Image 1 credit Youngshin Yang
Image 2 credit Beth Emily Richards
Image 3 Credit Katheryn Owens
We are walking towards a city called Yongin, close to Seoul in South Korea. We believe in the transformative power of walking, friendship and of the imagination. We met our friend Youngshin in London, but now for financial and visa reasons she is unable to leave South Korea. Similarly, we do not have the means to go and see her, and we miss our friend. We are undertaking a walk together, where we walk as often as possible a short walk in our local area, which Youngshin also does in her area, with the idea that over time we cover the miles between us. This project is ongoing.
A version of this walk was published in The Walkbook: Recipes for Walking and Wellbeing, (2022) edited by Walking Publics/Walking Arts is available for free here
WALKS FOR WHEN YOU NEED A FRIEND
Basic method:
1. Work out the distance between you and a friend. They might live in another country, or city, or street. You can do this on google maps, or by googling ‘how many miles between (your location) and (your friends location). It doesn’t need to be accurate, you don’t need a specific route. If your friend also wants to walk, work out what half the distance between you is.
2. Go on a walk: walk a little from / in your home. You don’t need to go outside. You could zoom in on a map somewhere you haven't been before (or somewhere you know and are fond of), and follow the lines, exploring your route this way. You could walk the streets immediately outside your home. You can walk as far as you like. On your walk, think of what you notice that you would tell your friend about. Think about what they might enjoy about your walk and why. Maybe you tell your friend.
3. When you have finished walking, note down how far you have walked. Guessing is fine, or you could use a steps app. Or you might want to measure distance in a different way that is personal to you and your friend. (For example, maybe every dog you see being walked counts as one mile walked).
4. Repeat the exercise another day. You might want to take the same route, you might want to take a different route, only walking down roads you haven’t used before on your friendship walks.
5. Repeat the walks, marking down the distance covered, until the distance you have walked is the distance between you and your friend. If you and a friend are ‘walking towards’ each other, maybe you celebrate when you ‘meet’. Maybe you walk to where your friend is. Or you could post your friend souvenirs from your walks.
Ways to adapt this walk:
1. You can make this walk as elaborate or as simple as you like. You can walk for miles and hours or you can walk for a few minutes. You can do this walk without leaving your room.
2. You might want to document your walk, maybe on a map, or in a diary, or through photos or drawings. Or you might not want to document it at all.
3. You can do this walk with others who you are separated from (you can walk towards each other), or you can do this walk alone, privately, walking towards someone you love.
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