Do you like your maps? Well, I do! Not always though. As I have decided to make the most of this lovely summer weather and pollution-free air here that helps me breathe easy, I have taken to walking a lot more than I ever thought was possible for me back in India. Only that, I get bored walking the same route on two consecutive days.
So I have taken to exploring new ways and hidden paths and get quite excited in discovering something new and beautiful. The foliage, butterflies and clouds in a zillion shapes and shades have always interested me. I feel incredibly lucky and grateful for being able to enjoy this every other day. Like my friend said, I feel like I am on a permanent holiday at times.
So in the day time, I take an hour to walk around, finding new and amazing stuff, suggesting the same to my husband and daughter as we go on round two in the evening. Over the weekend we have adventures of almost getting lost in the woods, GPS showing a path through a thicket impossible to walk with a kid, but miraculously finding the path later (by miracle I mean finding a fellow jogger who can guide us through).
Incredible adventures apart, one day I went to a park which was so beautiful that I wanted to get there again with family. Only problem, while walking to the park for the first time, I was with a friend who had my full attention in her amazing stories so that I mixed up a left and a right. Next evening, the three of us embarked on a journey to the most beautiful park in the neighbourhood, only to be guided by me in a completely different direction.
Long story short, we walked over two kilometres, braved some rain and shine, but I refused to give up. After passing a lot of new routes, we doubled back to a road that’s right opposite our home. By now my husband was quite sceptical of my navigation skills and I had to constantly remind him of the million times I have successfully guided him with a map (he just chuckled). Well, about two minutes before we got back home, there the park was, hidden by a side road, in all its glory. So that’s the day I made my family walk a few KMs to get to a park about 200m from home. Well, it’s good exercise after-all!
