13th plan b | walking instead of driving

Feel it, breathe it, believe it and

You'll be walking on air.

Go try, go fly so high and

You'll be walking on air - Kerli

I was so inspired when I caught a glimpse of Dannii walking with her new pram and four children in tow, that I wanted to start walking more too. And as this thought entered my head, so did the reminder of the exact same thing being said by me a few years back.

You see, when we first moved to our home three and a half years ago, we promised ourselves we would walk everywhere.

Why, we're only one kilometre from the train station, the main street, cinema, cafes, Woolworths, a golf course, the park, two playgrounds, walking track, tennis courts, indoor and outdoor pool. We loved our house, but the main drawcard for purchasing it was the amazingly close facilities.

And after living in a country for four years where we were surrounded by barb-wire fences, guard dogs and security guards, we were sure we would never take Australian freedom for granted ever again.

But somewhere along the way I became busy. So busy, in fact, that I now drive all the time.

So sad.

But today, I packed up the boys, the towels, lunchboxes, kitchen sink, and we walked to the pool for Madison's swimming class. I even timed it to see how long it took.

Our walk time included:

• intervals of marvelling at the glorious sunny and almost warm day,
• regular stops to look at the flowers on the side of the road or other things that marvelled us,
• picking up strange objects we just had to put into our pockets,
• changing methods of transportation from the scooter to the front of the pram,
• and time to stop and catch my breath (no, I'm not joking).

Seventeen minutes and 29 seconds later, I arrived at the pool feeling invigorated, slightly puffed and excited.

And absolutely certain that, weather permitting, we would be doing that again very, very soon.