"Going for a walk" is great, when you can do it.

Based on my experiences when I visited the USA, with sidewalks in most of the states I visited suddenly stopping for no apparent reason forcing me to re-trace my steps and take a different route, or with many road crossings feeling so dangerous that I was seriously tempted to take a taxi even for really small distances[0]? There's plenty of places where the city designers make this unnecessarily hard.

One of the reasons I chose Berlin over San Francisco when I was deciding how to show the ultimate lawful middle finger to UK politics, was that I like walking.

[0] it's only the 0.4 miles from the The Cupertino Hotel to 1 Infinite Loop, but ten lanes on the North De Anza Boulevard and 2/3 on the on/off ramps connecting it with the Junipero Serra Freeway is terrifying.

Very true, especially in the specifics IMO. The friction getting to a park is non trivial in that area too.

I was staying in the Holiday Inn Express at Dubai airport the other day, which is less than 400m from the entrance to Terminal 3 at that same airport (and the metro station located there), making it a convenient hotel for my few days in Dubai.

What I hadn't noticed was that there is a major road inbetween, and that the walking time, according to Google Maps, is 92 minutes, covering a distance of 6.8km! So yeah, I took a taxi...

Agreed about Cupertino but San Francisco is very walkable!

That's what I meant about human being biased to that attitude.

We technically have a choice, but practically, our biology and social context make one path very attractive.

I used to not have a tv by choice and go on walks all the time as I had nothing to do. I stopped doing it as it became weird and lonely past a certain point and age. There’s nothing quite like seeing people out in the world with purpose while shambling without even a real destination. Turns out humans are pretty good at avoiding unpleasant experiences and watch tv for a reason.

Opiate of the masses is descriptive. Lately it seems more like amphetamines though.

You began feeling uncomfortable going on a walk by yourself after a certain age?

I don't think that's a common experience. I'm in my 30's and love wandering aimlessly though a city or somewhere in nature. I doubt that will change as I continue to age.

TBH I'm mostly doing it to try and get back to shape. Too fat to run without stressig my joints, so walking/hiking is the next best part.

can feel a bit lonely seeing other groups pass by. But you see your app tell you you got 4 miles in and burned 800 calories and you realize that you're progressing.