To like some acknowledgment that walking everywhere is bloody exhausting!

[squashedalmondcroissant]

Not really an AIBU but I have PMT and need a little handhold (lighthearted 😂).

I don't drive but I am fortunate that I only live a 30 minute walk from work. This is also the main town centre so all the shops/facilities that I would need are there. If I need anything or want to do anything, this is where I need to go.

That's all fine but I would just like some sort of acknowledgment or recognition from the people in my life that walking everywhere (and I do mean everywhere) is really really tiring and hard work! The part of the country I live in is widely acknowledged as being not very good with public transport so virtually everyone has a car and drives everywhere even if they don't need to. So it's very hard to get people to comprehend that if I want to do an activity or get something I need to a) walk to and from the place and b) carry any equipment I need with me or carry it home with me. It's bloody hard work! I have a massive backpack that I carry everywhere in case I need something from the shop while I'm out.

I don't complain about this IRL as I know it's just the way things are but it's just hard sometimes when no one around me 'gets it'.

For example, yesterday I walked DDog for around an hour, then walked to work, walked around at work (job is fairly physical with almost the whole time on my feet and lots of lifting boxes), then walked home. Today will be much the same. Some days I'm exhausted before I even get to work!

Aibu to want just a tiny grain of recognition that this is hard?

We have an annual delivery pass for sainsburys, cost about £40 and pays for itself in not impulse buying stuff in the shops plus fuel.

In your shoes I'd have a veg box delivery then an online shop fortnightly or so to stock up on tins, packets etc

Don't carry potatoes home, that's bonkers

Get a bicycle for your work trips.

@Ginola2345 heat? Not everyone lives in the sputh-east 😂 ( max 16C here today)

I’d get a shopping delivery pass-we get ours with our Tesco Clubcard points.

Heavy stuff only gets collected when you have a car. It’s not like you’re a car-less household!

Get a bike.

If friends suggest stuff that means you’ll
need to do a long bus journey for, suggest alternatives or don’t go.

OP you are an adult and are walking a lot because of your own choices, as others have said.

That shouldn't require acknowledgment from other people except your partner - and if he doesn't acknowledge it, that may be your main issue, not the walking.

Not really. I walk loads because I don’t always want to pay for or rely on the bus and because I need and enjoy the exercise I get from it. At this time of year when the weather is nice I love walking. If people want to go in their cars or on the bus then that’s up to them but I don’t think I’m better than anyone just because I love walking.

People without cars can’t win. Don’t drive and you’re a lazy failure as an adult. Walk everywhere and you think you’re morally superior 😂.

Sorry but I live in the north and still too hot for me this week and today :-)

With the exhaustion - do you get enough calories, hydration, iron? Walking and carrying stuff is definitely tiring but maybe your diet needs tweaking too?

Why can't DP do the shopping in his car on the way home then? Or could you both do the shopping at the weekend?

I think the walking is great but walking with shopping isn't so good for your back if the loading isn't equal.

I just think most activities that involve physical exertion are a bit exhausting, but good for you! People wouldn't write a post saying they get exhausted at the gym as it's kinda obvious.

I walk or cycle most places (don't have a car) and feel much better for it than I would driving everywhere even if it does take longer. It's a good way to build in regular daily exercise.

I think some people use their car far too much but unfortunately many areas of the country do not offer much alternative.

I think this too, but I'd have said it in a kinder way!

OP, lots of people budget a lot and went through driving anxiety to get their driving licence and afford a car, so if you get acknowledgement for effort, then so do they!

Also walking is healthy and walking a lot in the countryside is wonderful for health, a real luxury for many of us as well, tiring or not. So no you do not, and I mean this kindly, deserve acknowledgement for walking.

Oops 😬

We are due to get up to 21 over the weekend (NE) but the last few days have not been hot!

what sort of dog do you have that needs two x hourly walks a day especially in this heat?!?!

most dogs... dogs are not designed to be locked up in a house all day and night, and neither are we.

