Hi everyone...I'm new here so a big HI
I don't know if this idea has been brought up before but, I'll throw it out anyways. I'm ordering my new treadmill today, it should come next week, and I'm actually excited!
I love walking but, due to a social phobia (I am being medicated), I don't get out as often as I'd love to walk. Walking relaxes me and I drift off into my own little world. I started thinking of ideas to make my walking a little more fun and inspiritional.
I came across "Fat Man Walking" which is about an obese man who trekked across the country to lose weight and change his life. I know there is some disagreement about whether he did it or not but, that is not really important here. The idea is important.
When my treadmill comes, I'm going to print off a map of America with the capital cities highlighted and hang it on my corkboard. Then I am going to pick a starting point (like my homestate capital) and pick a second destination (like the state capital of the next state over). Example: Lansing, Michigan to Columbus, Ohio. Then if you use "MSN maps", "Google maps" or as the crow flies "How far is it? at Indo.com" you can see how far it is to that destination. According to "How far is it?" it is 205 miles (329 km) from Lansing to Columbus.
Everyday when I exercise on my treadmill I will mark down how many miles I have walked. When I have reached 205 miles then I could put a pin in Columbus and say I walked from Lansing to Columbus! Then I will pick another destination to work at, so on and so forth.
It's a long term project but, I think it is going to be fun. It will be quite the conversation piece to say that I walked enough to reach these destinations. It will also give me inspiration (since I don't get out often anyways) and give me a goal to work towards. In my mind, I actually can travel to these places
I thought I would share the idea in case anyone else would like to go on a journey as well. The idea can be adjusted to your needs. Don't use a treadmill? Then write down how many miles you walked outside. Can't walk far in a day? Or a week? Oh well, take your time, the map will wait for you! Even if you can only walk 1 mile a day, in 205 days you will reach Columbus.
Don't want to travel America? Change the destinations to whatever you wish. Walk across Europe, Canada, South America, the World, wherever you want.
And it is a long term project. Something you could work at for months or years. It is something you can incorporate into your new healthy style of living. And imagine the sense of satisfaction you will feel when you can look at your map and see all the "places" that you walked to.
I'm definitely going to do it. If anyone else wants to try it, enjoy it please!
I'm starting my journey!
Take care,
Goldana
Walk across the country on the treadmill!
