Why walk the same path every day

Each day, around six or seven, after dinner, I leave the flat and go for my walk.

I leave the apartment building from the main road side. I take a left, walk parallel to the road for a bit and then take another left, down a walkway, which meets another road only for walking or cycling and the start of my almost five kilometer walk.

Each day, I follow the same route, the same trails, going over the same places. I don't see the same set of people. In fact I don't think I have seen a recognisable face on the trails, ever. When I would go to the gym, there were usually the same set of people at the gym. We would nod at each other as we continued working out. That does not happen during the walks.

Prerna often asks me why do you have to walk the same walk every day. Why can't we go somewhere else to walk.

I did not have a good answer to that before today.

I would say that I like the route. I like that we go through the trails, which takes us over the bridge, to the beach. It would be colder as we got to the nature trails. The air, a tinge cleaner.

Today, I was going to visit a friend. If I walked the same route, I would have to walk extra in order to get to their home. This is another thing about me, I love to optimize for these things.

It is a circle, this route I walk. I start and end at the same place. I go in a clockwise fashion. Today, I decided to do the walk in an anti-clockwise direction. And it felt weird as soon as I had started.

Everything felt new. Even though I walk through the same place, just in a different direction. And yet, everything felt new. I was looking at things in a different light.

With that, I got my answer.

Why do I walk the same route everyday?

Because, it allows me to ignore the path. I know the path. I don't have to pay attention. I am on auto-pilot.
It allows me to think.