Hi there. I am Martin and I like to walk. Well, I am more than that but let’s just stick to that limited definition for now. It’s not that I am a real fanatic hiker but I feel that walking is somehow engrained in my DNA.
As a child I made a lot of walking tours with my father. I don’t know really what motivated me to do so, but I’ve still got the medals to show for it. Maybe it was back then that my destiny to walk was determined.
As a teenager and in my twenties I mostly stuck to other sports activities like basketball and running, always dreaming about achieving big things like playing professional basketball or become an ultra marathon runner. I didn’t pursue either of both paths.
In stead my path has led me here, twenty years later, wanting to rediscover my walking abilities and already doing so by every so often wandering off in nature and making some kilometres. Always with a steady stride as if I need to get somewhere in time. Maybe I am still trying to achieve something big.
In a way I think humans and the human mind is programmed just to do that, wanting and achieving things. Once those things are achieved or have become irrelevant you find yourself wanting new things. A strange never ending cycle which never really leads to real satisfaction. Maybe it’s some kind of survival mechanism.
Whatever it may be it is also the inspiration for the name of this website. Maybe in stead of trying to achieve happiness we should focus more on being or what is happening; happingness in stead of happiness. Being with what’s already there not needing or wanting anything else. I am sure you have once experienced the simple joy of being where everything feels complete and you don’t need anything else. After that usually the wanting-cycle will pick back up but it’s just so nice that you don’t need to get somewhere all the time.
I will try and do my part. Being aware of my steady stride and trying to slow down. As I write this I am on my way to start my first ever big walking tour from Porto to Santiago de Compostela. Sounds a bit like I want to achieve something big, I know, but I will try to live it as a big happingness experience not focussing too much on trying to get to Santiago at all cost.
