At WeekdayWarrior, we often get asked the question “instead of running 5 days in a row can I walk the distance?” and I was never quite sure how to answer.

Also, on a personal level, I’ve long wondered whether I’d be able to mentally feel like I’m on vacation if I’d remain near my neighborhood during leave. To me, it always feels like being somewhere unknown is a crucial element enabling mental relaxation. Therefore, if I’d walk 5 days in a row, could it feel like a multi-day hike abroad, similar to a full-on vacation?

After walking 5 marathons in my city, the answer to both questions were “kind of”.

In short, walking 5 days, 11 hours a day gave the same joys as usual. It’s hard at first, you slowly get used to it and by the end of it you gain a new level of confidence making you wish the adventure wasn’t over. Also, since you’re walking, you have more time available with locals to share more good chats and laughs, which is always great.

What I didn’t expect is how hard walking is. Surprisingly, it felt like I’d actually forgotten how to walk. I even had to watch a few YouTube videos to check whether I was doing it right. The conclusion I came to is that walking is itself a challenge, but in it’s own unique way. Additionally, no matter what the day was, there was always a reason (e.g. logistical cut-off) and a desire  to run a little bit as well. It all just feels a bit more natural when some running is involved too. Therefore, even if it became mostly a speedy walking challenge, there was always little bit of running too.

I was always inspired by a 100km race that I took part in where the race organizers had opened the event for both runners and walkers, which meant a whole different level of commitment from the race organizers since those who were walking needed aid stations to remain open for a much longer duration, while also needing access and guidance to camp during the journey. I was always struck by this because at first glance it feels like two different events were being organized at the same time, but it doesn’t take too long to realize that isn’t the case. When I was in Singapore completing ultras, contestants were shocked to hear I would run the whole event, where as they were there with their whole group of friends lightly jogging and walking the whole adventure. In short, I was the weird one because I thought I need to run the whole race. Whether you ran or walked, the distance was the same and it was likely you’d be always jogging bits of the route as well. All in all, its the distance that matters and the journey makes it worthwhile and memorable.

Did it feel like a vacation? A little bit, whenever you’re around your old neighborhood, it’s easy to still think about errands. However, the moment you cross old boundaries and enter new neighborhoods, it feels just like vacation. You talk to strangers, laugh with them and enjoy viewing everything new in your sight as if you were in the other side of the world. With a total of 210km walking, I saw a range of new towns, neighborhoods, parks and nature reserves and I was able to connect with more people as well. Overall, it’s possible to create that sense of vacation, you just have to be a bit more deliberate and explorative in a setting where it doesn’t come as naturally.

Few highlights from the adventure:

1) Saw many new surprisingly great nature reserves and parks. Even found a beaver sanctuary. Unfortunately, didn’t see any beavers.

2) Somehow found myself at local church open kitchen café while ending up laughing uncontrollably for an hour with a retired Indian bus driver as he non-stop described the perils of continuously working hard to cook for his adult children as well as being requested to prepare olive oil based gourmet standard food for his children’s pets. He paused for a moment to ask where I was from and took the opportunity to applaud the standard of Nordic politics.

3) Got to see Bruce Springsteen live in concert. As he asked us to dance to the music, I don’t think he appreciated how much I’d already been moving that week. Then again, Bruce is 74 and clearly looked like he was in better shape so I listened and followed orders.