Column
It’s a funny old world
THIS WEEK’S COLUMNIST Bestselling author David Nicholls
I walk everywhere. In London you can get to most places in an hour and it’s nicer than going on a Tube. In my spare time it’s my favourite thing to do. I’m lousy at all sports, so I walk fast and quite far, which can really test the patience of people I’m with. I don’t want to sit down and eat sandwiches, I want to keep going. I want to cover ground and see how far I can go in a day. Climbing hills brings a sense of achievement.
Writers talk a lot about walking as a way of clearing their heads and solving problems – and that’s true, but more often than not I’m listening to music or podcasts and making phone calls. I prefer to do it on the move. Also, I’m at an age now that if I sit down in a chair I may fall asleep, so it keeps me awake.
As a teenager I was a very bad birdwatcher and used to go on these slightly depressing walks around industrial estates near where I lived trying to find woodpeckers and kingfishers, but ultimately
I’d just find starlings and rooks. I came back to walking in my 40s as a way to relieve anxiety, stress and insomnia. It definitely helps.
When I’m out and about, I don’t want to feel like I’m in the park, so I take the train and try to get as far away as I can. There’s nothing like the Lake District and the Yorkshire Moors. I like the possibility you might get lost, which is why I stride through open countryside rather than the coast. Saying that, the Northumbrian coast up to Edinburgh is stunning, with its huge, empty beaches, beautiful villages and epic Game of Thrones landscapes. Nearly every memory I have of the Lakes is being soaked to the skin, so be prepared for the rain – but it’s an exquisite place. The geographyteacher element of mapreading and planning routes appeals to me, as does visiting a pub along the way. I rarely visit pubs unless I’m on a long walk.
Peo
