My son has lived in Japan for almost 30 yeaers, and I've been 16 or 17 times (one loses count!). When folks ask me why I like Japan, I tell them, "It's a teamwork society." If I get a puzzled look, I tell them that (in general) Japan works like a symphony orchestra or a sports team without "star" grandstanding. Sometimes that helps them understand. It's not that the US doesn't have a lot of teamwork thinking, but rather that consumerism is eroding our sense of commonality. We're either (or both) consumers (me, me, me) or producers (more production or you're out on the curb!) Sad to see a nation turn into nothing but 'individuals' whose lives are judged by simplistic criteria.
Thank you Chris. I realize that is why I have thrown myself into a social practice, aikido, for the last three years, and another one, salsa dancing, in the last 3 months. It helps to ground one's self in reality, to engage with people one would never meet otherwise. It's the perfect antidote to someone who has to think at a desk for a living. You've given me the idea that since walking the world alone is more difficult for a female, then traveling the world for these same sports/arts would be a wonderful parallel.
The very beginning of your post, the line about needing your three hours like a monk needs their prayers stayed with me. I've been living nomadically for a year now and walking is the one thing that I do everywhere and the few places I didn't feel safe, my entire stay was off. Walking has always been my best medicine.
You've inspired me to explore places I've never thought of going, and now the Faroe Islands are top of my list. I'll take magical any day. Thank you for your beautiful writing and inspiration.
very nice! I would change "provide" to "afford" a fulfilling life. afford as in affordance. perhaps a subtle difference, but my point is that individual agency is what makes individual freedom important. so don't provide me, but let me be able to go get or do it. you realize this I think, since what could be more agentic than walking the world and writing about it as well as you do.
One of the things I like about blog is actually the fact that I often disagree with you.
Brussels? can be great if you go for walks outside the city center and get a chance to explore the neighborhoods.
Montreal? a generic North American city with a tense mood and annoying pretenses of Frenchness.
Salt Lake City? A walkable and aesthetically pleasing city center with a gorgeous mountain backdrop + being able to hop on my bike on be on a hiking trail in 15 min.
I also think the "communal" nature and café culture of Western European cities is overstated.
And yet I always look forward to reading about your travels. I wish there was more of a "disagreement=interesting" instead of "disagreement=bad".
This is so beautiful! I've had reoccurring dreams about the Faroe Islands and through a news article that matched the exact image I saw in my dream- found out about the Faroes. It is my dream to go. Literally came on here and typed in "Faroe Islands" and your page came up. I think what you're doing is incredible. I'm low-key jealous but excited to follow your page and live vicariously through you.
Hey, Chris! A quick question, if I may. My wife, like you, needs to walk every day like a monk needs to pray. (I think she's good for about 10 miles or so a day). We love to travel, but the transit can be brutal because of all the sitting! What do you do to deal with having to be sedentary for such long periods of time?
Congrats on four years! I always look forward to your writing. Now, my intrusive question is: how do you afford to constantly travel? Does most of the money come from your time on Wall Street, or is Substack now a sufficient revenue source?
What do you think could serve as the telos for western lowercase-L liberals? I feel in the US, at least after 2000 up until now or so, trying to define that has been an argument over what patriotism, or what an interpretation of American history looks like and for whom.
Hi Chris, in terms of countries and food, one omission must be Spain. I've eaten wonderfully in Spain, but the only long walk I've done was a couple of weeks on the Camino.
I seem to recall that you have done a part, or maybe all of the Camino, but for me that wasn't a great eating experience until we got to Santiago Di Compostella.
Like you I would always put Italy top but I've walked and eaten there every year barring lockdowns for quite a few now.
Your description of AL TASTE really speaks to me. We have a favorite restaurant here in Rome that has good food, but certainly not the best. For us, the entire experience is what brings us back. They choose what we eat, the service is beautifully chaotic, and they maintain a surprising level of consistency, but I wouldn't bring a friend there because I doubt they would appreciate it.
Four years ago, after Dignity and too much time doom-scrolling through Covid isolation, Chris Arnade put down his phone and started walking ten miles a day. What began as exercise became ritual — “like a monk needs their prayers” — restoring his health, attention, and sense of purpose. From there, the walks stretched across borders: Seoul and Tokyo, Lombardy and the Faroe Islands, Avignon and Lima.
Asked about favorites, Arnade admits Seoul is the city he keeps returning to, Tokyo the most walkable, the Faroe Islands the most magical. The best meals weren’t Michelin but ceviche in a Lima market, pizza on a sloped French plaza, or a trattoria in Chiari where warmth mattered more than refinement.
His larger point: travel is worth it. Not for influencer-style self-branding, but because place teaches you what policy papers never can — how people live, what makes life fulfilling, and why cultures need something transcendent to hold them together. Walking became his philosophy: slow enough to see, humble enough to listen.
Congratulations on the 4-years!!! Your writings remind me of my Dad, who traveled the world and "lived with the people"(as he would say) because that's what he loved to do, no other reason. Thanks for helping me keep that memory of him alive! Keep walking and writing, I'll keep reading👊🏾💯
My son has lived in Japan for almost 30 yeaers, and I've been 16 or 17 times (one loses count!). When folks ask me why I like Japan, I tell them, "It's a teamwork society." If I get a puzzled look, I tell them that (in general) Japan works like a symphony orchestra or a sports team without "star" grandstanding. Sometimes that helps them understand. It's not that the US doesn't have a lot of teamwork thinking, but rather that consumerism is eroding our sense of commonality. We're either (or both) consumers (me, me, me) or producers (more production or you're out on the curb!) Sad to see a nation turn into nothing but 'individuals' whose lives are judged by simplistic criteria.
