Walking for 5 to 7 hours give or take is a hell of a slog, for real. I feel tired just thinking about it and for context I walk 6.5 KMs a day.

Nice

I know, I was thinking at 5 kph and that is 5-6 hours a night.

It's fascinating how the writing process at the apps to everybody's individual psychology/neurology. A writer like Stephen King has a huge "mind palace", and writes from his office in Maine like a machine. Sorkin has conversations out loud with himself even when driving. Dickens walks around grounding story in place and time. Anne Frank masturbated and hid. As with any art, everyone has a different method.

Charles Dickens was a huge fan of walking apparently. Used to walk to nearby towns as well which would take an entire day.

I walk around 8 miles a day at my job. I also like to wrote a lot, and this helps me no end when it comes to planning my stories out. But I wouldn't want to do that around London these days.

One of my favorite stories to read. Haunting and beautiful. A true look in to a persons soul and the true meaning of life. Even though it’s a holiday classic, I still feel it’s overlooked by most of the world.

One of these is uh….

Walking is a really great way to get into your own head and think. I walk about 10,000 steps a day and that's the time i spend problem-solving.

Hot? Yeah, agreed

I've never had an issue walking around zone 1, from Isle of Dogs to Hampton Court Palace around the Thames, and up to Hampstead Heath, and I've probably done a million steps within these bounds over the years. But, I am a guy and I can't also say I've been much more south than Vauxhall or more north-east than Whitechapel, so I guess mileage may vary.

I walked 8 miles on average in a ten hour shift working at a big chain liquor store during the pandemic. Filling online orders then bringing them to people’s trunks.

same, I have a step counter, and my iphone also register steps? I have counts of 12000 on just normal days, I can probably walk forever.

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How is your book coming along?

So him and Nietzsche then.

I usually walk 10-20km a day, wouldn’t mind walking more.

Steve Jobs was walking barefoot around neighborhood during discussions with some of his guests.

Easy to end up walking this far in London. I will regularly hit 15k on a normal day hoofing about the place. 20 miles is quite a long walk though.

Nice, I get about 20-25 miles a day at work. Much less scenic of a route, sadly.

.4 km too short for that.

This sounds very close to Maladaptive Daydreaming. There was a time I had to spend a few minutes on a treadmill for health reasons and my mind just wandered off. Then I started building stories inspired by something I used to play with. Later on, I'd be waiting for my ride home and taking the opportunity to pass the time writing a few chapters based on what I daydreamed. Created a whole universe in those months, sounds a bit goofy in retrospective but it was fun, I wish I had the time now to finish what I was writing.

Walking around London is fun. He must have gotten some good ideas along the way. 6 weeks to write a book is blazing speed.

Everyone used to walk. That’s just how people got around

There was no though during those hours. Just weed pen rips and the repeating thought “ I am an organic robot hired to complete a task.” I used that mantra when I started to crack or think about how I could change things in the store.

Trust me, you can’t. I average over 20k steps when it’s nice out. I’ve done 20 miles. It’s quite a bit of you haven’t worked up to it.

Lmao I’ve had this thought while making a hundred mimosas during bartending a brunch shift

...a one hit wonder?

Okay but what's a great solution to get OUT of your own head? Sometimes I get so deep in my head I get trapped in a negative cycle and lose the weight of reality in the process. Can't seem to find a good way to snap outta it

There’s a free Tim Curry reading of “A Christmas Carol” (prose version) on Audible. It’s amazing!

You could try some mindfulness exercises. They helped me with the same kind of negative circular thinking you seem to have some problems with.

I used to love walking. Me and my friends would walk to the nearest mall a few times a month. One way it was about 13 miles or about 19,000 steps. Then I worked at Target and had to about 25,000-40,000 steps a shift. One shift I worked nearly 23 hours and walked 82,000 steps. Now I kinda hate walking sadly.

I'd talk to a mental health professional tbh since that could be a sign of an anxiety disorder, I used to have awful intrusive thoughts and talk therapy went a long way in helping me not lose that grip on reality when things got bad.

Some still do.

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15 - 20 miles will take many hours, all night perhaps, even at a brisk pace. It's unlikely he did this often. It just wouldn't make any sense.

Do you also write?

The wheel was invented thousands of years ago. The aristocracy of England could have used carriages if they wanted to. Dickens enjoyed walking (not saying that was unique) as a pastime and would walk just to spend time.

