The other day, I noticed in Time Out Magazine that there was a 12 mile walk from the Staten Island Ferry to the George Washington Bridge in Manhattan. I was so excited about it. I thought it would be an amazing experience to participate in, so I asked my children if they were into it.
“Are you kidding?” my daughter said to me. “I don’t want to do that!”
“That doesn’t sound like fun,” my son said.
I turned to my husband. What do you think? I asked him. He told me he would do it. So, I proceeded to call my sister, Lori.
“I just want to see if you want to take a nice stroll from Staten Island to the GWB.” I asked her.
“WHAT? ARE YOU NUTS?” she said. “I can’t even walk two blocks and you think I can make that trek?”
When I hung up the phone with her I started to think about people living in the burbs. When I lived in the city, I was so active. I rode my bicycle. I walked everywhere. I climbed up and down stairs. And I was fit.
But, when you live on Long Island or any suburb outside of a city, you tend to drive everywhere. You park as close to the store that you want to go into. You also circle around spots even though there are plenty in the back.
So, does living in the burbs make us lazy?
No, it just means we get our exercise on the treadmill or elsewhere instead of city side walks.
I don't think so. When I lived on the island, I was quite happy to walk to the store, walk around the block or go for bike rides. And I didn't always look for the closest parking spot, I still don't do that. Where I live now, I'm forced to drive more than I did since a)we don't really have sidwalks here and people drive crazy on windy roads and b)I live too far away from the grocery store to walk to it – 10-15 drive to get to the grocery store here. 😉 Just my 2 cents. 😉