Copyright TIME
When even small numbers of steps are linked to improved health, why is it so difficult for people to get up and move? In some parts of the world, including much of the U.S., the deck is stacked against walking, says del Poro Cruz. He lives in a historic town in Spain where cars aren’t practical, and so he walks everywhere—to his kids’ school, to get groceries, to work—racking up 15,000 steps a day without really trying. It’s not so easy to build movement into the day in an environment where walking to the grocery store means a five-mile trek on the shoulder of the highway. But some people find a way. Public-policy researcher Chris Wielga, author of the Substack How to Walk in America, has a few rules for beginners, including this one: Start from where you are. You don’t need to drive somewhere to have a walk; that divides the world into places for walking and places that are not for walking. The world is, in fact, always there, just outside the car window. You might be surprised at what you find, on the way to better health.