Yea that’s normal

I know it's a long video, but if you're interested in learning more context about A Christmas Carol, this is a wonderful session from Townsends on YouTube with guest host Carol Jarboe.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ntX1Nlr5u3k&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE

I mean sort of. People would walk a couple of miles without any problems. But by Victorian times, walking an entire day would be considered below most middle class people, who would have horses and carriages at their disposal.

There's a couple parts in Price and Prejudice where people make fun of Lizzie for going on super long walks.

It's 2022, most people use segways dude.

Yup. When I’m thinking through plot lines I’ll put in my headphones and walk around museums.

Are you gatekeeping walking? I mean, how tedious and miserly a soul must you be to have seen that comment and gone, yeah brain, I’m gonna show this guy the error of his ways. LIAR. How dare he make false walking claims.

Nothing gets me wetter than conversations with myself

I know this is a boring answer but go to the gym. You can’t think about other stuff while working out. If you have self esteem problems it helps with that too.

Believe it or not, I advocate this. My depression got far worse this year when I stopped my workouts. I used to go heavy at the gym (and lost 115lbs) but the loose skin in my stomach made it nearly impossible to continue, and at that same time I picked up a second job that took my energy from me. I just got an abdominalplasty to remove that loose skin and I'm very eager to get back to the gym. It'll still be a couple months before I can, but I know for a fact exercise -- while not a total cure -- DOES help. Maybe it's just 5%, but it's something.

Also sunshine. God, I'm already itching for winter to be over....and it's just started

He had Chevro-legs, long lasting and dependable!

Controversial view: A major reason so many people have anxiety, depression, ADHD, etc. anymore is because the vast majority of us spend too much time inside. We simply aren't exercising our muscles and walking, or stimulating our brains enough. We weren't meant to live this way.

Multiple nighttime walks over 15 miles in 1840s London... how did this guy not get mugged every night?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdKvZDQt96o

"When you start walking, my friend, and you get ten, fifteen miles on the highway, you won't be struttin' that ass. You'll be so fuckin' tired, you won't hardly hold that ass up."

Increasingly not, and especially not in all countries. Particularly not in most English-speaking countries

7-8 hours for 15 miles so…

Holy shit thats incredible, great job, yeah when it’s safe to work out again you should do it. I live in sweden so i know all about how dark and depressing winters get. We get maybe three hours of sunlight around midday then its back to darkness…

Less to do with the country than the place IMO. People in Manhattan walk a hell of a lot more than people in Los Angeles, for example.

Have you heard of horses

Do you think everyone was rich enough to ride a horse constantly?

No. But you made it sound like walking is the only option like you couldn't own or borrow/rent a horse.

“I’ve accidentally ran to Windsor”.

• Charles “Super Hans” Dickens

Jogging is a new sport. Before sneakers, running and walking was even more unpleasant.

Walking 15 miles in a day is too much damn walking in any era.

This. I don’t walk anywhere and I’m so confused

Its why bicycles were such a hit as well. Suddenly there was a new tech that allowed you to get around quicker than just your own two feet, without all the expense of having to have/hire horses and staff to handle it all.

Its also a great way of getting to know an area quite well. Especially if you're just generally walking around and not just hiking from point A to point B. Always make it a priority when I move to a new area to spend a few weeks doing 4 or 5 mile trails around the area just to see what shops are around and what different parts of the town are like. UK though, I imagine its a nightmare in the US with how your pedestrian infrastructure is.

Lmao. Most people used to walk barefoot. Walking barefoot is comfortable for super long distances if you do it regularly. Maybe not on concrete, but that wasn’t a problem for most of human history

You know what? That makes sense. Sometimes, you need to get to different locations to put your head in a different mental space -- and that can help you come up with new ideas.

Average walking pace is ~3-4mph, so that’s about 5 hours. The sun sets around 6 in the winter, so he’s home by 11. That seems reasonable to me.

I'm regretting having to walk down the stairs tomorrow morning.

I used to do the walk for hunger in Boston - 20 miles. That is no small feat. That's like a 6 hour walk

So he doesn't stop to observe at all?

But the thigh chafe..

I mean, they think poop is sunny, so... probably a contrarian.

The Victorians actually became huge proponents of what we would consider hiking today.

They were big on walking for health

I bartend and I live about a mile from where I work. I walk to and from work almost every day. I always tell people that on the walk to work I get myself in the right mindset for a busy shift, and on the walk home I use the time to decompress. Plus it helps me stay in shape.

My thighs don’t chafe when I walk

Post thigh gap

Also on the podcast: This Day In History With The Retrospectors

I wash dishes. I have come up with whole plots of stories doing this.

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