A Good Walk

I've been trying to get some practice in with my bug-out bag. This last Sunday I did about a 3 mile walk with it to get used to it. I was an infantryman when I was in my twenties, so I have done this before, but sitting in front of a computer working for twenty years has a way of taking the edge off. While I haven't completely turned into a jelly donut, it was a good reminder that I need to get out and walk with a pack on from time to time.

As a kid I grew up reading Tolkien, and for some reason I guess I thought that my adult life would involve a lot of walking places with a pack. It hasn't. Other than a few years in the Army, I haven't really led an outdoor life. The fact that I'm good with computers has meant that my work has been indoors in air-conditioned comfort and under artificial light. I suppose I thought I'd be engaged in more quests.

Well, it's amazing how even a short walk can revive a sense of adventure. Walking through my town, rather than riding through it, has given me a new appreciation of the scale of things. There are many patches of forest -- little worlds unto themselves. As I walked I mentally was taking notes of a surroundings -- there is a pond where there might be fish; there is a good place to pitch a tent, there is a good place to hide from Black Riders.

I'm going to be doing more of this in the future. It's a lot of fun, and its helping me get back in shape.