to not get the attraction of Walking

[Bogeyface]

Walking as opposed to walking. Getting from A to B on foot because it is quicker, easier or cheaper than other modes of transport? Fine.

Walking 15 miles in one day just for the pleasure of....walking 15 miles in one day. I dont get it. I never have!

My mum is a walker, she considers anything under 10 miles to be a stroll, but because she is so focused on covering the miles, she seems to miss more than if she was driving! She says she doesn't, but at 63 with health issues, there is no way she can cover 15 miles without her head down and powering her legs!

It isnt fun, it isnt entertaining, it isnt particularly sociable either as you have to Walk with someone else who is as miles obsessed as you are!

All of this I wouldnt give brain time to if it werent for the evangelical nature of Walkers! You love it, good for you! I dont, stop trying to convince me that driving to Buxton, walking 15 miles and then driving home is a good day out! All you have done is wasted petrol and energy to end up in exactly the same place you started at! A walking holiday that takes you from one place to the next, I can see the attraction in that. But walking in one big circle from the car to....the car, nope.

AIBU that a) I dont get and b) wishing that those who do get it would STFU about it?!

[HesterShaw]

No, because I'm not a farmer! In my experience, sensible reasonable farmers and "normal" walkers usually come to perfectly civil agreements and compromises.


Unfortunately the "walking round in vast groups shouting about their rights" people often give walkers a bad name. Admittedly, I've never understood the appeal of marching along footpaths with loads of other people. For me the appeal of going out on a lovely long walk is the peace and quiet.

Oh yes landowners who tie up gates and block rights of way need taking down a peg or two - I'm with you there :)

[5Foot5]

Well I don't get the head-down, miles-obsessed approach either. But I love a good walk in the countryside, could be only 2, 5, 10 or yes even 15 miles but if it is somewhere nice that's what matters. I live on the edge of the Peak District so Buxton is often on the agenda!

I am never happier than with my boots on, on a nice day out in the open. Presumably when walking friends tell you how good it is then they don't mean to evangelise they just think you would enjoy it. You really can get better views if you get off the road and up a hill.

Also I don't get the unsociable comment because I tend always to walk with at least DH, often DD and DD and occasionally other people as well. We have probably had more long conversations as a family about absolutely anything when we are out all day on a walk.

[Scholes34]

We did a big walk at a recent reunion I went to. It was a good way to catch up with people I'd not seen for a long time, and the size of the group made it possible to avoid people I didn't want to talk to. Next time, someone wants to arrange something in town - hideous (and expensive) idea.

[clarinetV2]

I adore walking. I travel to work by bus, and I've worked out a lovely route that adds at least 20 minutes' walking in each direction just for the fun of it - in the summer I can add more, but some of that is through a park that's not well-lit, so I don't do it in the winter. At weekends there's nothing I like more than a lovely country walk, usually 10-15 miles, sometimes with others, sometimes on my own. OK, so it's not 'entertaining' in the sense of someone else making the time pass for me. But it's time to take in the scenery, get absorbed in my own thoughts, people-watch if I'm in an inhabited area (I love making up back stories for people), chat to whoever I'm with, or enjoy some quiet and solitude if I'm alone and in the countryside. I don't want to be entertained all the time! Oh, and I go on walking holidays as well.


But I don't think you're BU. Each to their own. I don't get, for instance, why anyone wants to put on shoes with heels so high you can hardly teeter along, spend hours getting dressed and made up, and go to a night club where the music is so loud you couldn't possibly talk to anyone. That's just one of loads of things I don't get. That doesn't make either of us unreasonable. And you are not BU at all to wish people would STFU about it. It's plain rude to bang on and on about an interest or pastime that the person you're talking to is clearly not interested in.

[pinkcheese]

I didn't used to like walking but then I discovered geocaching, which totally makes you forget you're on a walk and you don't notice the miles going by
Lost 2st this year, massively helped along by walking 5ish miles a week.

