We all used to walk four miles to school, uphill both ways, right? But now that you’re grown up, what would you say is a reasonable walking distance?
Weird question, I know. One could argue that a reasonable walking distance is any distance that’s required to get somewhere you need to go. Others might want an answer that includes a certain duration in distance.
In any case, this question ignited a big, big debate on Twitter.
Walking is, broadly speaking, a common thing.
Some do it more than others. Some do it out of necessity. Some do it for exercise. But whether you’re walking across the country or walking to the fridge, it’s a common, relatable experience.
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Here’s the big question.
We’ll get into the larger debate, but I want to unpack a few things first.
If we’re going to be literal, 23 minutes is not a distance. It’s a duration of time. But if we’re being less pedantic, this question is asking if a walk is a walk. It’s kind of an oddly-worded question. Many such questions get lost in the Twitter maelstrom, but not this one.
It’s an endurance challenge.
It’s always good advice to walk in good shoes and bring a water bottle for hydration, but this answer really makes 23 minutes of walking sound like an absolute endurance challenge. In reality, it just means going for a walk that’s one minute longer than an episode of The Simpsons .
Coming in hot with the hot takes.
I kind of agree with this response to the “23 minutes is a hike” take, but there’s still nuance that @aaronharris is missing. One can go for a leisurely, hours-long walk without breaking a sweat, or one could go for a half-hour power walk that burns a bunch of calories.
Yikes.
If you’ve ever gone to a big concert or sporting event, you’ve probably walked more than 10 minutes to get into the venue. Heck, if you’ve ever gone to a Walmart or Costco, you’ve probably spent 10 minutes walking around the store.
It’s a fair point.
Different parts of the world are more car-friendly, or more walking-friendly, than others. Things are just going to develop differently based on how spread out the resources are. In a general sense, Europe does tend to be more densely packed and designed for walking than the U.S.
Bit of a burn.
No one directly compared scaling Kilimanjaro to a 23-minute walk, but point taken. Some commenters truly were treating a walk of less than half an hour as something that’s nearly impossible to achieve, or at least a monumental accomplishment.
Sure, maybe.
Speaking as someone who lived in an urban area and would walk many blocks to avoid paying bus fare, this is kind of true. Then again, once I got a car in said urban area, the number of walks I was willing to go on plummeted quickly.
What have you learned, OP?
To her credit, the original poster reflected on her tweet after it raised so much drama, noting that maybe she is just lazy after all.
The biggest lesson learned here might be that of self-awareness.
Readers, what do you think is a reasonable walk?
Use any unit you’d like: minutes, blocks, or distance. If you were going to set out on a walk right this minute, what would it look like? Let us know in the comments!