Our anatomy and our muscles, primed for walking over thousands of years of evolution have begun to atrophy. We are becoming increasingly slouched and rounded, rather than tall and upright. Our feet are desensitised and weak and we suffer chronic knee, back and hip pain because of it.
Not only that, but in Western societies, the average human is overweight. For most of us are consuming more than we are burning; eating too much, moving too little.
My grandfather Tommy did a lot of walking. He lived to the ripe old age of 98. He largely credits walking for his ability to maintain his health, his mobility and – perhaps most importantly – his brilliant mind and sense of humour. It was something so simple; so obvious, but it had a profound impact on the quality of his life.
If you don’t walk, start; and if you do, do more. It doesn’t need to be 35’000 steps around Paris. But it does need to be something.
Let others squabble over the car spot closest to the mall; there are plenty of vacant spots at the back. Take the dog out more; make it a routine. Get out of the office on your lunch break for some fresh air. Walk the 15 minutes to the local cafe rather than getting that crappy drive through stuff you call coffee on the way to work.
Walk because you can. Walk because it’s good. And walk because you’re human, and it’s exactly what you were built to do.
This article was published in the Sydney Observer’s 2025 August Edition
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CHANGE IS THE POINT 