Spring Walking Tune-Up Week 5: Refresh Your Routes

This is part 5 in our Spring Walking Tune-Up series. For a look at the topics (and to catch up on past posts), be sure to bookmark the series introduction page.

In the first four weeks of our Spring Walking Tune-Up, we’ve covered a whole lot of bases. We’ve talked about updating our gear, rebuilding our walking base, and making those routines stick. But sometimes even the most dedicated walker can start to feel a little…blah…even during this beautiful time of year after walking the same route over and over and over again, day after day after day.

Route Fatigue is no joke. You may have found the perfect trail—one that’s not too crowded but not too secluded, one that’s surrounded by nature and beautiful scenery, that has a paved path with just the right amount of challenges. But if you walk the same path every day, looking at the same sights, taking the same turns…it can start to feel monotonous. Sure, there can be something comforting about being able to go on autopilot, seeing familiar faces each day, and knowing exactly where your mile-markers are and how far you are from your finish line. But doing the same thing day after day can lead to mental boredom.

So here are some ways to spice up your regular route—or change things up—so your daily walk will feel new again.

Revive Your Old Faithful

Sometimes refreshing your route doesn’t have to mean finding a new place to walk; sometimes it just means making some simple changes to your old route. If your regular route is a loop, you can change it up by reversing your route. You’ll be surprised how different everything will seem when you’re coming at it from a different direction.

If you’ve built your route around avoiding that one hill along the way, change things up by tackling that hill! It will add an extra challenge to your walk and add a little excitement in the process.

Or, to add another challenge to the same old walk, just add intervals! By mixing in a few minutes of easy walks with a few minutes of brisk walks, you’ll make it feel like a whole new workout.

Add Some Seasonal Flair

The changing season offers so many opportunities for bringing new energy to the same old path. This time of year, every day brings something new to see; sometimes you just need to make yourself pay attention.

During the spring, every outside walk is a flower-spotting walk for me. I’m always on the lookout for blooms that weren’t there yesterday. While you’re walking, search for flowering trees or colorful flowers along your path. I can’t resist snapping a few pictures along the way.

Or…take your nature walk to the next level with a bird walk. A while back, I was walking with a friend at a nearby park when we came across a group of people standing quietly in the grass, looking into the trees with their binoculars. We couldn’t help but stop and ask what they were looking at. Of course, it was a group of local birders who had tracked down some migratory bird at the park. And while neither of us had been paying much attention to the birds in the park before, it suddenly turned our walk into a whole new adventure. And you can turn your daily walk into a birding adventure, too! Maybe that means skipping the AirPods and listening to the birds’ songs instead. Maybe it means scanning the trees for new nests or colorful feathers. Whatever the case, it’ll turn the same old daily walk on the same old path into a fun quest.

Now that the days are getting longer, I love going on a sunset stroll. At that time of day, everything feels warm and peaceful—and that sunset glow makes it all feel a little more magical, even if it’s the same path that you walk every day.

Explore Something New

Sure, there are plenty of ways to change the way you see the same old trail. But if you really want to change things up, you’ll want to explore some new paths and see something new.

Neighborhood Loop
We’re pretty lucky to have a whole lot of neighborhood areas around us (one that’s big enough that you can—and most likely will—get lost if you don’t have a GPS app handy). So there are all kinds of paths to explore that aren’t just walking around our own block. If your area is similar, try venturing into the neighborhoods in your area. It may not be especially scenic, but you might just find some interesting houses or gardens or…lawn decorations.

Check Out a New Park
It’s really easy to take our hometown for granted. We get to know a certain area around our house, our workplace, and maybe some shopping areas. But I’ve found that I’m more likely to explore places when I’m just visiting than I am to explore my own hometown. That’s why I’ve made an effort to get out and explore more—to visit more parks and see more of the sights. And I’ve found some great walking trails in the process. All it takes is a little research. You might find a trail that’s good to add to the rotation to visit every once in a while when you need a change of scenery—but you might also find a new favorite!

Coffee Walk
Sometimes walking to somewhere can make it feel like an adventure. And if you’re walking to something that’s a treat, even better! If you don’t have a coffee shop (or another fun destination) within walking distance, get creative. Find a coffee shop with walkable surroundings and park a good distance away. Walk to the coffee shop, get yourself a coffee, and enjoy it on the walk back.

Whether you’re just spicing up the same old route or exploring somewhere new, there are so many ways to change things up on your daily walk—to make the same old walk something new again.

How are you refreshing your route this spring?