Thoughts that come as you take a Walk: Travelling Old Style

I Admit. I love to walk. 

I get to notice all kinds of people and places when I walk than through bike riding. Intricate places, nooks and corners, sweet smells, nasty smells, loving couples, sighting guys, barking dogs, dogs wagging tails, following dogs, dead ends, good roads, bad roads, worst roads, churches, temples, Buses, Places, Hospitals, Parks.

But that’s not why I walk. 

It all started on a day; A day in which I was frustrated. I don’t remember the strangeness of thought I had at that time. All that echoes back in my mind now was that, I was having my lunch alone in a hotel and I was angry about something. 

I had to go to a place which I did not like much. There was time, a little bit of time remaining and I took a purposefully longer path to reach what could have been reached at a small fraction of the time I actually took.

I walked my first kilometre in autopilot; I did not recognise anything other than the thoughts of my pensive mind at that time.I took turns; turns I did not take on purpose. I had to wail away some time; that was my objective.

I kept walking further.

Just like I struggle with my laziness for getting up after the alarm clock, I got too Lazy for me to stop walking. All I had to do was send a mini signal to my legs to stop.

My legs continued to walk. Consciousness started to dawn in on me. I now saw myself in an unknown place;I did not know where and which turn I took. I was lost. I liked it. It was uncomfortable, but I was in control.

I get a superiority feeling every time I am able to find my way back home after getting lost in streets; a feeling that nothing can happen beyond my control; nothing will mess with me. This feeling paradoxically gives me pleasure.

It’s not the distance that concerns me; a minimum of 4 km would be a considerable distance to get lost locally by walking. But sometimes, I take this wander challenge where I walk in one direction, as long as I could take it. Then I use a bus to come back home (There was always some way to come back home if not a bus :P).

When people around me find out that I have been walking distances, they find it difficult to digest and start advising me. It’s weird for me to think, some people believe that sitting 12 hours in an office cubicle or writing 42 exams per semester more normal than walking 4 km aimlessly.

Today, I was walking back home when a guy asked me directions to reach a place which was 13.7 km away (I found the exact distance on Google maps later). I gave him the directions and the sequence of buses he had to take (There were no direct buses). He smirked that, he needed no bus routes and would want to reach the place walking because he had no money. I was a bit both disappointed and honoured.

I showed him a direction through which he started walking and I started on my journey back home with a quizzical confused look. 

Then I sat down and wrote this post and hey, now you are reading it. You are done. Clap your hands and congratulate yourself.