I do hate hills, however

[BlingBang]

I love walking but don't do enough. When I walk somewhere that I usally drive, you just notice so much - lots to see and it feels great. Did a few walks in the summer through fields and woods and stuff and it was amazing - think I actually prefer walking alone so I can just really relax and take it all in and really indulge myself.

So YABVVVVU!

[BabCNesbitt]

It's just occurred to me that I did *love walking when I lived in London - but walking around town, discovering little back alleys and old signs and random Georgian windows and so on. Or just gazing in people's windows when it started to get dark

[LydiaLunches]

Oh god how I agree, another non driver here though. Once went to the lakes with my oh and ils and was roundly sneered at for stopping in or pottering. They all had cars and office jobs, I walk everywhere and lugged wine boxes for a living!

[Bogeyface]

I think its very interesting that the non drivers are so anti! I was a non driver for years and I never take my car for granted. How well I remember trudging up a very steep hill with a rucksack on my back with load of shopping in, and the same under the pram (this was in the days before internet shopping and buggy friendly buses!).

When you have no choice but to walk everywhere either through lack of cash or lack of public transport (it was a bit of both for me), then the idea of spending your weekend doing it all again for fun is not attractive!

I also think that being dragged on long boring Walks as a child and teenager really put me off too. I have no problem with people talking about their hobbies but as this thread has shown Walkers in particular seem desperate to get other people to do it! "Oh try it, it will do you good, you will enjoy it!" Er, not I wont and I will decide what is good for me thank you! I have a friend who is obsessive about her pottery hobby, and she loves talking about it and showing me her latest creation. But she doesnt go on at me about how I should try it, I would love it if I did, it would be good for me, I could start small and work up........as the Walkers I know do!

[WreckTangle]

I don't get it either. There is even a yearly walking festival local to me. Lots of walkers gather, go walking and...that's it. There are lots of nice walks here, lovely scenery but I dont see the attraction. My friend loves it, she is the fastest walker ever. I walked to Tesco one day with her, I couldn't keep up!

[lobsterkiller]

I love walking for miles on end in the countryside. I can get quite anxious at times so for me its a way of releasing stress and resetting my mind.

[JonSnowKnowsNothing]

YANBU!
I live rurally and a local bridle path runs directly past my living room window. Every so often groups of cheerful walkers come past, chatting away. I often wonder if they've walked the full 20 miles or so. the healthsome cunts.

[lessonsintightropes]

I love it. DH and I have done the Capital Ring walk this year in 11 mile stretches and it's been the best quality time we've had in years, plus fascinating to see both huge green spaces we'd never dreamed existed in Zone 3/4 and see how the demographics change as we've gone through all the different points of the city. We're planning the London Loop next year (140 miles instead of 80) and we get up to the Lakes every couple of years for a proper walk with real hills and lovely views.

Flasks of tea, marmite sandwiches and pub supper to finish which tastes amazing are all nice side-products.

YABVVU!

[carvedpumpkin]

See, I'm one of those people who loves the idea of walking and talks about how nice it would be to go for a lovely walk, usually while lying in my dressing gown drinking wine [grin[

[Tulip26]

Yes! My Mum is a Walker and I used to hate being dragged out. Sunday/Christmas dinner, big meal, bit sleepy, so she drags us all out to walk five miles in the rain.

Destested walking until I was finally old enough to get the dog I've always wanted. Now I have him, it's quite nice.

Also, stupid plastic thingies that attach to your belt to kerp maps in. Why?

[AmberLeaf]

Not sure about walking clubs, but I do love a walk! If I have my ipod I can go for miles.

I do lots of thinking when I walk. Sounds silly, but it seems to be the only time that I can just think no children speaking to me or anything like that.

Also lost baby weight by doing lots of walking. 25 min bus journey, Id bus it there and walk home.

[Cooroo]

Tulip - if you'd ever tried to read a map in the rain while it disintegrates expensively and illegibly, you'd know what they were for!