The Not-So-Healthy Benefits of Walking

From GypsyNester.com

Live longer, feel better and perhaps even keep those original knees and hips... just some of the benefits of walking. Pretty good reasons to participate in an activity that requires very little equipment--basically clothes and shoes. Most of us have those lying around the house somewhere, don't we?

In case your joints aren't that important to you, here are some more rewards that might inspire you to take that first step. The GypsyNesters are glad to articulate some of the reasons that walking is such a substantial part our lives (in the ever popular Top Ten List form):

10) Finding money. We figure there's a lot of it just laying around out there. Millions, actually. Think about it, if you added up all of the stray dough just laying around it boggles the mind. Over 30 million dollars if each American has lost just one dime. We just want our fair share. Seriously, it's amazing how good you get at it. Hint: In the mornings, walk by places that people have enjoyed a drink or three the night before. Veronica found a five dollar bill in a parking lot one morning. She was ecstatic. A few steps later she found a twenty. True story.

9) Bang-up people watching. We love to be afoot, noticing everything, being low to the ground. When we're in a new place, watching the people around us is a great way to learn about the area. And they're fun to talk to... or about.

8) Great company. It's amazing how much we have to say to each other when we're not competing with the TV, phone or internet. We really have some wonderful discussions. Though TV, phone and internet are portable nowadays, we find it refreshing not to carry them along. Terribly old school, eh?

7) Weird shop owners. Both weird shop owners and weird shop owners. Of course New Orleans is at the top of this list, with many weird shops owned by weird owners, but we have stories from just about everywhere we've been. Saunter into these strange places and create some stories of your own.

6) Cheesy tourist diversions. We're real suckers for things like the world's largest ball of twine and the world's largest hand dug well (yes, they both exist and yes, we've seen them). We've also visited the gigantic bologna in Bologna. We're always shocked at how we can round a corner and BAM!--there's something truly colorful or bizarre to take in. Sometimes it's the Statue of Liberty, and other times it's a huge collection of ceramic duck salt & pepper shakers. What a wonderful world.

5) The Appy Crawl, try great food and walk off the calories.

4) Problem solving. Not only do we have each other's (somewhat) undivided attention, it's a lot harder to yell or freak out in public. It's a good time to really hash things out. We started this practice when we had kids in the house and we now have a really good groove with our walking and talking. If we are having issues, walking takes us physically away from the immediate problem and helps us put things in perspective.

3) Great gambs. Hubba hubba. Hot legs enhance the look of both male and female GypsyNesters. It's all the rage!

2) Street food. Anything from Halal (the ultimate NYC street food), to Roti (throughout the Caribbean) or Shark and Bake (on Tobago), street food is part of travel and the GypsyNesting experience. Whether it's dogs (corn or otherwise), bags of roasted nuts, anything on a stick or wrapped in flat bread or deep fried balls of mystery.... we've tried it all and never barfed yet!

1) IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!!! (Gotcha!)

So -- go ahead -- break out those clothes and shoes, you never know what you'll find out there!

David & Veronica, GypsyNester.com