Joining the Ramblers in your 40s

[Nyland]

Has anyone joined the Ramblers in their 40s?

I need to get more active and am feeling weighed down by work stress and marriage pressures. I feel like walking would help with these but am worried that it is more a group for older people?

I'd be interested to hear other people's experiences of joining.

Are there walking groups or Meet Up walking groups in your area?

I agree about Ramblers and then there's the Young Ramblers - but that's for people in their 20s and 30s.

But there should be walking groups which aren't Ramblers and just do walking.

God, they would be delighted to have younger people joining! All these groups are constantly getting it in the neck because they should be attracting younger members, but younger people don't join.

Often this is because of lack of time with family commitments, but also because they have the image of being for old people.

I would be surprised if you don't have another walking group near you though if you are put off.

Have a look at Wild Wanderers on Facebook for a younger outdoors crowd. It's mixed ages and not just walking. You join the national group and then the one for your region. There are loads of different trips and activities going on.

Give it a try. Mixing with people of different age groups is great.

There are younger people joining you won’t be out of place

I'm in my 30s and joined the ramblers (with an older person in an effort to get them making friends). The people are really lovely - and really fit! I'm not unfit myself (healthy BMI, can complete an exercise class etc) but the pace was really quite fast, not the amble I thought it might be. Give it a go, I don't think you can be too young. Our group also had a teen prepping for d of e, and an older teen preparing for a stint abroad.

yeah, these are fit oldies, they may not be fast but they have lots of stamina

I'm 52 and I joined recently. I'm the youngest in the group by about 15 years but everyone is so welcoming.

They all walk a lot faster than me though!

I'm also in some local Facebook and Meetup groups which have members of all ages. I pick and choose who I'm walking with each week depending on destinations and length of the walk.

Does it matter?

I went on a hiking holiday this year and the age group was one in her 20s who was accompanied by her mum in her 60s. The rest were 40s to 60s. I got on so well with everyone and they were super fit.

Age shouldn't matter should it?

It does to a degree if you are the only younger person in a group of much older people. Or vice versa.

There are young people's walking groups here - and as an older person, I wouldn't want to impose myself in such a group.

I go swimming mostly with older people. I find it's actually good for stress because they just have been through my life stage already and demonstrate that I'll survive it! They have other stresses though. You still need people type own age in other settings though. The swimmers are all fitter than me too! Damn these retired people who have time to train and eat well

But the ramblers isn't specifically for older people @cakeorwine - anyone can join and they actively encourage it. Children are welcome too, as are families.

Check when the group walks are. If it really is dominated by retired people, often the walks will start at something like 11 am on a Wednesday, which is obviously no good if you work office hours.

You could always just go out and walk alone. If you plan carefully and choose places that are relatively well trodden, the chances of getting lost, injured and stuck etc is relatively low and it's a good way to clear your head to just wander along with your own thoughts, or listen to podcasts, music etc.

The Ordnance Survey subscription is brilliant for accessing maps, and suggested routes, and there's endless other walking websites, plus country parks, NT properties etc often have marked walking trails.

I joined when I was in my 50s.
There was a wide mix of ages from 30s to 60s. They organised 3 walks each week of different lengths/difficulties Even the 'slow' group were really fit

There was weekly meeting in a pub to talk about the walks planned for the weekend ..
Why not contact your local group & go along to a meeting? That would give you a feel for the age mix