I recently read The Salt Path which is the true story of a couple who having lost their house in the midst of coming to terms with a terminal diagnosis decide to go for a walk. A very long walk. They decide to set off and attempt the 630 mile South West Coast Path.

While I can’t even begin to imagine the devastation and desperation Raynor & Moth must have experienced at the start of their journey, I did appreciate the beautiful simplicity of deciding to go for a walk. That notion of when all else fails, I can still put one in front of the other.

I’d not really considered it before but there is something rather wonderful about anything that is simple. In this increasingly complex world where it’s not good enough to have a smart phone, you must also have a smart watch, smart TV, smart speaker, even a smart kettle for goodness sake! Is it any wonder that people are being drawn back to the simple pleasures in life? There was a time when wanting to ‘switch off’ was a figurative term but it’s becoming increasingly literal as people look to undergo a digital detox, seek out the slow way or even book onto a silent retreat.

I was reminded of a time when I had little choice but to simply start walking. All be it on a far more mundane and less dramatic level! It was many years ago and one summer’s evening we decided to meet at a pub after work, my partner was cycling home so it was one he could get to en velo and there was a little station so I could simply extend my train commute and get off by the pub instead of home. So far so good but then it came time to leave.

The plan had been that we’d both get the train back but this was a tiny, little countryside station and while I knew trains would stop there infrequently it turned out the timetable was haphazard. At some points of the day trains were half-hourly or hourly but for some reason in the evening there was a three-hour gap with no trains at all. This must have been a long time ago as we still had a car at this point so my partner suggesting cycling home and then he’d drive back to collect me. I guess I could have waited on the platform but this was an isolated spot and I didn’t really fancy the idea of waiting there alone. So if I wanted to get moving, I needed to start walking.

Thankfully it was a summer evening so it was still warm and light, making it a pleasant walk. By the time my knight returned to rescue me I’d made it a lot further than he expected. It’s moments like this that make me appreciate the simplicity of walking and the fact that it can be spontaneous. I know a lot of people use running or cycling as their means of escape, if they’re feeling stressed then a run or a cycle helps them to reset. While I can see how that would work, for me walking will always be top of the list. Partly because I can’t ride a bike but that’s not really the point I’m trying to make. Yes that’s right I’m a woman in her 40s and I cannot ride a bike. Shall I pause a moment to let you recover from that bombshell?

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Ok where was I? Oh yes while I can understand how cycling and running could be beneficial I like the fact that all you need to go for a walk is a comfortable pair of shoes. This makes it far easier to incorporate into your day-to-day life and it means that you don’t always have to plan your walks in advance. If you’re stranded in the countryside you can still walk, whereas running in jeans may be tricky and you definitely can’t ride a bike if it’s still sat at home – even a non-cyclist like me can work that out. One of my most frequent walks is the one I do on office days and yes I could cycle some or all of the way but then you need a change of clothes and somewhere to store the bike. I could also run part of the way but I’m not sure how well that would work when I’m carrying my laptop and again I’d need to get changed. Whereas with walking I can easily stroll in, have some time to prepare myself for the day ahead and arrive ready to get cracking. Well after a coffee but at least I don’t need to get changed or worry about any equipment or paraphernalia. It works in reverse too as the other day it was an unexpectedly pleasant evening so I decided to get off the train a stop early and walk the rest of the way, again no forward planning was necessary.

It’s not just in the daytime either as sometimes on evenings out I’ve ended up having to walk unexpectedly, usually it will be because of problems with the trains although it could just be a desire to escape a crowd. Thankfully I’m not a fashionista and have never been interested in fancy shoes which look lovely but are impossible to walk in. I’ve always been far more interested in being comfortable so I basically wear either sandals or boots depending on the weather. But even if I’m in my going out boots (such as my fabulous silver ones) I know that they are comfortable enough that should I feel the need to walk I will still be able to.

There is something comforting about that simple thought, that when you don’t know what else to do, you start walking until you do.

That’s how I stroll.

• The best laid plans…
• Hiding in plain sight
• Holiday Strolls
• Something is better than nothing
• National Walking Month