I thought I'd post it here so I don't change my mind. It's only about 1.5 miles round trip, so there's no reason not to except that one road is fairly busy with no side walk and another road is extremely busy with no side walk. The first is in my neighborhood and no big deal. The second is outside the neighborhood, but there is a patch of grass people walk in. Since moving here just a few months ago, I've noticed several neighbors coming and going on foot with shopping bags in hand, so it appears I will not be the only one. It can be done. I'm a little nervous given traffic but I think it will be ok. After all, I've been in the car and have seen people walking and never had any fear I'd hit them. So I imagine it will be just fine. The fear comes from the fact that the main road leads right to the interstate and I'll end up within feet of the entrance ramp. That's what makes me nervous. It's a very congested area.

We are just so blessed to live where we do. The neighborhood is so quiet and serene you'd think we were in the country, but if I just walk out of the neighborhood, it's a budding metropolis! LOL! I want to take advantage of the fact that everything is within walking distance. I just wish it were slightly safer walking distance.

Good for you! Since moving to Europe I have started doing that too, I don't really have an option, and yes it is quite terrifying the first couple times cars go whooshing by... but you will be fine!

I think you will really enjoy the walk! I bringing a backpack with me - mostly because here they charge you roughly 50 cents per plastic bag, but it's also MUCH easier to lug everything home. Maybe you would find that helpful! You never really realize how heavy it is until you get out on the road!

I'm going to cycle to the grocery store
(mind you, that's not really news, everyone does round here )

I often think about Europe and how everyone walks everywhere there. It's really too bad the U.S. is poorly set up that way. We have a bike path right across the street from our neighborhood and we have to drive to it (!). How insane is that? I could maybe cross the street by myself, but there is no way I'd do it with my little ducklings. So we pack their bikes into the car and drive 0.5 miles to the bike path. That's just wrong.

I plan to take a backpack. Thanks for the advice! It takes me back to college days when my only choice was to walk.

Congratulations on deciding to walk to the grocery! I'm sure you will be fine!

When I worked in Maryland I would do the same thing with loading the kids and bikes up just to go somewhere close and bike. We lived right off a highway so it wasn't smart or safe to bike across it (especially with young kids!).

You could take pics along the way to show us! Keep ya motivated, right? Kudos to you for doing it. I hope you're not buying too much!

I don't walk to the store right now - we have snow and slush and there may be sidewalks under all of that somewhere but we won't see them anytime soon. But in the summer I love to walk to the store or the farmer's market. The re-usable grocery bags have long enough handles to go over your shoulder and they're not bad to carry.

I picked my location specifically because it was walkable to so many places - a playground, the library and a shopping area with restaurants, a great toy store and other fun stores plus a supermarket. I don't do my full weekly shopping but most weekends, my 5 year old and I will walk over and pick up a few things. I think it's great that I can model this sort of "activity as a part of normal life" for him. When we leave the house, he usually asks if we are going to walk to wherever we are going, even if it's somewhere that's a bit too far to realistically walk.

Update:

I did it! And the Daily Plate can not possibly accurately estimate how many calories I just burned.

Getting there was no problem. I felt great! This isn't too bad, said I. This is great! Everyone should do this. Then I loaded myself down with a 5 lb bag of sugar, 2 gallons of milk, eggs, spaghetti sauce, frozen chicken, a bag of oranges, a bag of apples, yogurt, romaine lettuce, and honey. Oh my! I got home and weighed myself. LOL! I carried 41 lbs home! Wow though. I've lost 30 lbs so that is just 10 lbs more than I used to weigh. That was really hard lugging all that weight back from the store.

I'm so glad I did it!!

PM, that's great. I used to live in a place like that, when I was growing up. As an 8 year old my mom used to send me out by myself for stamps, milk, to the park, etc. My girlfriend and I used to walk to the diner for a milkshake and fries. And no, it wasn't in the 50's. I miss that.

Our current location would be perfect if only it had side walks. Everything is at our fingertips just like you describe, but the trek is a bit dangerous. And people look at you like you're homeless. I don't like that.

I am not fortunate enough to live somewhere that I can walk everywhere I go. When I was in high school I worked in a grocery store and it was the closest store of any kind to my house. One day I got off early and decided to walk home. It took me an hour and a half.

On the other hand, I am fortunate to live on a neighborhood where I can go out and walk and jog anytime, and not have to worry about traffic. I love where I live.

Good for you! I am sure that after the first couple times the traffic won't scare you. It will just take some getting used to.

Utgirl, I'm impressed that you once decided to walk home from school. That sounds like it was quite a hike! I didn't know how lucky I was then. I lived 2 miles from school and road the bus, but if I missed the bus it was no big deal. I just walked. I frequently missed the bus after school just hanging out and talking with friends. And then I walked home. It was nice.

I'm glad you have a place within the neighborhood. I can walk in my neighborhood too, but it's an ankle twister. No side walks, just the tube like curb, if that makes sense. It's rounded.

I LOVE walking around to do my errands. I do it ALL the time, every single day in fact, usually multiple times. I'm fortunate that if I have a HUGE order of groceries or I should say produce, they will deliver it to me.

My main stores are too far (I'd love the walk, but the food wouldn't), but I have a regular supermarket about a half mile away, and I love to walk to and from that when I'm just missing a couple things.

Good for you for walking to the store! And what an revelation that must have been, to feel how heavy those groceries were on the way back, and to realize you've lost almost that much weight, that you used to be carrying all the time!