Walking: Travel at the speed of life...

With the lack of rain and surplus of sunshine of late, I have been able to take full advantage of the opportunity to walk most places I need to go (at least in the Cloverdale area). Walking often seems a strange thing in our day and age. Especially here in the Lower Mainland where the ways of travel are almost entirely designed with the automobile in mind. Yes, there are sidewalks and such things to be found, but anyone who has traveled them knows that they are most certainly abligatory additions to the real important space: the road.

Let me be clear, I enjoy walking. So, perhaps I am somewhat bias in my thinking about the activity (or is it a mode of transportation?). When my co-workers find out that I walk twenty-five to thirty minutes to work each day they are surprised to say the least. The reaction is usually something along the lines of: ‘why don’t you drive?’ or ‘oh, that’s rough’. A couple days ago I walked up to some visit some friends for dinner at their place. It took me roughly an hour or so (5.6km/3.5miles). It was a glorious day and I brought a book along for the trip. Everyone seemed quite surprised (a bit of an understatement) to find this out.

Walking seems to be the most connected, embodied form of transportation. I am able to move from one place to another using my legs and my heart (two feet and a heartbeat) to power me: vegetable (i.e. solar) powered travel. Even more striking to me is the experience of the journey. If I had driven to the dinner, I would not have been able to enjoy the incredible sky, the cool breeze, the air in my lungs and the blood coursing through my body. It’s a very human, very present experience. The passage of time was not measured in minutes on the dash or pop songs on the radio; it was measured by steps to the top of the hill, birds passing in the air, smells drifting over from nearby bushes/flowers, thoughts on my mind, etc. Life seems a little bit more real when it goes by at the speed of Tyler, rather than sixty kilometers per hour.

It seems a shame that our lives are not often condusive to walking as a viable means of travel. Many are not physically able to enjoy the simple pleasure of walking; others of us work or school too far from home for walking to be a reasonable option. Such may be the case for me one day; but until then I will enjoy being as embodied in my travels as possible. I think there is such thing as a human pace to life. Whether we find this pace through walking or by other means, it is great to slow down and be present in this experience we call life.