A walking vacation

Post date: 2020-01-20 14:23:13

I have long had a notion of taking a trip which involves, largely, walking from one place to the next. How can I make this happen?

I have a nascent concept in my head of just....walking, for several days, more-or-less consecutively. Something along the lines of a British walking holiday (I understand this is a thing) is probably what I have in mind, although I'm not certain, exactly. I want to walk for most of the day; stop late afternoon/evening, putter around a town perhaps; rise, rinse, repeat. I'd like to make this happen sometime this year, if possible.

What do I need to know in order to make this happen? How do I prepare? Some relevant information below:

-I am a 35-year-old man. I'm not in terrible shape but I'm not an outdoorsy type and don't get much exercise beyond walking. I have decent stamina for walking (I think), but I do have a history of back pain.

-When I say walking, I mean walking. Hills and moderate elevation shifts are fine, but I am not interested in scaling mountains (and probably couldn't). There should be reasonably decent facilities for walking for the most part, although I don't mind walking along the side of the road for short stretches as long as it's safe.

-I have no experience camping, and am a light sleeper. I'd want an actual bed to sleep in every night.

-Assume I'd be doing this alone.

-I'd prefer a locale with interesting scenery and a good chance of consistently decent weather. I understand that the latter will vary with the time of year; I also understand that "decent" does not mean "perfect." Note that I rather intensely dislike hot, humid weather.

-I would likely have a few days to about a week for this. At the longer end, I'd probably want to take a day in the middle to rest. At the shorter end, it might just be a long weekend.

-I live in NYC, and would like to consider local options, if any, and possibilities that involve flying or driving somewhere. Budget isn't a huge concern.

Considering this, here are my questions:

-Where might I want to look into for doing this? As indicated, I'm aware of British walking holidays, though I'm not sure how that works in practice. I also understand that El Camino de Santiago in Spain may perhaps be something like this in parts. I'd be particularly interested in possibilities in North America, as I may not have time to travel abroad for this, but feel free to suggest places in Europe or Latin America that meet my criteria (I almost certainly will not have time to get to Asia, considering the jet lag).

-What gear should I get? A backpack, I assume? A walking stick or something like that? Boots or rain gear? What else?

-How should I prepare? If the answer is "walk" - and I'm sure it partly is - how much should I walk? Should I practice walking while carrying heavy loads? Elevation changes?

-What other questions and subjects should I be asking or looking into? What else should I be thinking about? I'm really just at the "let's see if this vague notion is even a feasible idea" stage of thinking about this so any resources or information would be helpful!

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