Walking buddies

When I lived in Stockholm (Sweden) I had a "walking buddy". One of my best friends and I used to meet really EARLY in the mornings, around 5 - 5.30 AM, and go for long walks. My husband stayed at home with the kids, who of cause were still asleep, so it was just me and my friend. We used to walk for an hour and a half or two hours about 2 or 3 times a week. Usually my friend would go straight to work afterwards. Those walks were great because everything was still quite silent (not many people in the streets at that time of the day), the air was crips and clean and we got the chance to wake up slowly while our bodies were working out. We usually didn't talk much for the first half an hour, we were just enjoying the silence, but then when our brains were fully awake and refreshed our conversation would be really deep and sincere. We both really enjoyed our morning walks and I miss them terribly! Unfortunately I don't have a "walking buddy" here but I'm still looking to see if I can convince someone to take walks with me.

If I don't manage to convince any of my friends at least I have my kids. Luckily enough they enjoy walking almost as much as I do. I'm really, really happy about that! I think walking is one of the best exercises in the world because it's free and you can do it any time you want. When you are a bit upset with someone it's better to talk it out while you're walking because the brain and the soul are more at ease if you're not in a crowded place with lots of other things going on.

My kids and I always walk a lot during summer. Like when we go to the beach.Our favourite spot on the beach is about one hour walking from our home - and of cause, one hour walk back! When I decided to accept Amys challenge I had my kids in mind. I knew they would love it. G (almost 8) said: "Great mummy! Let's win this challenge! I will be your coach. Today we'll walk for 8 hours and tomorrow we'll walk for 10 hours." *lol* Nooooooo, I don't think so! But hopefully we'll walk for at least half an hour a day when not going to the beach and more when we're actually going to spend the day at the beach.

Yesterday we had a great walk! We walked for a little over one hour (75 minutes) along the Corniche (the beach walk). We talked a lot. That's the best part, I think. My kids and I have a really close relationship and we always talk a lot about big things and small things and they share their little secrets with me. I hope we can keep this close relationship even as they grow, and that we can keep on walking together.