Yesterday, I did a new thing. I wanted a method of doing in a new walk in the countryside, but without choosing it from a book or just making it up and getting lost. So I got a map, measured out 5 miles of string, closed my eyes, and then randomly placed both hands down on the map, thus choosing the start and finish points of my walk (or rather, start and halfway points, as I would have to come back).

Not only did I discover quite a good walk, I have now discovered a really good method for finding new walks. It's too easy to look at a map and pick what looks like a nice walk, or even to repeat a variation of a familar walk. I like discovering new little places within countryside that I am otherwise quite familiar with. It's similar to when I go on a walk with a group. Although there is something special about walking by myself, I find it to be like a form of meditation. It's great for clearing out your head.

As I say, normally when I walk, I'm either walking with other people or walking somewhere familiar by myself. Walking somewhere new by myself has a certain sense of adventure and escape. It's like that time last April when I went to the Black Mountains in Wales by myself for the first time. I only met two people up there. Being up there, Wales down one side and England down the other....reedom!