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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that 20 minutes is not a long walk?

42 replies

superstarheartbreaker · 29/10/2013 19:03

When I visit the city and get a bit lost I often ask for directions. I was in Bristol today and asked a passer by for directions to which he replied..'I will tell you but it is a very long way.' 20 minutes to be exact. I get this a lot when I ask directions....'ooo but you'd be better off taking the bus' etc.
I live in the country (I want to move back to the city) and I don't go on huge long country walks but aibu to think that 30 minutes is not a vast distance to walk and that it is a good way of keeping fit.

OP posts:

RandomMess · 29/10/2013 19:06

I agree with you, try to walk and cycle as much as possible.

CrohnicallyTired · 29/10/2013 19:07

No, 20 minutes is not a long walk.

But for all they know, you could have been walking for hours already and think you are nearly there, in which case 20 minutes might seem a long way.

And in any case, I'd rather be told it's a long way and be pleasantly surprised that it's not, than told it's just around the corner when it's a mile or 2 away. Like taxi companies that insist your taxi is just around the corner, they're pulling into your street now, when blatantly they're not else you would see them.

Goldenbear · 29/10/2013 19:08

No it's not far at all. I live in the City but DS's infant school is nearly 2 miles away, we often walk both to and from school - every parent that i've told this to is shocked!

mrsravelstein · 29/10/2013 19:09

if it was me, leaving aside the fact that i would rather get in a cab if it's a 20 minute walk, if i'm lost and i need 20 mins worth of directions, i've got no hope of getting there

Original poster

superstarheartbreaker · 29/10/2013 19:13

But if it is a fairly straight run (which it was; going the right way, down hill) then it is no problem.

OP posts:

redskyatnight · 29/10/2013 19:13

If I was asked for directions and the person was 20 minutes walk away, I would tell them they had a long way to go! Generally people (on foot) ask for directions when they are vaguely in the right vicinity.

Chocotrekkie · 29/10/2013 19:16

I would say that as well. If you asked me for directions I would be expecting you to be virtually there.

If you asked me if you are going the right way to get to xx place then I would say "yes it's about 20 minutes down that road".

valiumredhead · 29/10/2013 19:50

Aren't you lucky that 20 mins isn't a long walk for you?

ForalltheSaints · 29/10/2013 19:51

20 minutes is only a long walk if it is pouring with rain or the wind we had yesterday morning.

lottiegarbanzo · 29/10/2013 19:53

People who drive everywhere usually overestimate walking time / distance.

Lots of people don't walk much at all and will catch a bus for a couple of stops. I'm sure many have good reasons but it's habit for others.

samandi · 29/10/2013 19:56

Um, no. Unless you have mobility problems, 20 minutes is certainly not a long walk. YADNBU.

lottiegarbanzo · 29/10/2013 19:57

I do the opposite. I'm happy to walk a mile or two within a city and would happily give directions for a half hour walk, before stopping to ask if they want to walk for that long or would rather catch a bus.

lottiegarbanzo · 29/10/2013 19:58

Also I forget that I walk fast and purposefully, so my 'nothing at all' 15 mins is someone else's 25 epic trek.

itsnothingoriginal · 29/10/2013 19:59

You'd get there a lot quicker by foot than taking a bus or driving in Bristol!!

20 minutes isn't my idea of a long walk but it would be for my DD or someone who isn't very able bodied..

natwebb79 · 29/10/2013 20:00

I got this once when I first went to Norwich and asked directions from the train station to the city centre. It's 10 minutes in a straight line!

QueenofKelsingra · 29/10/2013 20:02

Bristol is rather hilly though, if you were in the centre and needed to get to Redland/Clifton for example that is uphill all the way and is a bit of a trek (guess who used to have to do it daily for work and got thoroughly fed up of it!!) if someone asked me directions I would assume they weren't local and at the very least point out that it was all uphill or similar - you could have already been walking a while too.

JackNoneReacher · 29/10/2013 20:03

It depends, if you've got 30 minutes for lunch, or you have to be there in 5 minutes, then 20 minutes is a long walk. Its just relative to how much time you have available.

Heartbrokenmum73 · 29/10/2013 20:04

20 mins is a long walk for my Mum. She has hip and back problems.

So YABU to generalise.

puntasticusername · 29/10/2013 20:07

I think it's...different. I'm not going to say this very well as my brain is totally fried tonight, but bear with me.

20min seems like a longer walk in the city because things in the city are closer together. If you walk 20min in the city, there are lots of different places you could get to.

In the country, things are further apart. There might only be one or two places (as in proper destinations, you know, not just...other trees) you can walk to in 20min.

So a 20min walk in the city seems further than a 20min walk in the country. Even to the same person. It's not even "city" and "country" people viewing it differently, necessarily.

Am I making any kind of sense?

hettienne · 29/10/2013 20:08

If you're asking for directions, presumably you think you are almost there - I'd expect the answer to be of the "just over there on the right" variety. If someone asked me for directions and they were still a mile or so away from where they wanted to be I would warn it's a fair walk too.

Of course, 20 minutes isn't a long walk if you are going for a nice walk in the country or something.

Sirzy · 29/10/2013 20:11

20 minutes isn't a long walk for someone who is otherwise fit and healthy BUT I agree with those who have said that generally when someone asks for directions it means they think they are close by which if they are 20 minutes walk away they aren't.

lottiegarbanzo · 29/10/2013 20:25

As someone who walks, I don't understand the 'you only ask for directions when you're almost there' comments.

If you're a driver who always parks within five mins walk of your destination, yes.

But if I'm starting from a train station, know I have a mile to walk and there's a complex junction right in front of me, I definitely want to make sure I'm starting out in the right direction. That's the point when I could go badly wrong, so that's when I'm going to ask.

Jan49 · 29/10/2013 20:34

I always think it's people who drive that haven't a clue that it's actually possible to walk anywhere so they always assume it's too far to walk.

I used to visit a friend and arrive at the nearest station. She told me I needed to either get a bus from there or wait for her to pick me up by car, so naturally I assumed it was too far to walk. I visited twice and both times she picked me up, but we didn't go back to her house immediately so I still had no idea about distance. Then I got a map and realised it wasn't actually that far. It turned out to be 20 minutes walk.

hettienne · 29/10/2013 20:37

lottie - I don't drive but I always find it irritating when people ask for complicated directions to somewhere miles away! Surely there are maps/A to Zs/phones for that?

lottiegarbanzo · 29/10/2013 20:44

You'd find it irritating hettiene but that's not the same as saying it never or rarely happens, as others are assuming - in fact it must happen for you to find it irritating.

So, that doesn't really answer my question. Thanks for responding though and, in response; I'd be unlikely to want complicated directions and would have a map or directions of some sort (if provided by the organiser of the event I'm going to, they might not be great). I would want to know that I'm choosing the right road into town and setting off down it in the right direction, for example.

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