Walking.

 Walking.

I love to walk. It’s the most painful of my pastimes, but I still love it. If you follow my blog or social media, you probably know I have two new knees and two new hips. My legs aren’t what they used to be. Nothing really is after seventy, and I’m three years past that. My bad joints are a family gift—rheumatoid arthritis and a couple of rough tackles from my amateur football days ended any hope of a pain-free old age. I can feel it catching up with me. I don’t expect to be free from pain; lots of people deal with joint problems. I’m lucky to live in Western Europe, where we have good health care. As my dad used to say, ‘at least when your body hurts you know you’re alive’. That’s one way to look at it. Still, the pain after a walk can have me cussing. That’s when painkillers help, thankfully. I also have blood issues, so I take blood thinners every day and can only use certain painkillers. When I go on holiday, I bring my painkillers along—one a day keeps the agony away.

Even so, I love walking. I know it will hurt later, but that doesn’t stop me, especially now while I’m on holiday in West Wales, where the coastal paths are stunning.

When you’re out walking, you meet all sorts of people. Most look you in the eye and greet you with a cheerful ‘good morning’ or ‘hiya’. Sometimes you even get a friendly ‘great day to be out’. Walking makes you feel like everyone is a good soul. There are different types of walkers, though. Some are hikers who go from village to village, covering long distances. Then there are speed walkers, often with fancy gear, who focus on speed and don’t stop to enjoy the views or have a sandwich by the sea. And then there are average walkers like me. We’re not trying to impress anyone with distance or speed. We pick a stretch of coast, walk for a while, then turn around and head back. It helps me pace myself and not put too much strain on my knees and hips.

Today we set out to explore the local coastal path near where we’re staying in Aberarth. We took the northbound route toward Aberystwyth, planning just to see how the paths were before maybe doing a longer walk tomorrow. I left my Nordic walking sticks behind, and we didn’t bring sandwiches or snacks since we thought we’d only be out for an hour. We started by walking through the lower village, which is full of charming cottages. At the end of the village, we followed the coastal path sign and headed out. The path was great—soft underfoot, not many brambles or hedges scratching us, and the weather was perfect: a bit cloudy, not much wind, and about 21°C. We kept walking and talking and soon realized this would be a longer walk than we expected. At one of the first ‘kissing gates’ we passed through, someone had left a branch big enough to use as a walking stick. I took it as a sign to keep going, so we did. There were a couple of hilly sections, but I was feeling good with no pain in my joints yet, so we decided to walk all the way to Llanon village and catch the local bus back.

The distance between our holiday village and Llanon isn’t that great, but as any walker knows, it’s the path and terrain that really matter—especially for my joints. When we reached Llanon, I thought, “If we can find a cup of tea and a sandwich, maybe I’ll walk back.” But after sitting on the pebble beach for five minutes and trying to stand up, I realized it was smarter to take the bus.

We headed into the village to look for a shop—which isn’t always easy to find in West Wales—or maybe a tea room, and of course, the bus stop.

From the lower village, we walked up toward the main road along the coast. I spotted the bus stop and cheered, then noticed a small shop. It turned out to be a second-hand vinyl record and music book store with a tea room inside. For us, this is paradise—we never pass up a second-hand book or record shop, and this was three in one! The tea was great. We bought an Art Blakey DVD to watch at the Airbnb, plus a T. Rex and a Moody Blues LP. As a bonus, I found an old album by Tony Hancock, a stand-up comedian from the 60s (look him up if you don’t know him). This is what I call ‘walking karma’: just walk, no competition, no real goal, and let the walk surprise you.

The bus arrived right on time—there’s a good bus service along the west coast of Wales. I was exhausted but happy. What began as a simple stroll around the village turned into a memorable walk with a great surprise at the end. I was so excited that I almost forgot to take a painkiller when we got back to the cottage, but my joints quickly reminded me.