We know our ancestors thought nothing of walking vast distances to trade or just visit an important site. Out of curiosity, I used Google maps to see how long it would take me to walk to Rome from my home in South West Wales. I was surprised it was only 17 days. I can even walk to Beijing in 130 days which doesn't seem that long.
Now I regularly meet people who are walking the entire welsh coast. It takes about 2 weeks including sleeping time and stops for ice cream so I'm guessing walking to Rome in the same time is optimistic. But we do know it's easily achievable.
But I want to know, given enough time how far would you be prepared to walk just for the experience of doing so?
I don't think I'd walk that far. When I was younger, in high school, I did walk 25 miles (twice, a year apart) with friends as part of raising money for charity. And I walked home 7 miles once after a fight with my girlfriend; she had picked me up. More recently, I walked 15 miles every Saturday for three months as part of a company competition to see which group could walk the farthest in a 100-day period. We didn't win, but our group (5 of us) averaged 40 miles a day. Now, I wear a Fitbit and have a goal of 8000 steps a day, which I usually reach... that's about 4 miles a day.
My brother and I did a lot of long distance footpaths walking during school holidays. We aimed to cover 2 tp 3 miles an hour, bearing in mind we were lugging hefty rucksacks. Most times, it was nearer 2 mph as so many other backpackers and dog walkers would stop us to chat.
Our best times were about 30 miles a day. Did the whole Suffolk coast path in 2 1/2 days. Our longest distance was about 200 miles before bruv was taken ill.
It is only 17 days because there is roads and trails, if you went back a thousand years even with decaying Roman roads, it likely would take longer.
If I did not have to worry about money and bills and could just walk, I would not mind walking every where to enjoy the scenery and see things at a slower pace.
When I was young I thought it would be cool to walk around the world.
I don't know the longest I walked in a day. Probably less than 20 miles on trails, more on pavement. I've done 10-15 miles in a day many times. That's on trails which are a lot slower than walking on pavement. Most of the time I had no idea how far I walked.
At one time I had an 1800 mile bicycle trip tentatively planned. But my bike got stolen before it happened. I don't know if I would have actually done it or not. But not doing it is one of the biggest regrets in my life.
Hitch hiking I've hitched around 15K miles. There's a fair amount of walking and/or when hitching, especially getting through cities.
I'm not sure Google Maps factors in sleep, food, etc. - that number of days may assume 24/7 walking. But realistically, you could probably average 20 miles a day, except maybe when you hit the Alps. Mountain ranges tend to slow progress up a bit. There's also the English Channel, which I understand is a little tricky to swim. Better time those currents correctly!
Still, yes, many people used to walk very long distances when that was the only option. Many people settling the western half of the US literally walked most of the way from their starting points in Chicago or Texas or Oklahoma to Oregon and California. Most couldn't equip their entire party with horses, and not all horses survived the trip, so if you were going to get there, you'd be walking.
Considering my wife and I did have long walks very regularly, mainly in forests, I can't put a limit on the distance, which could be of any figure. Let's say I'd agree to walk about 10 to 15 miles a day.
To achieve a far away destination, the body must be prepared: enough food is very important, and the first days must not include big distances, only 5 to 10 miles maximum. Concerning the food, during a trek in the mountains of Kashmir, my wife and I noticed we started to eat much more...
In high school I walked a 20 mile route with friends for some fund raiser.
Some friends and I used to go on two week back packing trips. One time, we were on the last leg of a trip and hiked 18 miles from the Ansel Adams wilderness over Donohue Pass to Tualumne Valley in Yosemite in one day. We had to make it over the pass and down into the valley because it was snowing in the higher altitude. That was a grueling hike.
Everywhere is walking distance, if you have the time.
I've walked as much as 15 to 20 miles. Quite regularly, I've walked at least 8 miles after having played a 2 to 4 hour gig on drums and spent the previous two hours running around a pool table!
I don't know. I think I did like 16 miles one time, 'cuz my dad tricked me. And I walked from my school to my house once which was about 12 miles. As long as the terrain is mostly flat and even, I'm fine. Maybe someday if I have a lot of free time, I will do something like this. We have a few famous long distance trail in the U. S.
so in the following scenario: all cost is taken cared of and i get food and shelter without a deadline to arrive anywhere, i'd walk forever. if i get nothing for it and just gotta do it to get from a-b, 20km is the maximum for me.
I have always wanted to do that Camino thing in Spain. The one where the walk to some church. It seems like a lot of fun and even a spiritual thing of sorts.
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