Walk and Travel Tips: Use your Feet to Feel the beat!

Enjoying the Terraced Rice Fields of Longshen Chin

Walking is one of the best ways for you to get to know and appreciate wherever your destination of travel maybe. Wherever we go and whatever we do when traveling and living around the world, walking is always at the top of the list as the means to the end. Our walk and travel tips will help you to get the most enjoyment out of using your feet to catch the beat!

Benefits of Walking and Travel

• Walking’s free: Budget travellers like us enjoy free. Walking is a great free form of transportation. Apart from the US, every other country we’ve lived in has landed us within walking distance to shops, sites, transport, bars and restaurants. We’d always save on expensive taxi rides, petrol and transport fees by using our feet to get around whenever we could. All these savings add up to mean more money for you to spend on other travel pleasures.

• Walking Let’s You Absorb the heart of the region: Walking is the best way to get to know the heart of the region. When you walk around an area, you have time to stop and marvel at all the nooks and crannies. You are better able to soak up the atmosphere and feel the energy of the town, city or environment.  You’ll discover things that aren’t on the map or in the guidebook and you’ll have more opportunities to meet and talk with the locals. Whenever you can do a self guided walking tour rather than spending your money on an inflexible guided walking tour.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  A discovery on our walking tour of Shrang-ri-la China

• Walking Keeps you Fit: There’s no doubt about it that walking helps to keep you fit and healthy and keeps off those unwanted pounds. The only time I start to put on weight is when I stop walking and the best way for me to lose weight is to fast pace walk for at least an hour a day. I’m certainly missing that aspect of walking around right now!

• Walking is Great for the environment: It’s so important in these times of global warming to be using more of our feet to feel the beat. It helps to reduce carbon emissions and to make the air cleaner for everyone to breathe. Appreciating the Earth through your feet will also enable you to love her more, which will ultimately have an effect on the health of our planet through the more conscious Earth friendly decisions you’ll make.

Walk and Travel Tips

• Plan Your Route: Whilst spontaneity is important on your walking tour you want to have a general route planned out, especially if you are in a completely new place. Once you get to know the area more you can venture off the beaten track more. Make sure you take a good map of the area with you, have specific sites you want to see pinpointed on the map, and know what facilities will be near by in case you need to pack food. We usually always find a self-guided walking tour map either through our guide book or online and walk that tour out. Also make sure you plan for the right time of the day. Craig and I foolishly took a hike up the mountain in Malawi in 40 degree heat at 2pm, the hottest part of the day!! Heat Stroke was far too close to us on that day and stole away the enjoyment of our walk.

• Wear Good Shoes: You will sometimes be walking for hours at a time if not all day, it’s time for you leave the stilettos at the door. Wear sturdy, comfortable walking shoes either hiking boots, hiking sandals or running shoes. Sometimes if I am walk fit then I will walk around in thongs/ flip flops. It all depends on what sort of walking I’m doing. If I am hiking a mountain then hiking shoes will be the only option.

• Drink Plenty of Water: You’re going to need it. Most of the time when you are out on walking tours or hikes, it will be during the warmer months of the year so water is going to be essential for re-hydration. Overplan. You will drink way more than you think.

• Pack Light: The last thing you want to be doing is lugging around a heavy bag on your back, it will really detract from the enjoyment of your walk or hike. Only take the essentials: map, water, food if needed, and camera. You may need a raincoat or jacket depending on the weather. There’s really no need for anything else unless you are planning on an overnight hiking tour.

So now you’re ready to start walking, pound the pavements and enjoy the atmosphere of the area around you from the ground level!