Take a hike – It’s National Walking Day

Happy National Walking Day! Where will your feet take you today? I am a bit of a geek when it comes to tracking my steps. Since 2007, I’ve tracked every step I’ve taken. I even have spreadsheets that I use to track the steps, miles, activity minutes and calories burned.

Since March 1, 2007, when I started counting my steps, I have totaled almost 51 million steps through March 31. That’s an average of 13,815 steps per day for 2,684 days (I even ensured I counted leap years). I love walking.

I used a pedometer attached to my waist for most of the time. In early February 2015, my daughter Steph bought a new Fitbit Charge and gave me her old Fitbit Flex. I was reluctant to use it, because I was attached to my pedometer. But, I quickly grew accustomed to wearing the Fitbit on my wrist. It replaced my watch. I liked it so much that within a few weeks I bought a new Fitbit Charge (which included a time feature that the Flex didn’t). Lisa wanted one soon afterward. Since that day, I have totaled 12.6 million (about 16,000 per day) steps using the Fitbit. I currently use the Fitbit Alta. I love it.

Our family has become a Fitbit family. Everyone has one. We have weekday challenges with friends, to see who can achieve the most steps in a week. Challenges help me ensure I make or exceed the 10,000 daily step goal. We’ve recommended Fitbits to friends.

So, what does tracking steps have to do with a travel blog? Our name IS The Walking Tourists, so…We actually included walking in our name partly because of my love for walking and because we enjoy taking our time and checking out areas when we travel, frequently taking long walks. We’ve thought that we should track our steps during trips to figure out how much walking is actually involved.

Speaking of walking on trips, probably the most memorable walking experience we had was on our first trip to Chicago. We were at the Navy Pier and planned to go to the Shedd Aquarium. We saw the water taxi available for a short jaunt across the lake to just outside the aquarium. However, it didn’t look like that long of a walk through the park. So, we decided to hoof it. As we left the pier, we mingled with a couple of marches. One was a March of Dimes walk. The other was a walk in support of Israel. Eventually, the walkers went their way and we went ours.

Almost an hour later, we reached the Shedd Aquarium. It is a 2.2-mile walk, but we were slowed a bit by the marchers. We joked about not taking the water taxi. We have a lasting memory of joining a couple of marches during our visit.

We’ve visited some beautiful areas where we enjoyed our walks. Of course, downtown Chicago is a great walking area with so many beautiful attractions. Kenosha, Wisc., has a beautiful lakefront along Lake Michigan, and is about an hour north of Chicago. There are too many for me to list, but rest assured everywhere we’ve visited, we have enjoyed walking spots.

One of our all-time favorite areas is Albuquerque, NM. I’ve often told the family if I were to move from Omaha, it would be to ABQ (or the Twin Cities). I feel relaxed and at home in Albuquerque. The Sandia Mountains provide great hiking opportunities. The trees stand tall, like they stretch into the heavens. The view of New Mexico from atop the Sandias is impressive.

A more recent area I love walking is the Waterfront area of Seattle. With daughter Mallory living out there for almost two years, we’ve made a few trips there. I love the city’s skyline, the view of Elliott Bay in the Puget Sound and the neighborhoods, such as Fremont, Ballard and Pioneer Square.

I obviously love walking around our hometown of Omaha. My favorite areas are the Old Market and the Riverfront. I love walking the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge, which crosses the Missouri River and connects Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa. I feel like spring doesn’t start for me until I have that first walk across the Bob.

So, since it’s National Walking Day, where will your feet take you? I think mine may take me to my favorite places or possibly Fontenelle Forest in suburban Bellevue. Wherever you may stroll today, have a safe and fun walk.

The American Heart Association promotes a healthy lifestyle with National Walking Day. For more information, please visit www.heart.org.