Article-Whatever The Problem......

Tammy, what a wonderful article!!! I love to walk too but like you, living in a northern climate has its pitfalls. And I also have a treadmill and like you use it, but I don’t really like it. I get bored. But this is a good motivator!

Interestingly, enough, I was at the car repair shop this morning, and since I had to wait, I decided I would walk up to the store to run an errand. The service kept trying to get me to take advantage of the shuttle, as it’s about a mile away, but I insisted on walking, and I’m so glad I did. I think they thought I was a little crazy. 😜

After I read it, I looked at the author and realized it was Andrew McCarthy of Brat Pack fame. What a wonderful writer he is. I think I might have to read his book now.

Yes, I loved that article too, thanks for posting it.

I think I remember the Hollywood Brat Pack (Estevez, Ringwold, Lowe, Sheedy, Hall, etc.) but not Andrew McCarthy. Was there a journalism Brat Pack too? Or did I just miss all his movies?

Andrew McCarthy is an actor and writer, Dick. He was in a lot of movies in the mid-80s. I’m not sure if he was actually considered part of the brat pack but I know he was in that same group and made the same kind of movies. Pretty in Pink and Saint Elmo’s Fire are a couple that come to mind.

Perhaps a bit surprisingly, he's actually a great writer. Very introspective and always has a way of connecting the interpersonal to his travels. The Longest Way Home is a really good book of his that I'm really glad I picked up some years ago.

The Weekend at Bernie's guy? I had no idea he was a travel writer.

Thanks for sharing the article. I agree, walking is the best! The only way I can pass time on the treadmill is watching YouTube walking videos of travel destinations.

Great article. Thanks, Tammy.

“If I could not walk far and fast,” he wrote, “I think I should just
explode and perish.”

I love this Dickens quote from the article. I openly asked my wife if it is possible to walk to Positano from Sorrento when we're there in 3 weeks. She gave me the same funny look she gave when I suggested we plan a trip to walk the length of Hadrian's Wall. I can walk forever when I'm on vacation.

Great article, thanks for posting (and sharing) Tammy. I feel the same way about walking - it's what I do when I have a problem or issue that I need to solve or decide on a course of action. I think better and more clearly when I walk. And I'm sure if other people see me out thinkwalking they probably think I'm insane because I will usually be talking to, or arguing with, myself - and I'm ashamed to say sometimes out loud which does make people shy away from you and look at you like some kind of kook. :)

For me Andrew McCarthy will always be the 'good' guy/hero of the movie Pretty in Pink. I've liked him as an actor but did not even know about his writing talent. Now I have to get his books and read them.

Oh wow. What a wonderful piece! So many quotable snippets in there!

Thank you so much for sharing and gifting it to the forum, Tammy!

(And yes, I'm sitting here thinking I need to go for a walk as it's beautiful today....up to 45 and the sun is shining, lol!! Yea spring!)

Oh and if I can walk near water, I'm so content. What has been a dry, neighborhood creekbed for the last few years has become a delightful babbling brook from all the rain. I feel like I won the walkers' lottery.

Great article, thanks for sharing!

And yes. :) I have walked out many a heartache. It is medicine for the soul.

This gave me the push I needed to get outside....walked along the lake here in CdA in the not-as-warm-as-you-think-it-might-be spring sunshine. Snow on the hills but none left down as low as town level.

Thanks again Tammy!

I’m glad you all enjoyed the article. I don’t walk outside much where I live because of snow and cold temps. On our trips, that is never a problem! I can’t wait for our big move to southern CA in a couple years. I plan to walk outside a lot more!

Thanks for sharing.
I couldn't agree more with everything said in the article.

I walk every morning - it's my antidepressant.

Thanks, Tammy. We are avid walkers—our motto is “will travel to hike”. Walking is what kept us sane and healthy during the pandemic. We live on an island with lost of parks and greenbelt space. We worked out routes of 6-9 miles mostly on forest trails through the parks, connected by short jaunts neighborhood streets. The walks included stops at one or more lakeside spots.

My favorite quote is from Charles Dickens:

“The sum of the whole is this: walk and be happy, walk and be healthy. The best way to lengthen out our days is to walk steadily and with a purpose. . . “

He spent 5 months in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1846, and apparently did a lot of walking there. It is a nice place to walk, indeed.

I love to walk too but like you, living in a northern climate has its pitfalls.

What pitfalls? It’s the best. I live in NYC and Manhattan is ideal for walking especially as we don’t have a car. We don’t need one. The cooler the temps, the more invigorating the walk! I walk at least 5 miles a day for work and appointments on weekdays unless it’s pouring. Talk about clearing one’s mind of clutter and coming up with answers to conundrums. It’s a great workout too especially when you’re walking hills.

I like this ode to walking. Thanks for sharing!

Continental, I guess I was talking more about the snow - there are few places around where I live that aren't covered with snow or ice, and even with my Yaktrax on, it can be tricky and I worry about falling. :)

I don't ignore the benefits of walking, and especially walking outdoors. As I live not even a handful degrees south of Mardee, we had a tough winter her with much snow and ice. This is a continental climate region so we don't have the influence of the Atlantic to moderate our winters.

A tough winter this, for walking; however, spring is starting to make its presence known. The weather's been much more cooperative, and I've been enjoying walks, immersing myself as nature awakens from its slumber.

Anybody remember the movie "The God's must be Crazy"? For some reason the article made me think of the anti-walkers like in the opening scene of the movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGqB1guIlkc

A tough winter this, for walking; however, spring is starting to make its presence known. The weather's been much more cooperative, and I've been enjoying walks, immersing myself as nature awakens from its slumber.

JG, hasn't it been great? The sun is out and it's above freezing! I walked several miles yesterday and a lot of deer making an appearance. Yesterday, I noticed a squirrel eagerly sucking the sap out of one of our birch trees. :)

As I live not even a handful degrees south of Mardee, we had a tough winter her with much snow and ice.

And, the hits just keep on coming and coming. My husband is a WCCO weather watcher, and he put a measuring stick in the snowbank along the driveway. It's still 3 1/2 feet deep and more snow is scheduled to arrive at 4:45 PM! He's out walking now at 47N, 93W.

Mardee, I've been spending a lot of days watching volleyball tournaments in your neck of the woods. I"m hoping EB is able to reopen by this weekend so I can make some returns.

Andrew McCarthy has a new travel book coming out https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538709201/ref=x_gr_bb_amazon?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_bb_amazon-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1538709201&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2