How far do you walk?

[secondfavouritesocks]

I've been deeply shocked at some of the expectations on threads recently, that a child can't manage a couple of miles to school, etc, when in my day we all did it, without exception.

I do think that younger generations are incredibly out of the habit of walking, and missing out on so many benefits, social, physical health, mental health, enjoyment, being in touch with your environment, etc. Walking home together was a daily social event at my school, we walked around 3 miles home from primary, and maybe 3.5 miles from secondary.

My own children went to a school 4 miles away, and there was a bus, but they mostly preferred to walk, and are all fit, healthy young adults now who regularly do sport, as in team games a couple of times a week ( in their mid/late 20s)

I walked 7 miles to school during the pandemic, as our school didn't want staff on public transport, and we all had to sign to agree the policy to avoid public transport as far as was reasonable - this was not a problem, I enjoyed it

I have cancer now, and cant do as much, but still enjoy walking the 7 miles home at least once a week, instead of getting the bus - highly recommended by oncologist

A week or two ago at school I witnessed a school boy being challenged on his lateness, and he had a complete temper tantrum at the suggestion that he could walk to his train station while his usual bus was on diversion. It was less than a mile and a half, he was totally outraged at the suggestion.

AIBU to say that walking regularly is life enhancing, and the current generation are really missing out, and it is a habit that needs to be built up, and encouraged, rather than avoided?

Lots of people don't own cars

I walk every day. i can cover 3.5 miles in an hour. Whatever the weather. Especially in the winter, i love a wet windy walk. I have a headtorch and wear it for my night walks. I dint have street lights where i live and love a dark walk.

Lots of people are lazy and find any excuse not to move

We don't walk to school it's 2miles away and it's in the countryside so no actual pavements to walk on. Growing up we never had a car and walked everywhere in all weather. Absolutely hated it. As an adult I enjoy hiking in the Lake District and the odd local walk. Having somewhere scenic really makes the difference. After never having a car I thoroughly appreciate the freedom and comfort of one.

It’s not just the children. When we visited secondary schools this year we were one of very few who walked.

Surely it’s important to see for yourself if the journey is safe and doable for your child? I was actually quite shocked at the laziness of parents. We walked with our child to the open evenings.

Maybe they already knew the routes or were coming straight from work and didn't have time to walk?

Someone choosing to drive to an open evening doesn't automatically make them lazy

I think people who live in cities probably walk more as part of their day to to day life than people in the suburbs where everything is just too far away to pop to on foot, or in the countryside where it seems 99% of errands / commutes / school runs need a car to be safe and / or time viable.

I have everything, including work (plus cinemas, theatre, train station, pubs, restaurants, museum etc etc), within a ten minute walk of home. So I walk.

depends on the activities, some days its around 10 miles roughly, others its a mix

@BitOutOfPractice definitely
I mean yeah I COULD go for a walk after work in the dark around the not very inspiring streets while being worried about being alone
Or I could do a spin class at home

So when I say I don't walk it's because I can fit in more strenuous exercise in a more time efficient safer way

I'm not really a walker. I find it boring unless there's a reason for it. I would never go for a walk just for the sake of it.
I was dragged out on walks as a child. I hated it then and dislike it now. We were also forced to play outside for hours on end.
As a result, I'm an indoorsy person. So for me it absolutely had the opposite effect.
I realise this reply is probably the most unmumsnetty one ever written, but I'm unrepentant.

I should add that I'm not a car owner though!

Yanbu.

My ds is revising for mocks, so prone to the occasional hiss & fizz, and the best way to calm him down and regain a bit of perspective is to go for a walk together, which he is always happy to do.

We're lucky that we have woods, lanes and fields so it's beautiful most of the year, and hard to be cross for long. He's taller than me now and can walk for hours. I've finally been overtaken 🙂

Our school is 1.3 miles away. DS (9) could easily walk it but DD would find it too much.

It'd be non stop whining and take around 45 mins each way. Just not worth the battle

Fwiw we do a lot of physical activity, but walking isn't high on the list of faves for the kids

I agree, I’m amazed at the number of kids who get dropped off and picked up from the school across the road from my house. The catchment area is tiny - it’s literally 2 roads. I know parents have to get to work but still - it would literally take minutes for some to walk to school.

I couldn’t drive so me and the kids walked everywhere. The walk to school was an hour there and an hour back. So 4 hours a day. Not sure how many miles that was but even my pre school ones managed it. They didn’t moan about it because having no car and walking was normal for them.

I still prefer to walk - it’s when I do my thinking 😋

My dc walk about 4 miles per day. I walk about 1-1.5 unless I'm working.

I love walking, but I don't do it much because I don't have time. I don't understand how people are spending hours walking every day, unless you don't work?

Seven miles is ridiculous, why not get a bike? I cycle anything over about a mile, it's so much more efficient. Edited to say I drive with the kid because it's not safe for four year olds to ride bikes on the road around here.

I don't drive so I walk everywhere. Unsure of how far, but several miles every day, and I enjoy it.

However, every day I see so many cars outside the nearby schools, with some parents arriving very early to get a park right outside. Obviously their precious children couldn't possibly walk a block or two to get to the car! Or it could be that the parents couldn't walk that far and then back with them. I walked to school every day, no matter what the weather - my DM didn't drive then, and my DF was at work. I find it sad that so many kids these days don't walk anywhere.

I do have a bike, but havent been able to cycle in recent years for medical reasons, but when I could, I could not cycle to school because the roads were not safe in that direction. I cycled plenty in the other direction, just not for work

Undoubtably many children are being brought up expecting to be driven door to door, and never doing any excercise, However I do find it heartening to read this thread and see how many driven children ( and parents) are actually getting other forms of exercise instead.

My daughter got her first pair of ‘proper’ shoes on Christmas Eve when she was 13 months old….. on Boxing Day we
did a lovely walk along the coast where we live, my daughter walked the majority of it, that was pretty much it for her and the buggy, she only went in it when she needed a nap when we were out and used to walk on reigns all round town and everyday in the forest on dog walks.
We always walked to school from when she started, and we live 3.5 miles from infants/juniors….

Im not sure people are lazy though, or whether everyone is just in a rush these days, when I was young one parent stayed at home with the children and had time to walk, often most families had one car per household… my mum didn’t even learn to drive til I was 16…. I was home when my DD was at primary school so had time to walk to and from school…. I regularly did more than 20,000 steps doing the school run plus a dog walk in the forest daily… I still do a 10,000 step dog walk most days.

9 miles a day average

To the fridge and back…..🤷‍♀️

I cycle everywhere, including the school run.
MIL is 72 and walks everywhere, including 2 miles each way to her favoured supermarket once a week and a weekly 6 mile walk with a friend.

Done two hours at the weekend with the family. Really enjoyed getting into nature especially with the frost in the woodland for a massive walk. This is a regular thing for us. Waterproofs on and off we go. You just get on with it.

It's great getting home into the warmth and then having a massive pot of tea.

They might have had multiple children so didn't have that same luxury. Often other children in the family have activities on during the school week in the evenings. All of mine have.