Why I decided to walk (away)

I can’t pinpoint just one reason why I made this decision. It crept up on me, in different situations, dreams and conversations, that all had the underlying tenure of “just walk”.
But maybe I’m jumping the gun here. Let’s go a bit further back and allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Claudia Unger, a German who also holds British citizenship (silver lining of Brexit I suppose). I live in the Cotswolds with my two black labs: (Doctor) Watson and (Captain) Hastings. And I’m going to walk. For a year. Living as a nomad!
Leaving behind, the comforts of my house, my community, and friends. In fact, I’m selling, gifting, and donating, my household. For I don’t intend to come back. Although, as is a woman’s prerogative, I might come back, but at the moment, I don’t think I will.
Since forever I have been interested in travelling. You could say it’s in my blood: my grandpa worked on ships travelling the world from Hamburg port in 1926, aged just 14. My first job after school was as a Flight Attendant for Lufthansa – I wanted to see the world, too. I have obviously inherited his wanderlust. I’ve lived in Germany, the U.S., the Netherlands, and the U.K. and wherever I have lived in the world, walking has always been super important to me. To clear my head, to let my thoughts just flow, to come up with ideas or to get clarity. To wander. To wonder.
Everything in the world appears to be getting faster. Just looking at the speed in which AI, and particularly ChatGPT are developing, it’s mind boggling. And, for me, disconcerting. For years, it seems, we have been working towards making everything happen much quicker, and just to save time. Yet all that is doing is creating stress and the constant feeling of being late, overwhelmed, or forgetting things. And I don’t want to be a part of that any longer.
There’s a great book by Erich Kaestner called “Das doppelte Lottchen” (Lottie and Lisa, 1962). ‘There are moments in life when you have to pull the emergency brake’. I love this sentence. It is a wonderful antidote for the way we all rush around in life, chasing our own tails. I did this for the first time seven years ago when I left my very comfortable corporate position as Director of Research and Intelligence with BCD Travel (a multinational, billion-dollar company). In my mind, I had tried everything I could think of to grow, develop, and change things within the role, but I came to a point where I was tired of being shot down or asked to wait. So, much to the surprise of everyone, I quit!
For the last seven years I’ve worked in the way I chose to work. Creating on multiple levels, working collectively and individually, contributing to the world in a way that works for me and makes use of my skills and expertise.
Seven years. You might have stories to tell that fall into that pattern too. Now, as my time is up on those seven years, the next experience beckons. As Bilbo Baggins says in “The Hobbit”: ‘I’m going on an adventure’.
My reasons for walking
- I don’t care for housework nor cooking, it’s an evil necessity that I can easily do without. Life is too short to spend your time dusting the furniture!
- The enjoyment of being outside as much as I can, is very important to me. I feel like I’m achieving something. Not being closed-in, helps my mind expand, and I can think, relax, create – do anything I want to, and I can take my dogs with me.
- To find a work-leisure balance that’s right for me. You notice, I don’t say work-life balance. I stress the work-leisure rather than work-life balance because, for me, both work and leisure are part of my life. Whereas the way we currently use the phrase, suggests that one is good and the other bad. Work is part of most of our lives, it’s not a bad thing in itself, for many of us, our work can be a passion so why wouldn’t we enjoy it?
- Finding humanity in daily interactions. When you walk, generally you come across other people also walking, or just moving around in their daily life. Human interactions are crucial to us for our well-being. One of the things I love about walking is that you meet other people. At times you just nod at each other, or say ‘hello’, or you might even start up a conversation – one that you wouldn’t have had, if you hadn’t been walking on that road on that day. Travelling with dogs – they are always a good conversation opener. Especially with their saddlebags.
- I once visited the ASI Lodge in Tyrol; their motto is “only where you’ve been on foot you’ve truly been”. That inspired me and stayed with me. It’s particularly true to many places you visit. Just passing in a car, on a bus, on a train, or on the main roads, you miss so many special places and views. There are also many places where those modes of transport can’t get to, but you can on your own two feet.
- From a more spiritual standpoint – there is an element of trusting that this is the right step for me at this time and that everything will be revealed as I’m walking and I will be provided for if I let that happen for me.
This is my first blog, so I’d like to invite you to follow me on my ‘walk’.
You can do this by:
- taking a look at my instagram @wanderlustcoach, or, if you prefer,
- looking at the canine perspective by following @watsonandhastings