Thank you Chris. I realize that is why I have thrown myself into a social practice, aikido, for the last three years, and another one, salsa dancing, in the last 3 months. It helps to ground one's self in reality, to engage with people one would never meet otherwise. It's the perfect antidote to someone who has to think at a desk for a living. You've given me the idea that since walking the world alone is more difficult for a female, then traveling the world for these same sports/arts would be a wonderful parallel.
The very beginning of your post, the line about needing your three hours like a monk needs their prayers stayed with me. I've been living nomadically for a year now and walking is the one thing that I do everywhere and the few places I didn't feel safe, my entire stay was off. Walking has always been my best medicine.
You've inspired me to explore places I've never thought of going, and now the Faroe Islands are top of my list. I'll take magical any day. Thank you for your beautiful writing and inspiration.
very nice! I would change "provide" to "afford" a fulfilling life. afford as in affordance. perhaps a subtle difference, but my point is that individual agency is what makes individual freedom important. so don't provide me, but let me be able to go get or do it. you realize this I think, since what could be more agentic than walking the world and writing about it as well as you do.
One of the things I like about blog is actually the fact that I often disagree with you.
Brussels? can be great if you go for walks outside the city center and get a chance to explore the neighborhoods.
Montreal? a generic North American city with a tense mood and annoying pretenses of Frenchness.
Salt Lake City? A walkable and aesthetically pleasing city center with a gorgeous mountain backdrop + being able to hop on my bike on be on a hiking trail in 15 min.
I also think the "communal" nature and café culture of Western European cities is overstated.
And yet I always look forward to reading about your travels. I wish there was more of a "disagreement=interesting" instead of "disagreement=bad".
This is so beautiful! I've had reoccurring dreams about the Faroe Islands and through a news article that matched the exact image I saw in my dream- found out about the Faroes. It is my dream to go. Literally came on here and typed in "Faroe Islands" and your page came up. I think what you're doing is incredible. I'm low-key jealous but excited to follow your page and live vicariously through you.
Am in Taipei. Are you headed to taitung?
Hey, Chris! A quick question, if I may. My wife, like you, needs to walk every day like a monk needs to pray. (I think she's good for about 10 miles or so a day). We love to travel, but the transit can be brutal because of all the sitting! What do you do to deal with having to be sedentary for such long periods of time?
Congrats on four years! I always look forward to your writing. Now, my intrusive question is: how do you afford to constantly travel? Does most of the money come from your time on Wall Street, or is Substack now a sufficient revenue source?
Good shit, bro.
Those chirashi dons in Sapporo are straight 🔥, as the kids would say. Or maybe they don't even say that any more—I am getting old.
I think you should walk the South Wales Valleys.
What do you think could serve as the telos for western lowercase-L liberals? I feel in the US, at least after 2000 up until now or so, trying to define that has been an argument over what patriotism, or what an interpretation of American history looks like and for whom.
But I’m not sure that’s the case now.
Also anytime you fancy doing the England Welsh borders let me know.
Hi Chris, in terms of countries and food, one omission must be Spain. I've eaten wonderfully in Spain, but the only long walk I've done was a couple of weeks on the Camino.
I seem to recall that you have done a part, or maybe all of the Camino, but for me that wasn't a great eating experience until we got to Santiago Di Compostella.
Like you I would always put Italy top but I've walked and eaten there every year barring lockdowns for quite a few now.
Maybe you'll add Spain in to future plans.
Your description of AL TASTE really speaks to me. We have a favorite restaurant here in Rome that has good food, but certainly not the best. For us, the entire experience is what brings us back. They choose what we eat, the service is beautifully chaotic, and they maintain a surprising level of consistency, but I wouldn't bring a friend there because I doubt they would appreciate it.
Four Years of Walking the World
Four years ago, after Dignity and too much time doom-scrolling through Covid isolation, Chris Arnade put down his phone and started walking ten miles a day. What began as exercise became ritual — “like a monk needs their prayers” — restoring his health, attention, and sense of purpose. From there, the walks stretched across borders: Seoul and Tokyo, Lombardy and the Faroe Islands, Avignon and Lima.
Asked about favorites, Arnade admits Seoul is the city he keeps returning to, Tokyo the most walkable, the Faroe Islands the most magical. The best meals weren’t Michelin but ceviche in a Lima market, pizza on a sloped French plaza, or a trattoria in Chiari where warmth mattered more than refinement.
His larger point: travel is worth it. Not for influencer-style self-branding, but because place teaches you what policy papers never can — how people live, what makes life fulfilling, and why cultures need something transcendent to hold them together. Walking became his philosophy: slow enough to see, humble enough to listen.
Congratulations on the 4-years!!! Your writings remind me of my Dad, who traveled the world and "lived with the people"(as he would say) because that's what he loved to do, no other reason. Thanks for helping me keep that memory of him alive! Keep walking and writing, I'll keep reading👊🏾💯