The Walkers

There is a strange breed of person found in this land that you don’t seem to find elsewhere. I call them ‘The Walkers’. Not like a family name, but as in people who walk. And not walk as in to the grocery store (which in its own way is sort of unheard of stateside), but people who walk for a month. For fun.

A few weeks ago on the train up to Birmingham, I was conveniently placed to eavesdrop on a long conversation between two men. One of them was what I would term a senior citizen (over 70) and the other was much younger (say, 50) but claimed to be a retired truck driver. Both of these men were en route for solo walking times. The older gentleman was planning on spending 5 days or so walking around where his daughter lived. The younger gentleman, on the other hand, was going to spend the next month walking around Dorset, starting from Exeter. Because you know, last time he went for two weeks and it just wasn’t long enough.

His planned route was something like 300 miles, his approach was to camp during the week and then maybe take it a bit easy, checking into the occasional bed and breakfast for the weekend. The two also discussed future walking ambitions; with the younger apparently heading to New Zealand to do nothing but walk around for months on end.

I found this all very fascinating. Bill Bryson touched upon the concept in his book on England, alluding to the ways of the serious English walker, but I had never otherwise heard it mentioned or discussed. To find out that the tales were true was sort of like finding out that Santa Claus really does exist.

My second oral reference to the serious walker came at my boss’s barbecue, when one woman came up to another woman upon learning they shared the walking passion. An in-depth conversation followed about places they had walked and places they would like to walk. I again found it all very strange.

Serious walking is not to be confused with hiking. Hiking is something you do for a few days, or, perhaps if you’re spry, a long weekend. Hiking is viewed somewhat as a form of exercise, and often involves hills and such. The serious walking seems to be more of a lifestyle choice, a way of seeing things at a different pace. And it seems it is often done alone.

This form of walking doesn’t seem as feasible in places like the northwest for one key reason: population density. If you want to walk for a long time in the US you need to take a lot of stuff with you, as there’s a good chance you won’t come across any sign of civilization while you are out and about. In England, you are likely to come across at least a few villages with at least one shop every day, ensuring you don’t starve and don’t become completely isolated from human contact. Warm showers remain a possibility, as do cheeseburgers.