Back

Footpaths and barefoot walking | Day 211 of my 2023 Journal

Cecilie Conrad·Jul 31, 2023· 3 minutes

There is something about the footpaths in England. Some date back to the Stone Age, some back to the Roman Empire, and some established later on. The great thing is, at some point, a law was installed to protect the paths, allowing everyone to walk on the established paths. This means there are literally thousands of paths through fields and along and through other sorts of private land, making England very open to enjoy for everyone.

Where I come from, there is no such thing in areas of agriculture. The rare farmer here and there might have established a route, but it is rare. Walking in the countryside is often no fun, as you will walk on the roads dedicated to cars driving 80km/hour - only a few places have footpaths for hikers to enjoy.

A country so open and full of walking options is just amazing.

I went for a run along some fields and felt the vibe of this - in between the rain. It is too bad this country is so good for walking but sports weather that will make you want to stay home.

Our adventure is still not very exciting in this nice and boring neighborhood where all of the English people twist their necks walking by the van, where it clearly does not help with the German registration of it, and where all the fronts of all the houses are so nice and neat, it is almost stressful. We are enjoying our friends and our day trips and are basically waiting for Silke to get better.

Meanwhile, we watch some movies and talk a lot, sometimes even get around to planning some of the upcoming things. And still, there is a lot of thinking going on.

Later on the same day, I walked the exact same route with my two teens, talking about literature, about the man/machine/instrument-of-the-state narrative to be found in The Bourne trilogy, a book my son is currently reading and in The Terminator, and about dog psychology, a bit about the novel 1984, about radical unschooling and how it applies for dogs as well - and about the immune system and walking barefoot - while we were holding our shoes in our hands, enjoying the grass under our soles. In our souls.

Love and light

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

Thank you for reading
I would love to hear from you. Listen to your thoughts and reflections - or praise :) It is often emotional to share our life like this, and we get very happy when we get feedback from you. So feel free to share a comment below 😋 

 

But worse, much worse, is to impose this ambition on OTHERS, Adults want to set the scene for their (or others’) children to learn to their highest p…Read more
One of the reasons we chose to become nomadic was my winter depression, and one clear sign for us was when I started worrying at Summer Solstice. On …Read more
Creating a better story is a way to survive a challenging situation emotionally. The question is: Do we always do that? And is the so-called reality …Read more
True unschooling is a lifestyle where the whole idea of school has been removed from the equation, the idea of “you have to learn” and the idea of th…Read more
We live in a world of consumerism. Always shopping. Always using something. What if we stop? Stop to think. What if we let go? Read more
One thing I do not understand about modern parents. It seems they can’t get away from their children fast enough; it seems all they talk about is how…Read more
It is some form of rebellion to stop and be silent and do simple slow stuff of no obvious value. To the world, it seems we always have to be producti…Read more
On the last day we spent with my sister's family in Sweden, we shared the last bottle of champagne from my mother, whom we all lost four years ago. I…Read more
Thriving is a complex one. Human nature, our flaws, and vulnerabilities will emerge in any context where we unfold, hence also in this reign. We can…Read more