Hi Chris, just became familiar with your work. I also love to walk and agreed with many things in this post.
I'm currently walking 10 East Coast cities over the course of 30 days, starting in Boston and ending in Miami. I'm taking the Amtrak in-between cities. I've been writing about it everyday, you may find interest:
Loved this. I’ve unconsciously taken the approach of walking new cities during my trips and now want to think of it as a more mindful way of travelling and so happening upon your blog has been inspiring. I’m also a photography enthusiast so seeing you team this up with that too is a great way of bringing together two passions. The documentary and almost environmental style of those really helps give you a feel of the local life and how people live in their environments. I love all the simplicity of how you strip everything back too, again helping that “presence” mindset and the ability for you to connect and see. Thank you
Thank you Chris. I similarly remember being moved when I wandered alone in parts of Jakarta, Bombay and Bangkok, places alien to me. I never felt unsafe. I remember some men in a street market pantomiming my ugly waddle-walk as I walked towards them - all for a good laugh. Maybe that's why no one ever bothered me, I was too strange, and thank goodness.
On the question of safety.... In general the most dangerous places to walk are the Official Walking Zones, the trails set aside by cities for walking. Predators view those trails as convenience stores. Almost any neighborhood is safer than the official trails. Neighborhoods have very few unwatched and unoccupied places where a predator can hang around and wait. Standing on a front lawn or a driveway is impossible. There's always somebody going to work or coming home or mowing the lawn or peeking out the window.
Hi Chris, I strongly recommend you do a walking tour of Tangier, in Morocco. Not only does it have a very rich William Burroughs/Beatnik/Rolling Stones history, and a blend of Arab, Berber, French, and Spanish influences... it also serves as an excellent launching point for day trips to Chefchaouen (a nearby famous mountain village known for its blue paint and being the unofficial hash capital of the world, visited by Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Mick Jagger), as well as Andalucía and Gibraltar visible across the Mediterranean Sea, only 9 miles across the water and a short ferry ride away. Anthony Bourdain did a superb episode of Parts Unknown in Tangier. (Season 1 Episode 5).
Terrific. I love to drive and often take long road trips. I purposely avoid interstate highways so I can go thru small town, stopping at the local diner, post office, or church cemetery. I often take a walk thru the town square. I've walked a lot of small towns and met lot of interesting people, better understanding their life and history. Thanks for all you do. I love your blog and look forward to every tour.
I feel like you have articulated something I have known for a long time, but in better words. When I first started exploring Atlanta as a young police officer, my lieutenant told me that good officers wear out their boots walking. So I did. I walked as much as I could, through old abandoned buildings and down powerline trails and on well-worn foot paths to surprising destinations. That's where I found the best grafitti, and the met the right people. Ever since then in all of my travels, I've made a point of wandering around on foot, down back alleys, across creeks, and anywhere my fancy takes me. I don't want to see the sights, and I don't want to zoom past the life of the city by moving too fast. I want to absorb it. Listen to it. Watch it go about its day. See how the ordinary people interact with this world, and find the marks they leave on it.
Coney Island is an amazing place to get fresh sea air and authentic culture in NYC. Highly recommend getting a khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread) from Berikoni bakery. 10,000 steps a day keeps the doctor away.
Thanks Chris, so enlightening, during lockdown with my daughter who is 50 years younger than me and was home from college I walked all the quarters of the West End and City of London. I have lived in London since 1975 but discovered so much more than ever before by being systematic and having the time to literally be drawn up blind alleys.
I am fairly new to your writings but enjoying them enormously.
A beautiful meditation. Thanks for sharing. This is how I've tried to approach visits to big cities, and probably why I've been attracted to less glamorous, lesser-known places that others tend to dismiss (Paraguay, for example! You should go there; Zaragoza; the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania). Maybe because I'm from Baltimore, a classic second- (well, maybe third)-tier city that has a lot more going for it than meets the eye and headlines would suggest.
I live in Syracuse, NY, a city 2.5 hrs East from Buffalo. During the course of my life, I have walked much of it, most of it. However, as a woman, it is an assumed risk to continue such walks alone. Which is a pity considering the neighborhoods have changed. We have a large refugee community of which have settled in different places. We also have a crime/gun violence/gang problem. I worked for awhile as a visiting nurse in one of our more struggling parts of town and had no problems with local gangs-- but that was during the daytime working hours and I traveled by car.
Question? Have you ever been assaulted or harmed in any way on your walks? Is it just luck or do you do something to not look like a potential robbery victim? Sometimes I think it is a matter of just being in the wrong place at the wrong time because I have realizes who were robbed and who did nothing provocative
No I have not. I would image a large part of that is because I am a rather big guy. It is very different for women.
I do my best to blend in, to the degree I can. I have never worn jewelry. watches, or anything like that. I dress very very simple (more in part 2 on that). Sometimes so simply that I have been mistaken for someone in need of food.
