The Walking Vacation

Walking is always recommend as a great way to exercise and stay healthy – especially walking outside. Walking is a safe and easy choice – even if you need to walk slowly or you use a wheelchair or walker, getting outside for a “walk” is great for both your physical and mental health. If you take an early morning walk (within 2 hours of waking up) you get exposure to natural light and it regulates your mood, hunger and body temperature. Walking outside reduces the symptoms of SAD by releasing serotonin – so try a 30 minute early morning, light, brisk walk to some music with a good beat.

Running downhill or walking briskly downstairs stretches and elongates your muscles – like doing yoga or Pilates and it helps with flexibility, muscle mass, bone density and strength. It is recommended that we walk 10,000 steps a day (12.000 is best) and that we sit for no more than 3 hours in a row.

During our last vacation to Portugal and Spain, we walking 190,000 steps in about 12 days (not so many on the days we travelled) – that is about 15,000 steps a day (up and down a LOT of hills). We always seem to walk a LOT on our vacations. In British Columbia, we have walked 60,000 steps in 5 days. Walking is the antidote to sedentariness – sounds simple? Just breathe and walk. Walking contributes to better body mechanics (less pain), better feet, circulation, sleep, brain function and stress control. We often avoid taking transit, taking a taxi or Uber or renting a car while on vacation by simply walking (and often dragging some suitcases along).

Written by Pam