1. You need to gather commitment. Without commitment you will not have what it takes to carry through a long distance walk. You will give up half way or maybe even before getting started. Building up a strong commitment is in itself very beneficial, it focuses your energy and provides a sense of purpose
2. You need to plan. Without a plan, you will not know when to walk, where to walk, what to bring or where to sleep along the way. The ability to plan is key to a successful walk and key to a successful life
3. You need to act. You can have all the commitment and plans in the world, but long distance walking requires you to be able to execute – to walk step by step towards the goal, minute after minute, hour after hour and day after day. The same thing applies to life in general.

Completing a long distance walk will give you a strong sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. It will boost your belief in yourself and your abilities, enable you to do things you didn’t think was possible and have not accomplished in years.

In late October this year I went with my girlfriend to an area in southern Poland called Kudowa-Zdroj, famous for its mineral water and spa treatments that are said to be highly rejuvenating.

The weather was misty and we had some rain as well, but we did get on a nice one day walking trip to the famous Table Mountains on the Polish-Czech border.

The mountains are 70 million year old sandstone formations that have eroded into a mystical labyrinth like structure.

The trip is very beautiful and not particularly difficult to walk although some parta a pretty steep. In rainy weather it can be a bit slippery though so good shoes and caution is advised.

After a full day of walking, we came back to Kudowa-Zdroj to enjoy a nice Spa-treatment at the Verde Montana Spa

Around the natural reserve runs a looped track called Sameslingan, taking you through forests, rocky terrain and around beautiful lakes.

On the path you can find stone chips from an old Stone Age settlement, which was then located on a seashore.

Barely a kilometer after the start from Paradiset you come to lake Trehörningen. At this lake there are several nice rest areas, some of them with prepared barbecue areas.

The area is not very well known in Stockholm and when walking there you do not meet a lot of people. Nevertheless, there are good facilities along the walk such as water taps and resting places .

This is more or less the perfect day trip if you live in Stockholm, let’s keep it a secret

So in early August 2022 I decided to try it out together with my brother. We took of on a sunny day from Helsingør (Elsingore). We walked out of the city and into the countryside. We went through forests, open landscapes and villages, including historical sites such as St Jakobs Chapel and Gurre Slotsruin (picture below)

We arrived around 16:00 at our first destination in the village of Tikøb and a small B&B slightly off the official route, but this was the only accommodation that made sense given our plans for the 4 day trip.

On day 2 we took off quite aiming for Esrum Abbey, one of the oldest monastries in Denmark founded 1151. We stopped there fore a nice lunch before continuing around Esrum Lake and we arrived at a shelter mid afternoon where we had planned to spend the night. To our good fortune, the shelter was free and we had really good time there with an open fire grilling sausages and vegetables that we had brought.

During the night it started to rain and we started the third day in ponchos, walking in the rain towards Fredensborg which was actually another de-route to try out the local restaurant, Fredensborg Store Kro. In the afternoon, the rain had stopped and we had a very beautiful walk through Grønholt and Hillerød Store Dyrehave before arriving at our stayover destination, Hillerød Vandrerhjem.

The last day of the trip from Hillerød to Furesøen in Farum was quite long but also not very challenging so we arrived at our destination before 15:00, just in time for a late lunch at Restaurant Furesøbad.

Compared to the routes I have walked at Camino Norte in Spain, this route was quite easy – but very beautiful indeed, offering plenty of time to reflect and enjoy nature.

In my work as a management consultant, I have previously noted how outdoor walk-and-talk sessions can really energize a team and generate deeper discussion than you would normally get in a class room session.

However, walking the Camino made me think that maybe these benefits are just a scratch in the surface. I asked myself – what if long distance walking could be a way to drastically improve our physical and psychological health? Could it help reducing the use of addictive anti-depressant drugs? What if it could help save lives and improve happiness, while reducing the pressure on healthcare systems?

Research shows that the millennials is set to become the most obese generation ever, while the obesity rate among the general population has radically increased. For instance, the obesity rate in the US increased from around 30% to over 40% from 2000 to 2020 while the severe obesity rate almost double from 4.7 to 9,2%. In the western world, the lifestyle dependent diabetes type 2 is increasing by around 5% per year.

On the psychological side of things, we see a similar pattern. While rate of population with psychological problems was already sky high before Covid-19, research from the WHO shows a 25% increase in prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide during the pandemic. In many countries, the waiting time in the public healthcare system for psychiatric treatment is more than a year.

While long distance walking is no silver bullet for all ailments, it is an effective, inexpensive and readily available means to improve our well-being. Multiple studies have shown the benefits of walking both in terms of physical fitness and health, as well as mental and psychological balance.

Health experts and doctors agree that we should be walking 10.000 steps or more per day to stay fit and free from disease, while physical activity is widely recognised as one of the big lifestyle aspects that significantly influenced our health.

But in order to get the full benefits of walking, we need to think about the way we walk. We need to move beyond just walking to the supermarket or walking one hour just to get some fresh air and exercise. We need to let go of the headphones and the running apps and become fully immersed in the walk. We need to pay full attention to the walk it self, and how it affects our bodies and our minds.

Once you do this, you might discover layers of meaning that go far deeper than you have previously seen. You will engage in a deeper conversation with your self that you would normally not have time for. What is your true purpose? Where would you like to go? What is holding you back?

We could call it walking meditation, walking therapy or just mindful walking.
What it means is a unified physical and mental journey aimed towards our highest potential. It means exploring walking as way to…

• Be fully present
• Be truly honest with yourself
• Refocus on what kind of person you would like to be
• What a truly meaningful lifestyle would be for you and
• What are the concrete steps you need to take to move forward

Walking the Camino made me realize that I would like to get out much more in the nature. I would like to be part of starting a movement to motivate more people to get out and gain the benefits of mindful walking.