“Solvitur ambulando”: I heard that expression many times on the Camino. It means “it is solved by walking around,” and although I’ve heard it attributed to Saint Augustine I have no idea if he actually said it (or, more accurately, wrote it) anywhere. The authors of this article on walking borrowed those two words as their title, and structure their longish discussion of walking around some eleven problems that walking can solve, from providing people with a cheap mode of transportation to curing spiritual dryness to aiding in artistic inspiration. It’s a pretty good introduction to the literature on walking, with many quotations from writers ancient and modern on the benefits of bipedalism. Check it out!

Today’s walk didn’t solve any problems, though. Christine and I set out to walk 22 km, but we started late and it got hot–today is the first day this year that the temperature has hit 30 degrees here–and neither of us are used to the heat. To make things worse, both of us ate too much at lunch and felt more like having a nap than going another eleven km. Lessons learned: eat smaller portions, start earlier–things I already know but needed to be reminded about, apparently. Any way, we decided to stop early. Normally we would’ve walked north, along the creek, but because of all the rain we’ve had lately–an entire spring’s worth last Sunday–the creek is in flood and the footpath under water in spots, so we decided to walk loops around the lake instead. Good thing, too, because that allowed us to cut our walk short and come home. If we’d walked out eleven km along the creek, we would’ve had to walk back eleven km, because neither of us carries a cell phone when we walk (stupid, I know, but I’ve never felt the need to be reachable every minute of the day) and so calling a cab would’ve been out of the question. On the other hand, sometimes when you’re forced to do something, like walk to the next town because, dammit, there’s no other way you’re going to get there, you often–usually–surprise yourself. You’re capable of more than you think. At least, that’s one of the things I learned in Spain and something I’ve kept telling myself since.