Some simple ideas to help build up your distance.

Walk at lunch

A lunchtime walk could be the foundation of your Walk1200km journey. Two kilometres can be done in less than 30 minutes, leaving time to eat. It will also rack up almost two-thirds of the year-end total. A lunchtime stroll will also keep you more chirpy and productive in the afternoon.

Enlist a friend

Support and good-natured competition are powerful motivators, whether with virtual or real company. You won’t want to let each other down and you may want to ‘best your bestie’, making it less likely you’ll miss a walk. 

Ditch the car

Take the stress out of school drop-offs by walking your children to school. It’ll give you valuable time together and add easy kilometres to your total distance. (If the full distance is a push, park 500m or 1km away.) Or take the bus to work and get off a couple of stops early.

Be an early bird

Jump out of bed 40 minutes earlier than normal and enjoy a quiet neighbourhood walk. You’ll face the day positively and may encounter something new – birdlife, a sunrise, a friendly hello, perhaps a great idea.

Be a night owl

Try heading out in the evening. A walk will help to digest your dinner, process the day, and tire your body and brain for a better night’s sleep. 

Get a map

Get a local area map and find the alleyways, parks and streets worth exploring. Set a goal to walk every street in your suburb, or use a topo map to explore a nearby forest or a national park and aim to walk every track in it. 

Think like a dog

Dogs are great walking companions and help make Walk1200km much easier. If you haven’t got a dog, try thinking like one! Dogs don’t care if it’s wet out or what time of dayit is or that they might have had a bad day. They just want to walk.

Subscribe to Wilderness

Use the mapped trips in each issue of Wilderness to plan monthly excursions that help you explore the country and discover new places. A subscription gives access to more than 750 mapped trips on the Wilderness website – enough to complete several Walk1200km challenges!

Walk every day

The best way to succeed in Walk1200km is to walk every day, even if that walk is just 500m. There’s real power in not having any blank spaces on your progress tracker. The longer the chain of unbroken days, the stronger the motivation. 

Solvitur ambulando!

This Latin phrase means ‘it is solved by walking’ and some of history’s greatest thinkers – Darwin, Einstein, Aristotle and countless others – have credited walking with helping them to think better. You’ll be amazed how often a problem that seemed insurmountable is suddenly solved on a walk.