I do a quite a bit of walking. There are many reasons I like to walk. Sometimes the weather prevents me from getting outside for my routine exercise, and sometimes I just don’t have time. This week, I walked to church, to the Verizon store, and to the grocery store twice. For me, that’s about 11 miles that I otherwise would have driven. Everyone drives for those trips, outside of a few rare individuals, or if it’s much closer than it is for me.
1. To Save Money
We don’t live in an urban area, nor do we live in a small town, so there aren’t a lot of opportunities to do our errands on foot, as opposed to driving. In other circumstances, we might be able to live most of our life without using a vehicle.
Our nearest commercial establishments are a mile from our home. We have three grocery stores, the Verizon store, a dollar store, a drug store, a few restaurants, a couple banks (we have accounts at both of them), a library, a couple coffee shops, and our church that are all within about two miles of our home. Everything else is about five or more miles away. Though we aren’t able to live car-free, that gives us a few opportunities each week to complete some of our errands by walking instead of driving.
Saving money isn’t much of a reason for me to walk instead of drive. Given the chances for walking our errands, at best we might walk about 10 miles per week. That might save us a whopping $1.43. With the amount we save there, my wife and I could walk to the coffee shop every other month and have a latte…or I could add it to my investments in the stock market.
Another way to look at it is that there is more than just the cost of gas. There is some wear and tear on the vehicle. If you consider the government posted rate of $0.58 per mile for auto expenses, we can get that latte every other week.
Here’s where you are going to save the most money. When you walk to go shopping, you recognize that you can only carry so much. Buying more than what is on your list could cause a major challenge getting everything home. Walking discourages over-spending your budget for things you don’t really need.
Read on and you’ll see that even though you aren’t going to pull yourself out of debt with the money you save by walking instead of driving, there are still plenty of good reasons to hoof it.
2. For the Exercise
When I’m walking regularly, I find it much easier to maintain my weight within my desired level. Outside of playing pickleball once in awhile, walking is my primary form of exercise. Because I don’t go to the gym, or follow any other workout regimen, walking is very important to me.
Regular brisk walking can help to prevent some serious health conditions.
Moving more and sitting less can reduce your risk for many serious conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and certain kinds of cancer. – National Institute of Health
Mayo Clinic recommends that for greater benefits, you should walk faster, farther, and more frequently. Why not use your time allotted for running errands as exercise time by walking instead of driving? What better way is there to move more and sit less than to walk instead of driving whenever you can.
3. It’s Good to be Outside
There’s nothing better than the smell of fresh air and the feel of sunlight against your body. Today, when my wife suggested that we walk to the store, I was certainly in agreement. I got bundled up for the cool temperatures, put in my earbuds, and started down the sidewalk. For some reason, I felt energetic – a little light and bouncy. I almost wanted to start skipping. It just felt good.
There are many reasons you should get yourself outside when you can.
Being outside is a good way to improve your mood. When I need to clear my head, de-stress, decompress, or chill out so to speak, it helps me to get outside for a walk. Every day around 10:00, after I’ve been at work for a few hours, I take a 15 minute break to go outside and walk. If I walk briskly enough, I can go about a mile. I have a number of different routes I take so the scenery changes a little each day.
Your Vitamin D levels will increase. Exposure to sunlight is the best source of Vitamin D. Vitamin D is believed to play a role in the prevention of heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes, and other serious health conditions.
Your concentration may improve. This is another reason I like to go outside for a walk during my break from work. When I return to the office, I feel refreshed and ready to get back to whatever project I need to engage in.
It may promote faster healing. It has been found to be beneficial to hospital patients for them to be able to even look at nature through the window. Imagine how much more so would a walk through the park be of benefit for the same reason.
These benefits of being outside just don’t happen when you’re in a car. In fact, I tend to become more stressed when I’m driving, especially in congested areas.
4. Discover New Places
When you drive someplace, you will usually take the main arterials through town. If you walk, you’re more likely to take a shortcut and see places you wouldn’t have, otherwise. There might be a cute little park you didn’t know was near your neighborhood. There could be a fun little shop you have driven past, but never noticed.
Once when I was in another state visiting my daughter and son-in-law, I stepped outside to take a little walk. Several blocks from their house (where they had been living 2-3 years) I found a business that had an indoor RC raceway and an 8-lane 1/32nd scale slot car track. Anyone who knows me would realize that I had just found a treasure of a destination. I love motorsports of any form, even if I don’t get to be in the vehicle.
I had driven past this shop several times without ever noticing it. What’s stranger yet, is that neither my daughter nor son-in-law even knew the place existed. I only found it because I went for a walk.
5. Get an Education
Some of my best education comes from listening to podcasts or audio books. I’ve never been much of a reader. I don’t really like to spend the time doing “nothing”. Sitting down with a book keeps me from multitasking. In fact, if I try to sit down to read, I’ll likely fall asleep within a few paragraphs.
By listening while I walk, I’m accomplishing multiple things at once – exercise, relaxation, and getting an education. I can focus on what is being said or read, much better, when I’m outside walking.
There’s no reason I can’t listen to the same audio book or podcast while I’m driving, but I get to my destination too quickly if I’m in a car. Not only that, but in the car, I’m forced to divert my attention to my driving and it distracts me from what I’m trying to learn.
6. Reduce Air Pollution
I have to believe that walking creates less pollution than the exhaust from my car. I’m not a green freak, by any means, but I still care about the quality of the air I breathe. I don’t have any problem using a method of transportation that causes less nasty stuff in that air.
7. Have Some Enjoyment
Most of the time that I go out for a walk, I’ll be walking with my wife. I find it enjoyable. Yes, I still enjoy spending time with my wife.
We may or may not talk to each other while we’re walking. It doesn’t really matter. The main thing is that we take pleasure in just being together and being active.
If I can be doing something that I greatly enjoy and reap all the other rewards and benefits that go along with it, then sign me up!