In Covid, we walk
There’s nothing like a stroll to clear the mind and connect with nature, and it’s New Zealanders’ favourite activity by a huge margin. Richard Walker reports.
When the going got tough, Kiwis got walking. And the habit may have stuck. Walking was important for women faced with the stresses of Covid, says Waikato University sociologist Holly Thorpe, who has been researching women’s well-being during the pandemic.
‘‘During lockdowns, people really got out and got walking – people who wouldn’t usually get out and do that.’’
That has carried over after lockdown as stressful times have continued.
‘‘There’s been new habits that were formed and new joys and pleasures in the act of walking.’’
Her research is backed up by the annual Active NZ survey of people’s participation in play, active recreation and sport, carried out by Sport NZ.
In 2021, it showed 60% of adults 18 and older walking, well ahead of any other activity.
The number was up from 57% pre-pandemic, an increase Sport NZ describes as ‘‘significant’’. Slightly more women than men walked.
Often those walking during and after lockdowns have sought out nature, Thorpe says.
‘‘Many people during the lockdowns realised that walking is not just about that physical activity, or those physiological benefits of physical activity, many of them talked about the mental health benefits, the connection with the environment, seeing others out and about, those human connections.’’
People in the study also talked about getting to know their neighbourhood and neighbours in a different way.
Raglan man Steve Horne said he and his wife Val were already walkers preCovid but the pandemic changed the experience, partly because they had the road to themselves, in the absence of cars.
‘‘When we were speaking to people from a distance, they also had more time to talk and it was just a friendly interaction.’’
He remembers an impromptu chat in the middle of an intersection with a worker from the Raglan pub. ‘‘She was telling us about her life, her work, and we were sharing with her. In fact, we’ve never seen her since, but it was just one of those many interactions where you had time, it was quiet.’’
Horne said the couple’s routine includes an early morning walk, and then they often walk to cafes and to shop in the nearby town centre.
‘‘If we don’t really need to use the car, then let’s not grab the keys,’’ he said. The cost of petrol is also ‘‘top of mind’’, said Horne, who wrote an opinion piece for Stuff about the value of walking instead of driving. He said he is relishing the fact he is no longer commuting to work in Hamilton.
Thorpe said the pandemic has brought people’s appreciation of the various benefits of walking to the fore.
‘‘People walked before it, but I think the reasons people walk now have changed.’’
The research involved interviews initially with 37 women of varying backgrounds and ages, and is being extended to cover 100 women in total.
Recognition of the value of walking has even spilled over into interview techniques, with researchers sometimes conducting interviews while walking with the study participants.
‘‘When you’re out and about with somebody, the things you talk about, and the things that you reflect upon, are quite different than if you sat down and had an interview in an office.’’