Journey of a Thousand Miles

How long might it take to walk 1,000 miles, and what might you see along the way? Where will those 1,000 miles take you?

As an experiment in developing observational skills, and as an exercise program, I have set myself the challenge of walking 1,000 miles within one year. If I walk 3 miles each day, that goal should be quite attainable.

But what is the goal? Not just to walk 1,000 miles, but to see as much as possible along the way. I want to train my eyes, ears, and mind to notice my neighbors, all the neighbors, who share space along my path, from the coyotes to the tiger beetles, from the elms to the orchids. To help focus my attention and develop my observational skills, I will search for lists of species in categories. Each day of my journey, can I find 3 ferns, 3 invertebrates, 3 phenological signs? These are a few of the categories that I have selected to start with. As my journey progresses, I may change the content of my category list, according to my interests and findings. But always, I will walk with categories in mind, to help me develop new ways of seeing my surroundings.

I invite others to join this project so that we may journey together. Make up your own rules. Decide how many miles you want to walk each day or how often you want to walk. Make a list of your own categories, perhaps scientific (passerine birds), or whimsical (things whose names start with "R"), or personal (species that my mother taught me), and decide how many items of each category you will look for each time you go out walking. But do use your list of categories as you walk, and take time to notice how keeping a list of categories in mind affects how you see your surroundings.

At the end of each day, share your journey by posting a note here with your miles walked, your total miles to date, and the categories that were your focus for the day. Add your iNaturalist observations to the project to share the experience of what you saw along your personal journey. less ↑