What connects you, God, a car engine, and a Durian?
Packed for travel
I walk; a lot. Always have, always will. Some days my upper leg muscles sear in pain but I do a couple of knee-ups and keep going – a pinched nerve I suspect as other days I can walk all day and not feel a thing. When I say I walk a lot, I mean a minimum of 5 km per day – not jogging, my knees can’t handle it – it’s no fun walking when the temperature ranges from 85 – 100 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees centigrade or more), but if you’re thinking of doing low-impact, long-term stamina building, there’s nothing better than to simply walk. If God had meant you to drive a car where ever you go, you’d have been born with a steering wheel, an engine, and 4 wheels. Instead, we are bipeds, and as bipeds we can get a lot of our daily fitness needs from simply using our two legs and moving along.
Life in the sidewalk lane
Market stalls at the pier, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia
It’s amazing what you see, hear, and experience when you get out of the car and actually take to the streets on your feet. It’s definitely slower, but life isn’t meant to be lived in the fast lane 24/7. In your car you’d never smell the revolting odour of a Durian, nor the redolent scent of flowers; you’d miss the heart-warming smile of the stranger for whom you held the door open, and you’d miss the myriad colours that add beauty to life. Obviously you won’t miss the potholes, but then again, life has plenty of them already and you’ve managed to circumvent or overcome them, so what’s one more or less in the sidewalk?
Walking is the basis of a lot of our daily activities – we walk to the fridge to get that bottle of soft fizzy sugary stuff, then walk back to the couch where we pick up that bag of bloated corn with fake dairy product slimed all over it and that extra dash of sodium chloride to add flavour (and incidentally, to make us guzzle even more of that fizzy sugary drink). But seriously, walking in and of itself is a great form of exercise. If you’re not looking to become the next Mr. or Ms. Muscle but just want to keep in shape, then start doing more of it.
Without the practice you won’t be able to enjoy a day of seeing the sights of Paris on foot; going from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc de Triomphe then along the Champs Elysees and along the banks of the Seine to the Louvre and Notre Dam Cathedral – even the day spent visiting and walking through the Louvre Museum – will be difficult if you can’t do more than the slow shuffle to the fridge and back from your couch.
Sunday Market, Curitiba, Brazil
Hot, humid, crowded, dirty, dusty, and cluttered, but that’s where you encounter real life – the alleyways
There were plenty of days while I traveled through South America that my meanderings covered more than 20 kilometers, sometimes with a backpack, other times at least with a small day pack with a minimum of 2 liters of water, a good book, and a bunch of other accessories – all in all about 7kg. It might sound like a lot of work, but it really isn’t. I am not telling you to go into a gym or fitness center (although making use of their track or bicycle is better than not doing anything at all), what I am telling you is that the quality of life does depend on you making a conscious choice to remain active and to ditch some of the comforts you may have grown accustomed to, and to get out and enjoy or explore the hot, humid, crowded, dirty, dusty, cluttered sidewalks or back alleys of the city – you will be surprised what wonderful experiences you will encounter, the people you will inadvertently meet, and the delicious and often healthy food you will discover in those small restaurants tucked away in the small alleys behind the monoliths of unhealthy and fattening fast food joints.
What is a Durian? : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian
Definitely a durian !lol