My Virtual Walk

From the beginning of January 2010, I have started my very own "Virtual" walk from my home in Brantford, Ontario, Canada to Fort Lauderdale, FL. I got this idea from the Cruise Critic forums that I attend on occasion, as Paul and I have traveled on a few cruises and I like to read up about them! Someone said that they were going to walk from their home virtually to the cruise ship port before they went on their cruise as a way to get in shape. Lots of people joined in, and I wanted to join in as well even though I don't have a cruise planned! One of the ports that we left from on one of our trips was in Fort Lauderdale, so that is my virtual destination - 1430 miles away!

I looked up the full directions using Google Maps and have been tracking my walks on a website called MapMyWalk. From there, you are able to enter in the amount of miles you have walked on a google map - you can track where you have actually walked, or like me, compile a virtual walk anywhere in the world! I follow my own directions that I got from Google Maps, and with each new walk I take, I pick up from where I left off. Soon enough, I'll be "out of Canada" as I have traveled 49.65 miles since the beginning of the new year.

While I love to go to yoga, I find that the virtual walks give me the motivation to go for a walk or a run at the gym. I can't wait until it gets warmer outside so I can go walking outside all the time. When I complete a walk/run, I can't wait to get home to input the information into the MapMyWalk website to see how far I have walked.

This afternoon, it was a bright and sunny day and even though it was a bit on the chilly side, I decided to go for a walk outdoors anyway! I find that I walk farther when I'm outside because no matter how far I go, I have to turn around and walk back home! Today was a longer walk - 5.53 miles! I took a few photographs on my walk, some of which were taken while I walked through a deserted golf course, all covered in a thin layer of snow.



One of the best parts of the walk? My halfway point was at a Williams coffee shop where I treated myself to this delicious caramel soy latte. Mmmm! The perfect warm treat on a cold winter day!