I love walking, and having lived in cities that make it difficult and frustrating I noticed some ways that make it engaging and motivate me to do it anyway.

Frustrating points about walking for me include poor road layout (e.g., to get anywhere from your neighbourhood you must first walk to basically-a-highway then walk alongside it for a time), poor air quality, noise from traffic, reckless rule-breaking drivers, missing sidewalks, stray dogs, etc.

— I find places to go. Find places you want to visit for whatever reason, maybe to grab some food or coffee, to sit and read or people-watch, and alternate between them. I don’t like repetitive exercise without any other purpose than exercise itself so I don’t just walk—I am getting somewhere. (Sometimes I don’t have a specific place in mind but I know there’ll be something I need in the general direction, like coffee. This method generally requires a denser urban area to work.)

— Shoes without heel support made a significant difference to my walking routine. They force me to land every step similarly to how I would do it if I were barefoot, not right on the heel like cushioned sneakers teach us. That combined with keeping neck and extremities relaxed at the same time really makes my body remember that there’s such a thing as abs, because suddenly every step engages abs. Maintaining this form is also a bit challenging, mentally more so than otherwise. As a result, even though I may be going somewhere, I walk more slowly and I feel better about the process.

— I monitor air quality with AirVisual; when it’s green it’s a motivating factor to get fresh air (what if tomorrow it changes to orange/red for a week, and I will want to enjoy a walk… better do it while I can).

— Carrying a camera and taking photos when I feel like it makes me more attentive to my surroundings. Some say always having a camera means I don’t live in the moment, but I suspect this hobby instead helps with that. It also requires walking to see new scenes worth photographing, even bicycling doesn’t work so well.

— Noise-canceling headphones address noise pollution, plus walking is probably the best time to listen to an audiobook or a podcast if not music.

These all help me get into the right state of mind and cope with frustrations.

Mostly unsolved problems:

— Reckless drivers. I find the only way to deal with this is to either submit or to put yourself in danger. The former can ruin your day and the latter obviously can’t be recommended. In some cities making yourself more noticeable (if you don’t naturally stand out then through high visibility clothing) may actually reduce the danger enough, but it wouldn’t help say in Seoul where they speed through red lights barely noticing anything (thankfully however in Seoul you can route your walk mostly away from wider roads or bridges where this happens).

— Heat is a problem depending on the latitude, if I don’t wake up early enough I may be demotivated to go out that day.

— Combined with all other frustrations, suburban-like sparsely populated environment tips the scales for me. I never could really enjoy walking in Chiang Mai for example, it’s boring and the probability of encountering a pack of stray dogs is bothersome.