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Trekking trips: a true lifestyle
‘Abandon the great roads, take the paths’
Pitagora
“Outdoor” activities, meaning all those sporting activities that take place in outdoor spaces, are experiencing an unprecedented moment of popularity and contributing to a rediscovery of the importance of the relationship with nature. Moving in nature attracts an ever-increasing number of people, both among those who choose hiking or trekking and among the more daring, who climb rock walls, go rafting or descend mountains on mountain bikes.
But whatever the favorite sport, doing outdoor activities and outdoor sports has another peculiar characteristic: it soon becomes a lifestyle, made up of better habits and healthy routines, and the one who benefits is undoubtedly the body but also the mind.
Hiking and Trekking: the best Outdoor Activities
It may be because walking is one of man’s oldest activities, but the love of hiking and trekking tours is attracting more and more enthusiasts around the world.
In an article from the WeHike Blog, we saw the differences between hiking and trekking, especially in terms of length and commitment. Those who choose a hiking experience or a trekking trip are looking for something different by moving in an environment where everything needs to be discovered. Practicing these outdoor activities does not require champion training or expensive equipment.
In fact, with a few right tips, a good pair of shoes and a backpack with a few well-chosen things are enough and off you go. Of course, the variables of each adventure change: hiking the Camino de Santiago is different from a hiking trip in Dolomites (like the one in Val Gardena that we will do in July ).
Walk, Hike and Trek: a complete workout for the body and mind
Some qualities, however, are common to all trekking trips, whether in the high mountains or on the cliffs of the sea coasts. Each walking itinerary gives the opportunity to discover new places and to see with different eyes and from new perspectives places we think we know.
Hiking itineraries in slow mode develops observation skills and curiosity. Walking, it is known, is somewhat of a great metaphor for life, and perhaps because of this it can help bring out and develop new sides of our person. Traveling on foot, in contact with nature, makes us rediscover that exploratory spirit fueled by curiosity and wonder, and allows us to get in touch with emotions and sensations that the body has forgotten.
By hiking alone along alternative paths and roads, and letting ourselves be “rocked” by the rhythm of one step after another, we encounter a new awareness, and often pleasant surprises. If we are then part of a group, we have the opportunity to socialize, compare, unite and forge new relationships, the root of which is the love of hiking.
Italo Calvino, one of the masters of twentieth-century Italian literature, also understood this well: “Walking presupposes that with each step the world changes in some aspect of it and also that something changes in us.”
Trekking is really about reclaiming the world and oneself.
