A Proud Walker

Yesterday I completed my annual birthday march, a tradition in which I walk my age in miles. I turned 33 yesterday but I walked 35 miles, just for good measure.

I started this tradition four years ago, on my thirtieth birthday. However, I've been an avid walker since 1993, when I first organized groups of friends to walk from my home to my high school, a five mile distance. The same year, my friend Chad Pollack and I marched across Vanderburgh County in Indiana, a distance of twenty-something miles.

In college, I'd regularly walk several miles to the grocery store for frozen pizzas and two-liter cokes, as well as occasional ten mile walks to a nearby town and back.

I lived in China in 2000. I had free time, no English-speaking friends and no understanding of Beijing's public transit. I didn't know what to do, so I started walking. I learned the city on foot, and began a tradition of monthly walkabouts of ten or more miles.

In China. I decided to make walking my official sport and hobby. I had three reasons:

1) Walking is free, unlike other activities--no gym fees, special equipment, membership dues, instructional costs.

2) Walking can be enjoyed in any season of life and it doesn't generally cause injuries. Other sports are for the young and take a toll on the body.

3) Walking can be done anywhere, any time of day or year, alone or with friends. It's not constricted to courts, gyms, fields. It doesn't require teammates. It works in the city or countryside, even indoors if necessary.

After China, I lived in Central America for a spell. A colleague was training for a marathon and asked if I also ran.

"No," I responded, "I'm a proud walker."

And walk I did. I explored Panama City on foot and twice hiked Vólcan Baru, a thirty mile round-trip walk. When I later moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand, I regularly walked that city's mountain, Doi Suthep. I followed farming trails, got lost in the jungle once, found waterfalls and deep pits along the mountainside. Each week, I'd walk miles onto the hillsides and sit for one hour on a rock, thinking things over.

I traveled a lot in those days, and I always looked for a good walkabout. I spent days meandering Calcutta. After an earthquake in the Andes in Peru, I spent a full day (and most of the night) checking on a remote village with the provincial mayor. I walked for three days among three million Muslim pilgrims in Bangladesh. I have many walking stories from those days, someday I'll write them.

I returned to the U.S. in 2004 and continued my walking adventures. In Missouri, my friend Joe and I took weekly 6-10 mile jaunts in which we also performed calisthenics at regular intervals and worked on algebra equations. It was a holistic workout. When I got depressed or distracted, I'd schedule a day to wander at length. When I courted my wife, we'd hike Kansas City in the snow with a bottle of wine. And, of course, I completed my Annual Birthday March each year.

I'm grateful to the Lord that I can walk. With his mercy, I'll continue as long as I'm able.