Within Walking Distance

Most of my friends would be hard-pressed to imagine living without a car at their disposal, instead walking everyplace close and taking public transportation for longer journies.  Walking the Camino de Santiago changed the meaning of the oft-used expression "... within walking distance" for me.  After walking across a large part of a country or two one realizes that it is possible to walk a few hundred miles.  And enjoy it.

I'd like to share a few things that walking brings to mind that seldom occurred to me while using a wheeled vehicle to travel each day in the States.

1. Walking allows one to gaze into the eyes of others: neighbors, friends, strangers, and greet them.  I have found that gazing into the eyes of others is a vital part of communications or communion.

We can ask 'How's it going?' or '¿Qué tal?' and actually be there to hear, and maybe respond to, the other person's reply.  Every day we see and hear people passing one another have a conversation started by a simple greeting.  One day we hope to actually understand what they are saying!



2. Walking alone allows one time to think about tasks, how to approach challenges, observe creation ("Look at these roses!" Ann says every day ...) and listen to that voice inside that is so often drowned out by the car audio system or thinking about the to-do list we plan to shorten at our destination. 


3. Walking together as a family or group of friends allows time to solve the problems of the world or the relationship. It lets you spend time with your kids as part of your real life.  And shopping just might include ballons for the family!



4. We find that walking, combined with healthy foods available here has resulted in weight loss.  The last time I weighed myself I was at 74.1 kg (163 pounds), just a little less than I weighed when I graduated high school in 1967.  I think I have lost about 15 pounds since getting here.  We are not on a diet! Remember, this is the chocolate capital of Spain and has great gelato along our daily walks.  It also makes one thirsty and thus increases water consumption.  Most people realize they don't drink enough water.



5. Being around the people in the community, who are also walking for daily needs lessens the feeling that 'they' are different.  People of all ages and abilities are walking with us, different speeds, toting different kinds of bags, carts, using canes, walkers, or wheelchairs.  But we all reflect upon the commonality that we carry a loaf of bread, or some flowers or a kid in our arms and we are on the way someplace necessary for life.



6. Kids see adults walking as a normal part of life.  Families walk together, hang out in the plaza, eat a snack or dinner together outside.  Kids play soccer, ride bikes and scooters or just run after one another.  There is a lot of freedom out on the plaza.  People walk their dogs to dinner too.  It is a great multi-generational experience as older family members run into younger generations and spend time chatting.

7. In our city, there are definitely more pedestrians than vehicles.  Streets are narrow and parking limited.  It is easy to get anyplace on foot. And a couple of hundred thousand pilgrims walk through town each year on their way to Santiago de Compostela about ten days away.

I invite you to visit and walk around for a week or so and see if you learn anything of value.  Or just start walking for more daily tasks and let me know if you gain any benefits.



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The Other Jew of The Day is Olympic race walker and Holocaust survivor Shaul Ladany.

"For this highly accomplished professor of industrial engineering and management, race walking has been a way of life. It is what has kept him going in spite of hardships that would have sidelined most other people. Race walking has given Ladany a way of moving past personal experience of the horrors of the Holocaust and the terrorist attack on the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. It has also helped him clear hurdles like lymphoma and skin cancer. “I believe that if I didn’t continue to engage in physical activity as I am used to, I wouldn’t be able to move,” he told The Jewish Week in a phone interview.