Walk WITH NEW PURPOSE

There’s always something new to find in your local area! We look at some ways you can inject a fresh perspective in your daily walk

With many national parks and beauty spots closed to visitors, we’ve all been asked to keep our walks closer to home – and keep a safe distance from others at all times, but if you’re treading the same path every day how can you keep it interesting? Well, simply walking yet paying closer attention to everyday sights, sounds and smells can help you feel more grounded and less anxious for a start. And, even better, you can take this mindful walking one step further says Rob Walker, author of The Art of Noticing (Penguin).

“You’re not going to suddenly discover an historical monument,” Rob says, “it’s the more modest everyday details you want to seek out and enjoy.”

Here are some of Rob’s tips of what to look out for and some fun ideas to try…

1 In reverse

If you do the same circular walk often, simply going around the other way instead can give you a whole fresh perspective and help you spot new things.

2 Scavenger hunt

This is not just for children! Before you leave the house write a list of things you hope to see (such as a seagull, a postbox, a green car, a pine cone) and tick them off as you spot them. The more adventurous and eclectic the list is, the better you’ll use your observation skills. Why not swap lists with a friend and see how well you do?

3 Local heroes

There are almost certainly memorial plaques in your local area that you haven’t noticed, whether it’s the official Blue Plaques commemorating someone famous or an inscription for a local notable above a factory door or church gate.

4 Make a video guide

use Pretend you’re a tourist and your mobile phone to capture video footage of your daily selfconscious, walk and, if you’re not too provide your own the audio commentary. Seeing of journey through the eyes a a tour guide could give you share new perspective. Why not friend the video with an online and ask them to do the same?

5 Test yourself

Choose a landmark (a building, for example) that you pass frequently. Before you set off for your walk, write down everything you can remember about your chosen view – think about textures, colours, scale, materials. Take the paper with you when you next pass it by and see how accurate your memory was.

6 History lessons

If you’re in a city, have a closer look at the buildings around you. How To Read Building,s by Carol Davidson Cragoe (Herbert Press) is a great crash course in architecture. Take it out and about and you’ll soon start to decode the history of local buildings.

7 Keep counting

Each time you go out choose one thing and see how many of these you can count on a single journey. For example, how many Neighbourhood Watch signs can you spy on one walk? Next time, choose something different – such as security cameras, dogs, solar panels and so on.

8 Countdown

Look for numbers as you pass: on lampposts, car registrations, delivery vans, front doors and so on. Set yourself the task of photographing them in order starting at 1 until you reach 100. And no cheating and snapping number three before number two!