I've had an email exchange with one half of that distance-walking couple, and I'm impressed! I thought about reproducing one of the lady's emails here, but I've decided I can just relay the essentials. The lady and her husband are no strangers to long distances.
According to the wife, whom I'll call M, her husband was a long-distance runner for years before his knee went bad. He apparently racked up over 90,000 miles over the course of 30 years (that's 3,000 miles per year, or 8 miles a day!). The two are in their seventies now(!!), and they spend their time distance walking, always planning a new adventure. I'm not sure whether the husband is Korean, but the wife definitely is. They've hiked all over the world. These days, they have a preference for hiking bike trails, hence their interest in the Four Rivers trail and the Jeju bike trail (M clarified that they were looking at the bike trail, not the Olle-gil). They hike with a baby stroller to carry their supplies, and their schedule sounds a lot like mine: start before sunrise and finish the day in the very early afternoon, around 2 p.m. Scarily similar to my own schedule.
M said the two of them were considering different destinations, and she noted that Korea might happen in 2024, not next year. They go out and do these long walks once every two years (maybe the expense of such walks prevents them from occurring yearly).
Anyway, meeting someone this devoted to distance walking, and at their age, is phenomenal. M and her husband put me to shame. I wish them the best, and we've promised to keep in contact with each other. Maybe we'll all have a chance to meet in 2024.
And there you go--evidence that you will be able to keep walking for another twenty years at least. And another idea for how you can fill those post-retirement days.
ReplyDeleteWhich reminds me, when is that hike in Spain going to happen?