The Lost Art Of Walking

(Written on the morning of 6 October...)

I'm a little beat right now but I'll write this anyway as it is still sharply implanted in my mind.
We here in the west take a strange view on things that other cultures simply look upon as common place. One of the saws I heard over and over again was "everybody has a car." Okay, granted, many of us in the west do. The truth is that human powered transportation is still the predominate form of travel on this planet.
Human powered transportation translates into bicycling or walking. Today, let's focus on walking, the oldest form of locomotion that humans have. This week, I decided to undertake this for of travel mainly out of necessity, due to the fact that my 20 year old car died a few weeks back. In order to adapt to this mode of transportation, certain lifestyle changes had to be made. First was finding a place to live that would be central not only to my job but to common immenities like markets and bus lines for those times that I would need to travel further. For those of us who have had the pleasure of living in New England, one of the first things you notice about those smaller towns is the fact that everything is centralized. Keep in mind when most of these towns were built, a time when most people would be getting around by foot. Litchfield, Connecticut is a good example, but even here in Florida some small towns and cities such as St. Augustine also reflect this. Today, thanks to suburban sprawl, we are often miles from even basic necessities; this lifestyle doesn't work in that setting, obviously.
Next was a change of habits, namely my sleep schedule. I would need to get as much sleep as possible to be in good enough form to walk. Seven to eight hours are preferable. Got six last night, and the lactic acid build up that I didn't sleep off is making its presence known this morning.
Finally, dietary changes. No, this isn't to lose weight. But one thing I learned in my youth was that it was very hard to walk any distance when I had eaten too much. Seriously, you end up feeling pretty bad.
A few additional things that I've learned this morning -
1. Everything is within walking distance - Plan accordingly and give yourself plenty of time. This is transportation, not a race. Which brings me to...
2. This IS transportation, not exercise - You'll get the exercise anyway by doing this, but if you are going to be walking to work, you need to pace yourself. Your work is your goal, not losing an additional 5 pounds this month.
3. Walk into traffic - This seems counterintuitive, but some of us out there seem to derive perverse pleasure in making pedestrians targets to such things as a small order of fries aimed at the head (been there). You need to see what is coming, whether it is airborne fast food or a tractor trailer losing control.
4. The destination is the goal, not what's behind you - as in life, it is pointless to keep looking behind you while you are walking to work or anywhere else. Keep your eye on the goal, but...
5. Be aware of your surroundings - Keep your head level and be alert. You're not in one of those shiney metal boxes whizzing along the roads, you are truly a soft target.

It took me thirty minutes to walk this today. I'm a little beat, but I did it. I figure that if the Lakota, the Masai and millions of other people can do it, so can I. Besides, in a tip of the hat to point #2, I could use the exercise.