PERSPECTIVE WALKS

It’s easy to get caught up in the noise and difficulty of life, but really none of it means anything. The real world is the world that has been there forever, sprouting new leaves and eroding incrementally with every wave. I like to remind myself that my time here is brief, and so why wouldn’t I try to focus on the stuff that is real – hills, cliffs, trees – and allow myself to get caught up in that side of life instead?

A few years ago, after a severe depressive episode forced me to leave my job in the city, I decided to walk alone, unaided, 3,000 miles around the British mainland. At the time, my decision to do this felt like a necessary escape from the noise of the city, but pretty soon into my ‘lap of Britain’ I realised just how much I needed mental space as well as physical, and spent many of my days in a state of quiet introspection.

GOING SOLO

I like walking alone, but not because I don’t like people. I love people. I’m a peoplepleaser, in fact, which means that I both crave people’s company and find being around people incredibly draining. It’s complicated – which is probably why I like walking alone.

Even so, in certain situations, being alone can be quite difficult, and make me feel (if my alone-time is dominated by thumbing through my Instagram feed) like a bit of a loser.

A solitary walk, however, makes me value the time I have to myself and, crucially, gives me time to recharge and be ready to be around people again – without it taking too much of my energy.

Jake Tyler is a mental health advocate, broadcaster and author of A Walk from the Wild Edge: A Journey of Self-discovery and Human Connection (Michael Joseph, £16.99). Listen to highlights of Jake’s radio show

Open Up on BBC Sounds. bbc.in/2Rn97PT