MIND OVER MATTER

THERE is no shortage of accounts of long-distance walks changing lives, the tales of which are often powerful enough to end up the subject of a book or movie. Cheryl Strayed famously resolved grief and addiction on the Pacific Crest Trail in Wild, Anthony Sharwood realised epiphanies about the state of the environment on his journey on the Australian Alps Walking Track in From Snow to Ash, and I personally overcame anxiety and a lack of self-belief through hiking New Zealand’s Te Araroa Trail, documented in Bewildered.

If tales of life-changing walks are starting to sound like a familiar storyline, there is a reason for it. Walking in nature is incredibly powerful. It’s a combination of simple living, fresh air, peace and quiet, and the rare opportunity to be distanced from society and everything that goes with it. It doesn’t have to be a long walk