As I walked out one midwinter morning
One January morning I stepped out of my front door and didn’t return until the sun was setting and I’d walked 30km.
My route – north to south and back along the Malvern Hills – had been on my mind for a couple of years but had remained untrodden until now. It felt good to finally tackle a walk I’d been mulling over since lockdown, a delayed final act from that strange time of enforced local exploration.
That time may be over but there will forever be something special about adventures from the front door. They’re a subversive act that sees you walking or cycling against the tide of the mundane and everyday. The dog walkers I passed as I set off would soon return home, as would the shoppers. The commuters were off to work.
I, though, was off to explore my wider home. Because home isn’t just four walls and a roof. Home is community and environment. Home is where your body can take you from your door, whether on foot or by bike. It’s the connection you make with your surroundings by immersing yourself in them.