My general rule is to be confident without being arrogant. I try to know my limits, and respect local rules/customs/views as much as possible.
beautiful thoughts and writing. i've walked around every city i've been to — not so ambitiously or systematically as what you described — and there's no question you encounter people and place very differently than in a car (which i never) or even a bicycle (which i feel you might unfairly be lumping in with driving, but point that walking is in a class of its own taken!).
the body one walks in makes a tremendous difference. i'm a slight, black, dreadlocked person — have only once been robbed (Johannesburg, face upturned in amazement, missed the schemer angling to bump in to me), never been mistaken for NEEDING food (though offered it frequently enough), but in many parts of many cities, i've been followed or accosted by police and security guards, asked for my paperwork.
in Turkey, especially outside of the larger cities, if i didn't walk faster than i really wanted to, i attracted an endless crowd of people seeking selfies. or just to laugh. traveled there with a companion who DID blend in — was remarkable how different my time in the street when we were out together. will be back there in July, try out some different postures.
tangential: i also love to take public transport within and between cities — some parallel pleasures of encounters with a range of people and neighborhoods. and, for me, sets up observation and conversation and a loose common purpose with people that i relish. buses particularly, and it's the stops and stations as much as the transit: from Lagos to Abidjan; from Kars to Sanliurfa; daladala all over Dar es Salaam; Greyhound from Montreal to New Orleans... the Paris Metro, trains around London, bodaboda around Kampala.
How about your camera? Something discrete? I get by with a cell phone but your photos are excellent.
I agree, staying out of the tourist zones is best. I did a walking/rail tour of France and spent <15 minutes in Paris, transferring trains. I love talking with the locals, especially in the smaller cities and towns.
I would have assumed much of what you say to be true. I have lived most of my life in New Orleans. There is so much good there. Among all walks of people. But there is truly evil there as well. Mostly related to the terrible curse of multigenerational drugs. I have known people who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. God watch over you
Chris, I greatly enjoy your walks that you have shared with us. Many years ago, I averaged 8+ miles a day plus working 40 hours. I covered parts of town that were not what your average tourist/visitor would seek. Often a walker after midnight. Got the you-know-what scared outta me a few times in the wee hours. So, I related to/with your blog/newsletter. Keep it up.
Thanks for sharing. I love love love this. I used yo do similar here in Minneapolis. I’m overdue.
I loved every word of this. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Chris, just became familiar with your work. I also love to walk and agreed with many things in this post.
I'm currently walking 10 East Coast cities over the course of 30 days, starting in Boston and ending in Miami. I'm taking the Amtrak in-between cities. I've been writing about it everyday, you may find interest:
https://ramblingsun.substack.com
Thanks and keep up the walks.
Loved this. I’ve unconsciously taken the approach of walking new cities during my trips and now want to think of it as a more mindful way of travelling and so happening upon your blog has been inspiring. I’m also a photography enthusiast so seeing you team this up with that too is a great way of bringing together two passions. The documentary and almost environmental style of those really helps give you a feel of the local life and how people live in their environments. I love all the simplicity of how you strip everything back too, again helping that “presence” mindset and the ability for you to connect and see. Thank you
Thank you
I loved walking Amman for the month I was there, can't wait to see your experience
Thank you Chris. I similarly remember being moved when I wandered alone in parts of Jakarta, Bombay and Bangkok, places alien to me. I never felt unsafe. I remember some men in a street market pantomiming my ugly waddle-walk as I walked towards them - all for a good laugh. Maybe that's why no one ever bothered me, I was too strange, and thank goodness.
On the question of safety.... In general the most dangerous places to walk are the Official Walking Zones, the trails set aside by cities for walking. Predators view those trails as convenience stores. Almost any neighborhood is safer than the official trails. Neighborhoods have very few unwatched and unoccupied places where a predator can hang around and wait. Standing on a front lawn or a driveway is impossible. There's always somebody going to work or coming home or mowing the lawn or peeking out the window.
Hi Chris, I strongly recommend you do a walking tour of Tangier, in Morocco. Not only does it have a very rich William Burroughs/Beatnik/Rolling Stones history, and a blend of Arab, Berber, French, and Spanish influences... it also serves as an excellent launching point for day trips to Chefchaouen (a nearby famous mountain village known for its blue paint and being the unofficial hash capital of the world, visited by Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Mick Jagger), as well as Andalucía and Gibraltar visible across the Mediterranean Sea, only 9 miles across the water and a short ferry ride away. Anthony Bourdain did a superb episode of Parts Unknown in Tangier. (Season 1 Episode 5).
Terrific. I love to drive and often take long road trips. I purposely avoid interstate highways so I can go thru small town, stopping at the local diner, post office, or church cemetery. I often take a walk thru the town square. I've walked a lot of small towns and met lot of interesting people, better understanding their life and history. Thanks for all you do. I love your blog and look forward to every tour.
