Yahoo News Why it's time to take a walk on the wild side
Most Sundays I go for a walk with my best friend Ted. It started as a way of resolving a perennial argument about which café is equidistant from our houses, but it soon became ritual. Walking is cheaper than brunch, less guilt-inducing than a pint, and even though we amble around at snails pace, it just about counts as exercise. Plus, “we always have better conversations when we’re trudging around Clissold Park or Woodberry Wetlands” Ted reminds me. “It helps us set the world to rights.” We’re not the only ones donning our trainers. A YouGov poll conducted in 2018 found that 49 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds are walking for leisure — much higher than in previous years — with 54 per cent of young adults taking a recreational walk at least once a week. In the past few years, what was once considered the activity of choice for retirees has experienced something of a renaissance among younger generations.
From the National Trust publishing a guide to “forest bathing” — a Japanese practice involving walking through woodland to promote positive mental wellbeing — to the proliferation of “urban rambling” groups around the capital, walking has finally found its cool. For an overwhelmingly cash-strapped and health-conscious generation, walking and hiking provides a cheap way for young people to socialise, stay fit and experience some of the positive mental health benefits associated with outdoor pursuits.
Like all good fitness trends, LA is ground zero for the millennial hiking obsession. From Kourtney Kardashian pacing around Runyon Canyon to Amanda Seyfried halfway up a mountain and Miley Cyrus and Kate Hudson posting shots in the great outdoors, social media is plastered with evidence that celebrities love hiking.
The fashion industry, of course, is taking note. This season London-based brand Shrimps sent models down the AW20 catwalk ready to face the elements in regal coats, paired with renegade hiking boots, while Grenson’s Nanette pair have become highly sought after with the capital’s style set. Last year Loewe launched Eye, a diffusion line of outdoor essentials including rucksacks and waterproof jackets, while outdoor brands such as Patagonia and North Face — once perceived as being for mountain climbers and ski instructors — continue to be co-opted by a whole new demographic of young, urban millennials.
“Hiking is no longer about zip-off brown pants, it’s about versatility” says Amanda Calder-McLaren, Europe, the Middle East and Africa brands communication director for The North Face. “Yes, there has to be an element of functionality, but it’s about looking and feeling good.” While many of these pieces may never actually make it on a “proper” walk,it’s a clear marker of hiking’s influence in fashion and beyond. For Calder-McLaren, young Londoners are taking up walking for a number of reasons. “There’s the intensity of the city, the stressful, ‘always on’ culture. We’re so dependent on tech, that people need a breath of fresh air; they’re looking for escapism”.
As more young people swap going out for going out on a walk, rambling groups and hiking crews are proliferating across the capital. The Metropolitan Walkers — specifically aimed at those in their twenties and thirties — is one of many targeting young walkers, organising evening and weekend hikes. In 2016, journalist Bryony Gordon came up with the idea of creating a group where like-minded people with mental health issues could get together and realise they weren’t alone. A walk, she reasoned, was the perfect opportunity, and as a result of a single tweet, Mental Health Mates was launched. The next month Gordon and 20 others met at the Serpentine. Now it is a global network of peer support groups, governed by the belief that “a walk and a talk” can have benefits.
Neuroscientist Shane O’Mara agrees. In his recent book, In Praise of Walking, he argues GPs should encourage us to talk at least 5,000 steps a day. O’Mara conducted extensive research, discovering a wealth of benefits from improved cognitive skills to a decrease in anxiety levels. He writes: “Walking is good for the body, good for the brain and, good for society at large.”