Why would you have a dog if you are not prepared to give him the activity they need? We are talking leisurely walks mainly, not running a marathon with you (which is really not recommended either).

When it's too hot, first and last thing of the day.

I hear you, and yes you do need some acknowledgment. 🌟🌟

I do drive but don't have a car. I technically don't need one as I work a 10-minute walk away and live in London so most places are accessible by bus or even an Uber. Compost and really heaving shopping isn't a problem as I can drive DP's car at the weekends or he can pick something up.

But it does take up a lot of time and energy. I've lost a lot of weight dragging shopping trolleys home, as even bussing I'm still walking a lot more than I was when I had a car.

I'm over 60 and I do have a car but don't drive it much. I walk 5/6 miles a day and don't find it exhausting at all. We live on a very steep hill and many visitors struggle with walking up it but I don't even notice it now. The only exception is when I have a heavy suitcase - then I get a cab from the station!

it sounds like you need to be better organised with your shopping. We get a weekly 'big shop' delivered and I carry a little folding shopping bag in my handbag for top up shops.

Would your employer do the bike to work scheme? You could get a bike and pay it off slowly without tax...

Honestly get a bike @squashedalmondcroissant it will change your life. Your don't need your dp's permission either - or you shouldn't.

I see what you are saying about walking the dog but this should primarily be your dp's responsibility, esp if he thinks it needs doing twice a day.

My mistake??!!? But if the OP is not a SAHP and is claiming she is exhausted with life, work, all the walking and walking the dog before work surely a shorter walk would do until DP gets in or could DP pay for a dog walker or what did he do with the dog before OP moved in?

Just I only spend 30 mins walking my dog on a work day (but he is nearly 12) as I have too much else to do (but I am fortunate I work part time and from home some days so he has the run of the garden and he would have a longer walk after work on work days once its cooled down). I was merely trying to make it easier for the OP didn’t deserve to be slagged off and wasn’t trying to make it into some sort of wonder woman martyrdom contest.

Also re bike storage in shed - you can get hooks to hang your bike up either vertically by the wheel or horizontally on the wall. I bet your shed could fit one with a little reorganisation, unless it's completely stuffed!

The best part of my daily routine is when I get to put on my favourite headphones and walk the 7.5 km home accompanied by whatever’s on my playlist. But sure, let’s chalk it up to walking out of ‘moral superiority’. God forbid anyone enjoys something you don’t.

Just to add you can find really good advice and tips regarding PIP and other benefits on Scope.

I walk everywhere too but I'm hard pressed to see why anyone else should give a toss

didn’t deserve to be slagged off and wasn’t trying to make it into some sort of wonder woman martyrdom contest.

no need to over-react Ginola2345, I was just answering your question.
Kids need to exercise, dogs need to exercise, we all do. It's hardly a groundbreaking new concept.

If you have too much to do to care for children or animals, don't have them.

Maybe for a big shop once a week but I use Aldi and Lidl a lot and they don't even offer delivery! Much easier to just pick up a can of tomatoes, some milk and a bag of potatoes on the way home but that stuff gets heavy really quickly

I don't think Asda - who do home deliveries - are not that much worse for price that Aldi and Lidl -Iceland also deliver. Meal planning can also help avoid last minute pick ups as well.

https://milkandmore.co.uk/ -they do cost more but having milk and eggs twice a week cuts down on little trips to nearby shops and saves us money with the impulse buys.

If your DP drives though -we isnt he doing or helping with the shopping or picking things up on the way home and as PP have said why isn't he walking his dog much more.

I walked everywhere when the kids were younger - taking to activities,shopping, school, went to work on the bus as didn't have always have access to a car as DH needed it for work and had phases of feeling we didn't need a second car.
Looking back firstly I wish I had insisted we needed that second car but on the other hand I am probably fitter than most of the people I work with