I feel like you have articulated something I have known for a long time, but in better words. When I first started exploring Atlanta as a young police officer, my lieutenant told me that good officers wear out their boots walking. So I did. I walked as much as I could, through old abandoned buildings and down powerline trails and on well-worn foot paths to surprising destinations. That's where I found the best grafitti, and the met the right people. Ever since then in all of my travels, I've made a point of wandering around on foot, down back alleys, across creeks, and anywhere my fancy takes me. I don't want to see the sights, and I don't want to zoom past the life of the city by moving too fast. I want to absorb it. Listen to it. Watch it go about its day. See how the ordinary people interact with this world, and find the marks they leave on it.
Thanks for writing this beautiful meditation!
Coney Island is an amazing place to get fresh sea air and authentic culture in NYC. Highly recommend getting a khachapuri (Georgian cheese bread) from Berikoni bakery. 10,000 steps a day keeps the doctor away.
Thanks Chris, so enlightening, during lockdown with my daughter who is 50 years younger than me and was home from college I walked all the quarters of the West End and City of London. I have lived in London since 1975 but discovered so much more than ever before by being systematic and having the time to literally be drawn up blind alleys.
I am fairly new to your writings but enjoying them enormously.
A beautiful meditation. Thanks for sharing. This is how I've tried to approach visits to big cities, and probably why I've been attracted to less glamorous, lesser-known places that others tend to dismiss (Paraguay, for example! You should go there; Zaragoza; the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania). Maybe because I'm from Baltimore, a classic second- (well, maybe third)-tier city that has a lot more going for it than meets the eye and headlines would suggest.
Yeah. I also like the "lesser known cities". Right now I am trying to give people a peek into the lesser known hoods of well known cities.
But when I was in Indonesia, I preferred Bandung to Jakarta.
When planning a trip to a country, I often ask people, what is the "Buffalo of X"
Same, but I ask for the "Baltimore."
I live in Syracuse, NY, a city 2.5 hrs East from Buffalo. During the course of my life, I have walked much of it, most of it. However, as a woman, it is an assumed risk to continue such walks alone. Which is a pity considering the neighborhoods have changed. We have a large refugee community of which have settled in different places. We also have a crime/gun violence/gang problem. I worked for awhile as a visiting nurse in one of our more struggling parts of town and had no problems with local gangs-- but that was during the daytime working hours and I traveled by car.
Question? Have you ever been assaulted or harmed in any way on your walks? Is it just luck or do you do something to not look like a potential robbery victim? Sometimes I think it is a matter of just being in the wrong place at the wrong time because I have realizes who were robbed and who did nothing provocative
Shally
No I have not. I would image a large part of that is because I am a rather big guy. It is very different for women.
I do my best to blend in, to the degree I can. I have never worn jewelry. watches, or anything like that. I dress very very simple (more in part 2 on that). Sometimes so simply that I have been mistaken for someone in need of food.
My general rule is to be confident without being arrogant. I try to know my limits, and respect local rules/customs/views as much as possible.
beautiful thoughts and writing. i've walked around every city i've been to — not so ambitiously or systematically as what you described — and there's no question you encounter people and place very differently than in a car (which i never) or even a bicycle (which i feel you might unfairly be lumping in with driving, but point that walking is in a class of its own taken!).
the body one walks in makes a tremendous difference. i'm a slight, black, dreadlocked person — have only once been robbed (Johannesburg, face upturned in amazement, missed the schemer angling to bump in to me), never been mistaken for NEEDING food (though offered it frequently enough), but in many parts of many cities, i've been followed or accosted by police and security guards, asked for my paperwork.
in Turkey, especially outside of the larger cities, if i didn't walk faster than i really wanted to, i attracted an endless crowd of people seeking selfies. or just to laugh. traveled there with a companion who DID blend in — was remarkable how different my time in the street when we were out together. will be back there in July, try out some different postures.
tangential: i also love to take public transport within and between cities — some parallel pleasures of encounters with a range of people and neighborhoods. and, for me, sets up observation and conversation and a loose common purpose with people that i relish. buses particularly, and it's the stops and stations as much as the transit: from Lagos to Abidjan; from Kars to Sanliurfa; daladala all over Dar es Salaam; Greyhound from Montreal to New Orleans... the Paris Metro, trains around London, bodaboda around Kampala.
How about your camera? Something discrete? I get by with a cell phone but your photos are excellent.
I agree, staying out of the tourist zones is best. I did a walking/rail tour of France and spent <15 minutes in Paris, transferring trains. I love talking with the locals, especially in the smaller cities and towns.
I would have assumed much of what you say to be true. I have lived most of my life in New Orleans. There is so much good there. Among all walks of people. But there is truly evil there as well. Mostly related to the terrible curse of multigenerational drugs. I have known people who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. God watch over you
Shally
Chris, I greatly enjoy your walks that you have shared with us. Many years ago, I averaged 8+ miles a day plus working 40 hours. I covered parts of town that were not what your average tourist/visitor would seek. Often a walker after midnight. Got the you-know-what scared outta me a few times in the wee hours. So, I related to/with your blog/newsletter. Keep it up.