Quiet Walking

[ChellyT]

FFS please don't pounce on me being out of touch or whatever BUT I recently heard of this 'new trend' of quiet walking without headphones in, without listening to music, without listening to a podcasts or audio book or chatting on the phone just walking... And here I go 'Back in my day it was called going for a walk'

To elaborate, I notice now if I'm waiting for a friend or something and a few moments pass, I immediately feel the need to get out my phone. What's wrong with just waiting and doing nothing for 5 minutes. Thw amount of people who walk around like zombies with their head in their phone is truly disturbing

@BarbaraofSeville I use headphones that you wear outside of the ear, they're called bone conduction headphones and they do exactly what you mean - you hear the music or podcast but can still hear everything that's going on around you.

The sound quality is great. Mine are AfterShokz

I totally agree - I heard another one recently - babies having a ‘contact nap’ ffs when mine were babies it was just having a nap, now it has to have an official name, like holding your baby when they sleep has just been invented….

I think young people having grown up with technology are 'plugged in' a lot, I think it's great there are enough of them to give an activity away from technology a name.so they can encourage others to try it.

to us old people, giving walking without technology (our norm) a name sounds a bit daft, but if it encourages other youngsters to give it a go, I'll just roll my eyes & carry on ignoring the way the world has changed.

im regularly (out of view!!) rolling my eyes at 'youth speak'. No doubt ever generation before us has done the same!

@BarbaraofSeville 'semi sentient walking?'

I don’t care what it’s called, it is A Good Thing. I live on a lane where lots of people walk ( not to ‘get anywhere’) and it is sad to me how many are closing themselves off with headphones, so they can’t respond to other people greeting them, they are unaware of the birds ( and the cows complaining about the late arrival of the lunch truck) , or thé imminence of speeding cyclists and the mad DHL driver bombing up behind them.

As for those who shout into their phone whilst walking past my garden, yes, that’s very interesting about your office reorganisation, I wonder if I could pass the information on to your competitors? Also, look where you’re going, the ditch is brimming at the moment…..

glad I got that off my chest…..

Ooh, I'm already there! I tend to keep my phone on silent anyway

Yes, but if you didn't Strava your run, did it really happen? 🤔

Only if you were at parkrun and remembered your barcode 😂

It's ridiculous to give it a name, but no one thinks they invented it. No one believes headphones have been around forever.

Going for a walk, not specifically to get somewhere, by yourself without listening to music/podcasts/audiobooks probably is unusual for a lot of people.

I thought this thread was going to be about getting children to stop stomping around loudly and instead walk more quietly!

I used to walk 2 miles to school singing because I didn't want the bulk and awkwardness of my walkman and headphones were the only option then.
I'm not sure if that counts as quiet walking or not. I don't think I missed out by overriding the noise of traffic congestion. There were no passers-by on that route anyway.

I'll listen to music and podcasts on most runs (singing can still happen when the mile 8+ insanity kicks in), but I do a lot of functional walking and CBA to grab earphones and set it up for practical walking.

Bone conducting earphones are great for letting the ambient sound through.

It all sounds like marketing-speak. We can never just be left to do what we enjoy, some bastard always needs to get some cash out if it... just wait for the "join the quiet walking revolution" magazine articles and all the charlatans who realise "forest bathing" is too mainstream so they need to have "quiet walking" groups, courses....etc.

. Like "wild swimming" is a Thing now - where before people would just swim in the loch because they enjoy it, now its a Lifestyle (probably with magazines and forums etc).

Will there be some wanky coat or other garment you need to wear when out doing your Quiet Walking? I'd lay money one someone cashing in on this innovative new 'trend'.

My ds asks for toasted sandwiches with 'raw toast'

The term 'wild swimming' makes me pucker up my face in annoyance.

It's like when magazines and weekend papers wanked themselves silly over 'hygge' for a few years. Oh just light some candles and buy some throws, Julian, and shaddap.

I for one will not be partaking in 'quiet walking'. I like stomping along to a nice loud playlist.

A coat with no pockets for your phone, headphones etc so you're not tempted while out on your, um, 'quiet walk'.

I love all these new-not-new ideas people latch onto & think they're being oh so original- 'wild' camping & 'wild' swimming seem especially ridiculous, as they were just normal activities for rural kids when I was growing up, as we didn't have access to public swimming pools.

I do remember my nan being amused by our generation's obsession with recycling, she was doing all that stuff way before it became fashionable in the 80s/90s, so maybe it's a generational thing.

I have done numerous silent retreats and don't recognise your description at all! But all of mine have been staying with a religious community, feeling unbelievably cherished, well fed and having had lots of solitary walking in the depths of the Dorset countryside. Yours sounds like a very poor and distant relation.

Ah well, let them think they invented it, let them embrace it and let's have less accidents and more focus. 😅

It's walking and enjoying your surroundings I do it daily with my kids lol

It’s always depressing when you do the same thing for so long it becomes trendy

It shows how fucked we are when walking without being plugged in is being portrayed as some new trend.

To be fair, I started doing this a while back (without giving it a wanky name).

I realised that I'm never just alone with my thoughts any more. I've always got a podcast, or music on if I'm out for a walk or cooking or whatever, or I'm watching TV, reading a book, or scrolling reddit or Mumsnet etc.

The only time I'm alone with my thoughts is when I'm in bed actively trying to sleep, and so it takes me forever to go to sleep because I'm mulling things over in my head.

So I started building time into my day to just think. I go for a walk every day so that was the obvious choice, but some days I'll just not put a podcast on when I'm cooking, or cleaning etc.

It's done wonders for me sleep, because my head just isn't as busy any more at night. I can see how teenagers would think its this big new discovery, because honestly if felt a bit like that to me, and I'm a child of the 80s!

Another annoying one is 'forest bathing' - it's a walk in the woods fgs!

Oh another one. Another is baby led weaning😏 my mid 20s kid did baby led weaning, as I was led by his need, altho back then there was no fancy name for it. It's amazing how people THiNK they have discovered something new when they really haven't

My local radio station was having fun with this the other day, pointing out that this is what people have been doing for many thousands of years.

Bless all the youngsters who think they have discovered something new though. I wonder what their next discovery will be?