How A long Walk Can Change Your Perspective

I am desperate to travel and yet I feel so trapped.

Because of my new-found wanderlust, I have been spending my days moping as of late. Life, it seems, is simply not going in the direction I want it to go but recently I set myself a new goal. I want to write a children's story and I want to make sure as many children as possible have the option to read that story for free, assuming of course that they want to.

One of the challenges I face when I write is my Attention Deficit Disorder, something I was not able to get a diagnosis for until my mid-twenties. In the particular instance of writing this manifests itself in a number of ways, the most challenging one being how regularly my mind simply wanders from one topic to the next whilst completely disregarding and disposing of any interest it had in what had utterly consumed it just a few moments before.

I have found that whilst there is a time and place to push through the unfathomable boredom of trying to keep my focus on one task, sometimes, it is much better to just get up, go for a walk and re-evaluate. Today I was feeling particularly unsettled, particularly stale. I decided that if right now travelling the world was not an option and indeed without access to a car or large amounts money even travelling nearby counties would be difficult then I would instead have to explore my home town.

I set myself a challenge. I was to walk 15 miles today. It didn't matter how long it took and it didn't even matter how many times I stopped or where I went. I simply had to walk 15 miles today. Maybe I would meet some kind stranger, maybe I would fall in love with nature all over again and maybe, just maybe, I would get my head straight. Figure out where I am going in life.

So I set out this morning. Considering it is both England and September, I elected to wear a T-shirt and jumper to ensure I stayed warm. It rained most of the day yesterday and was anything but hot so I figured this was a good choice. It was a bad choice.

Today was not the cold, damp, grey England that many of us who inhabit this nation have become accustomed to. No, it was instead quite beautiful and with that beauty came warmth. Before too long I realised that I would spend much of this journey sweating. You may ask why I didn't just remove the jumper, perhaps tying it around my waist or simply carrying it. Frankly, I am ashamed to admit that this simple solution failed to enter my mind and instead I spent approximately 6 to 7 hours being slightly too hot and nurturing a thin layer of sweat.

I'll ask you a question now. What should we do if we are hot and sweaty? There's probably many answers to that question but the one that strikes me as the most important is...drum roll, please...STAY HYDRATED! Oh, it's so simple to stay hydrated. Simply lift your water bottle to your lips and take a nice big sip of water. That's how simple it should be anyway, but unfortunately in my eagerness to leave the house, I neglected to bring any of that precious H2O what so ever. Rookie mistake.

This wasn't the end of the world though. Fortunately, I was able to purchase some bottled water, but if I'm completely honest, I much prefer tap. I know from the few months I spent in the USA that in certain parts of the planet drinking straight tap water is an act of desperation. I can assure you , however, that here in Northamptonshire, it is quite lovely.

Before I went out, I had done a swift google search on roughly how long this sort of thing should take. I was informed by one of the many search results that walking this distance would take approximately 6 hours for an experienced walker. I'm 27 years old, so I like to think I'm an experienced walker. I also saw something about professional walkers and can't help but to be curious as to how exactly one becomes a professional walker, one day, I assure you I will find out.

Sometime during the first couple of miles along my journey, I saw something that put everything in perspective. It was a fellow human out for a walk. Whilst my lanky 6 ft 3 frame strode along the paths with ease, things were quite different for this man. He was nearly doubled over and leaning heavily on what seemed to me to be two mismatched walking sticks. His steps did not just seem to be difficult, but painful. A distance which I could cover in about 1-2 seconds legitimately seemed to take this man around 20.

As I came up from behind him I was battling with what to do. It seemed to me that he was most likely just out for a walk trying to get some exercise but I knew there was a chance that he had gone too far and perhaps needed a hand. Careful not to insult him, as I walked past I simply said 'good morning' and asked how his day was going, to which he replied 'The days are slowly getting better'.

The conversation didn't go much further. Honestly, I would have relished the opportunity to chat with someone, but the words he spoke seemed to add difficulty to his already challenging task. I continued onwards and came to a realisation. I have the ability to write right now. Whether it's as polished as it will one day become or not isn't super important, because I enjoy it and I want to share it. I may not always be able to type as easily as I can now. There may come a day when I can't even dictate.

So right now, I am going to seize my passion with both hands. I will become a better writer and I will meet some wonderful people on my writing journey. I feel that. I know that.

One day I may see the whole world. But for now, I am going to see what I can.