Solvitur Ambulando — this vegan life

The hill near home, giving a gift to those who rise with the sun.

In January, oh January, that joyously blissful time B.C. (before Covid), I set myself a challenge to walk 1000km in 2020. I wasn’t a huge fan of walking and certainly didn’t incorporate it into every one of my days, but given some sunshine and a rare free weekend, I’d pop up the hill near our home. On holiday, Gaz and I hiked up the odd volcano or mountain, but it wasn’t My Thing.

But, if you know me at all, you know I love to challenge myself. There are, at any one time, at least 17 challenges going on in my head. It’s noisy in there.

Yet to discover 6am or 10,000 steps a day, I was behind schedule by the end of January. ‘I’ll have to spend entire weekends walking at this rate!’ I complained to myself, for I only have myself to blame for the rules.

We got ourselves Garmin smartwatches, but like all technology I avoided learning how to use it, thinking it was just another bit of kit Gaz loved and I felt was entirely unnecessary.

And then… the watch on my wrist became my greatest motivator. Firstly, with a diss. ‘You lead a sedentary lifestyle,’ it told me. Er, you what mate?

So I upped my game. Soon, Garmin was showering me in praise. ‘Great job today!’ it would say. ‘Five day streak!’ and my personal favourite: ‘You are fitter than 99% of active users.’

And then came lockdown.

With a diary as empty as the quarantined streets, I fell in love with the mind-altering joy of walking. Solvitur Ambulando is Latin for “it is solved by walking” and I don’t know where I heard it but I’m thinking of having it tattooed on my walking feet. Walking made everything better.

1000km in 2020? Pah! I’m on course to walk 4000km this year.

Yes, Gaz and I invented a game where we start at opposite ends of the kitchen table and chase each other until one of us (him) catches the other. It is a fun way to clock up steps without feeling like you’re just walking around the kitchen table like a loon.

In Scotland during the Lockdown Sandwich, I even managed to walk 10,000 steps when I had a tummy bug and had spent the night vomiting in the shower cubicle of our motorhome.

Scotland is, in the words of a chap we passed on the Quiraing Loop, Isle of Skye, outrageous. I read somewhere: ‘Holidays require relaxation, control, mastery experiences and mental detachment. They are like vitamins in a nourishing meal. Without these, holidays are empty calories.’ Scotland served up a bounty of nourishment for the soul.

On Salisbury Plain with my friend Antonia, I was so happy when she lost her car keys, requiring us to retrace our steps, then retrace our retraced steps back to the lunch spot, where we found the keys. What a DELIGHTFUL bunch of added steps! This day remains my Personal Best, at 35.5km and 44,200 steps. I love Antonia for it.

I walked with some family members (but not enough), some friends (but not enough). I walked alone (surprisingly glorious!), I walked at sunrise and sunset. I walked with Henry, our neighbour’s dog. I walked as summer gave way to autumn, the clocks changed and darkness descended.

When I set myself the challenge to walk 1000km, I had no idea 2020 was going to turn out to be such a diva. Without walks, I’d be crying into a pint of wine by now. The nights have drawn in, the fun is over and winter is here. Barring injury, I’ll keep on walking. I think it’s made me a better person, although sometimes when I’m circling the kitchen table I do wonder.