Walking Anxiety #1 - Fear of Pain

In the past 15 months I have done six multi-day walks in Scotland, England, Iceland, and Australia. On one of my last walks there were actually people looking up to me and my walking experience when I had been a rookie myself just a few months ago!

I’ve always liked the idea of traveling light, being able to carry everything I need, and thus figuring out what it is that I actually need. But I was in awe of people who actually walked all day long with their huge backpacks. Just thinking of a backpack gave me back pain. I have a history of back pain due to my slightly bent spine in combination with a lack of regular exercise.

Therefore, my biggest fear about walking was the fear of back pain.

I don’t really know how I overcame this fear, but when Kat suggested to walk the West Highland Way I happily and adventurously agreed. Was it my love for Scotland, the challenge, or the prospect of purchasing a backpack that got me excited? Probably all of it. And it turned out that walking the West Highland Way has been one of my best vacations ever. I didn’t have back pain, because I had a great backpack and didn’t carry too much extra stuff (although with my current experience I’d bring even less if I was to walk it again).

I didn’t get back pain, I got foot pain instead.

Not used to this kind of exertion both my Achilles tendons started to hurt on the third day and hurt for the rest of the walk. So in the end, I did experience pain, but, to my surprise, it didn’t make me miserable or spoiled my walk. A few painkillers eased the pain a little bit, and I was still having a great time! Because the landscapes were still beautiful, the fellow hikers still entertaining, the pubs still warm, and the pints still cold. Being in pain while walking was way less of a problem than it had appeared to in my imagination.

Naturally, before my second multi-day walk, in England’s Lake District, I was a bit worried about my feet. Reasonably worried though, not irrationally anxious. So I strengthened my ankles beforehand, regularly stretched my feet, and used walking sticks to take the pressure off my joints. This time, my feet were fine, even though the walk might have been even a bit harder at times.

So I guess it’s good to question one’s anxieties from time to time. Shit happens, but bad things are never as bad as you think they might be.