Step Counter

I used to take a pedometer with me, but keeping it attached to my clothes was an issue, and the things were likely to die if dropped. I've now switched to a free app on my Smartphone. I did a casual verification of its accuracy before I left home, and it seemed quite good. You can find several apps in the Google Play Store and no doubt in the Apple Store as well. You might want to download a couple and see which user interface you prefer. My favorite of the two I tried is called "Pedometer Step Counter" once you get it loaded. The icon is two white footprints on a reddish/magenta background. (These apps tend to have very similar names.)

As with other pedometer devices, you can expect to be asked your height (used to estimate your stride so you can see miles walked as well as steps taken) and weight (I assume to estimate calories burned). You can of course lie about those factors if you are concerned about privacy and don't care about mileage or calories.

Although I don't look at it every day, I like having this information. I tend to check it at least once a week while traveling and eventually record it in my trip notebook. First, it helps motivate me not to take the easy route of hopping on public transportation when I could walk. Second, if something goes wrong physically, I can look for clues as to the trigger. When I developed plantar fasciitis in 2017 toward the end of a long trip on which I knew I'd been averaging about 7 miles a day without a problem up till then, I checked my pedometer and found I had just walked 12 miles, some of them rather hilly, with a heavy purse carried cross-body. Although my shoe choice on that trip was a factor (rather stiff, though thick, soles rather than my usual cushiony soles), I've been careful not to rush up and down hills to reduce pounding on my feet since that incident. It takes months for plantar fasciitis to clear up, and I don't want to go through that again.

Um, yeah, was going to say...your phone does that.

I wear an Amazfit Bip S watch. It will track my steps, mileage, calories, heart rate, sleep etc. It also has a built-in GPS so I can record my route and then download it into a phone fitness app called Zepp. This particular model has a low energy transflective display which allows you to view the watch face with ambient light without turning on the LED. Accordingly, it has a battery life rating of 40 days but I usually get about 20 days between charges. An Apple watch usually requires daily charging. It used to sell for about $50. I don't think Amazfit sells this particular watch anymore. They have come up with watches with better high resolution displays and more features which eat up the battery life. The newer watches still have rated a battery life of 7 to 14 days.

Love my FitBit and as we walk daily even at home, we like having a record and the little maps. It is amazing to see how much more we do walk when traveling, though. Not just planned walks and hikes, but the daily walks to meals, to catch a train or a bus, do the marketing, etc. Not having a car helps. We just finished an 8 week trip to Italy and Switzerland with 16000 steps per day average. Very satisfying.

I'm too old school for all that. If I'm tired out after a day of sightseeing, then I know I've stood and walked more than normal. If my feet hurt at the end of the day (and I haven't been walking on pebbles in my bare feet), then I know I've walked a LOT more than normal. If my knees and leg muscles hurt at the end of the day, I will guess that I had been doing a lot of hills or stairs. But usually my eyes would have told me that first. If I find myself out of breath, I dont need electronics to tell me my pulse is likely fast, and I need to stop for a minute. Heck, I even know how to take my pulse using a finger on my wrist or neck.
Gadgets. I'll just keep to the KISS mode.

Yep, the Health App that comes with an iPhone does that. Easy to see how many steps and how far you’ve walked.

Our phones have Google Fit, which also does the step counter, and an assessment of "Heart Points" which measure effort. My wife gets heart points very easily, while mine are very difficult. It's not unusual for a walk to end with 35 heart points for her, and 3 for myself. We used this to work with our medical plan (UnitedHealth AARP), which gives us $10 if we walk 7500 steps on 10 of the days of a month. We got into travel shape with this approach.

I wear my Apple watch that syncs with my iPhone and records my steps, along with miles walked, calories burned, exercise minutes spent and so on. I use it every day, not just when I travel. It keeps me highly motivated and lets me challenge myself. I've had mine (well, this is my third) since they first came out 6-7 years ago.

My step count for 2021 was 4.96M so I made a New Year's Resolution to break 5 million in 2022 - through today my daily average is 15,427 so I will easily get past 5 million,
unless I just jinxed myself by writing it here :-P

avirosemail, I never thought to check or set an annual target. Now that I look at it, well, I have a lot of work to be in your steps league!

My good days are really good, but too many lazy days, apparently. Though I suppose swimming doesn't count as steps - on my Android phone - so I'll give myself a break there.