The OGT Daily #65 Traveling on Foot

 I'm walking now nearly every day between 3 and 5 miles loaded down with the six lbs of my weighted vest.  For inspiration I'm listening to Bernard Ollivier's travelogue Out of Instanbul from 2022 of his travels on foot on the famed Silk Road in Turkey.  Ollivier considers the car an invention that robs us of the convivial connections that occur when 35 kilometers be traversed in a mere 20 mins instead of a slow slog of half a day.  His goal was to go from Istanbul all the way to Tehran all on foot, turning down many truck drivers and minivans along the way.

Marco Polo along the Silk Road in the 14th Century
https://www.theblacktentproject.com/turkey-gate-of-1001-nights-tales-to-the-western-world/

He further adds that despite the pain to feet and body from carrying all your possessions on your back, walking allows one access to God under the following conditions:

    1) That you are alone (difficult when everyone wants to know what you are up to).

    2) That you are in the right place (and the Silk Road seemed that for him).

    3) That you be open and accepting of that which comes your way (signs of the Divine and humanity         alike).

The active discipline of movement was often used by pilgrims as a way to become closer to God on various pilgrims trails around the world. I can only claim at most 45 miles or about 80 kilometers on the Appalachian Trail with 25 lbs on my back, but this act of walking activates my mind especially for writing and clearing my head for creative practice.

Wearing the heavy vest each time as a penance for having the diagnosis of osteoporosis, gives me insight to the fate of prisoners, slaves, and others so shackled since time immemorial in man's subjugation of man.

But I am grateful for this weight and activity in which I am still able to travel on my own steam, free on the open road.

What activity inspires your day?