Why I Choose To Walk Alone
“The only way to understand a land is to walk it. The only way to drink in its real meaning is to keep it firmly beneath one’s feet… Only the walker can form the wider view” Sinclair McKay
I have always enjoyed walking
During the five years I lived in New York City, I covered almost every square inch of that city by foot. If the weather was bad, or I had far to go, I would take the subway or a bus which still required a bit of walking. For such a busy place, walking alone gave me a sense of solitude. When I moved to the suburbs and eventually to the country, I still used walking alone as my way to recharge. The scenery was different, but the effect was the same.
When you walk alone, you have so many choices like how fast you move, where you go and what kind of experience you want to have. You don’t have to talk. You can wear headphones and tune out the world if you chose. Walking solo offers spontaneity. You can grab a coffee, watch a street performer, chat with a stranger, or deviate through a neighborhood or park just because. You can go into a thrift shop (my favorite thing!) or a pet store and snuggle with puppies as long as you’d like and not worry about wasting someone else’s time.
You can do all these things with a friend, but your experience will be different. You will think of the other…
