Eco audit: one foot, two foot

If you put one foot in front of the other, often enough, pretty soon you’ll discover that walking is the way to get about.  No parking.  No timetables.  And, with a rucksack to hand, you can even schlep your things about too.

Not really a huge discovery.  Except that it’s got to the stage that Kids Don’t Walk.  And thinking back to my teens, it wasn’t so different, sadly.  You get to a certain age and stage, and the amount of stuff you have to carry means you can’t so often do it all yourself.

I blame the cello.  But then, there was the music case accompanying the cello.  And the sports bag.  And the school bag. Even with a few lift shares among others in the orchestra, there was still a lot of carrying things.

There was still walking, though.  There were plenty of days when I walked home, even if I got a lift to school.  My mid teens were at that point when you could still (just about) walk home on your own from places, without immediate considerations of safety.  (And I was generally walking home in daylight.)

The other main trick with walking is picking your area to live in.  Choose well, and most of your journeys can be on foot – or at least, a lot of the regular ones.  I can’t take credit for this in my teens – but my parents did indeed choose well (after a lot of house hunting).

We lived very close to a supermarket, so many food shops were done on foot.  (In the days before limiters on trolleys, I have a feeling that we might have just wheeled the trolley round to the front door, unpacked, then took it back.)

Doctor: walking distance.  Optician: ditto.  Post office: the same.  Walkable distance to station: check.  Walkable distance to pub my parents went to on Friday nights: also check. Pretty much ideal.

For all of that, it also helps to have good public transport to support when walking won’t work, is too far, there’s too much to carry or it’s late at night.  That side wasn’t so good in my teens – but then I wasn’t much bothered with going out at that stage.

Spend much time in Europe, and you’ll generally find that public transport will do you fine in many places. (And if you happen to be going to a Germanic country, better, much of the time.)

I’m grateful too that despite applying to various campus universities, I ended up in a city – one with really good public transport (yes, I really think so), and one which is also so walkable.

We have a little joke that I always live close to a bus route.  It’s been partly planned, in the days before having a car, and sometimes the access is better than first anticipated.  That’s great for getting to work, seeing friends in other parts of town and so on.

But what I love right now is rediscovering walking – because it really works for our area.  We can walk to: local shops, library, doctor, dentist, hairdresser, post office, chemist, after school classes, a couple of charity shops…School is a bit further for small legs, but we’re starting to get there, and I generally walk to afternoon pick up.

Why all the fuss? Because I don’t go to gyms.  But I like a little exercise I don’t have to pay for; fresh air and clearing my head (and even getting some time to myself); not having to worry about parking at busy times and in busy locations.

And I love…the chance for chats, when I am with a small companion.  The opportunity to stop at points, sniff flowers, admire diggers, spot cats and other local wildlife.  The chance to have some nice routes to walk (even where others are traffic-heavy, and more than a bit polluted).

Every now and then, I even meet people I know, or at least recognise.  We may not be having cheery chats at the butcher’s, as in days of old, but there is a chance to have a sense of community, to belong to a neighbourhood, to know your location really well.

My world is smaller these days than it used to be.  A lot of shorter repeat journeys.  And that suits me just fine.  I may be lucky – we may have picked our area of town even better than we first realised.

But I also want to model something as a mum: that’s it’s not all about Mum’s Taxi.  Nor even about bus passes, useful as they are. Putting one foot in front of the other reduces daily stresses, often.  It’s cheap.  It’s functional.

And it gives you much more attention to focus on your walking companion, their detailed knowledge of Moshi Monsters – and the moment you happen to find yourselves in.