Adventuring during lockdown. With even long, solitary bike rides off-limits I’ve decided to explore smaller than ever. Starting from my front door I’m going to run every street (using citystrides.com, heatflask.com and Strava) on a mission to go places I have never been before. It is a way to notice new and beautiful and wild things, even in the most familiar of settings. It gives my ration of exercise a sense of purpose and adventure.⁠

 

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Adventuring during lockdown. With even long, solitary bike rides off-limits I’ve decided to explore smaller than ever. Starting from my front door I’m going to run every street (via citystrides.com) on a mission to go places I have never been before. It is a way to notice new and beautiful and wild things, even in the most familiar of settings. It gives my ration of exercise a sense of purpose and adventure.⁠ ⁠ I loved following @RickeyGates run every street of San Francisco (www.everysinglestreet.com) and this New York Epic: https://imjustwalkin.com⁠ Rickey’s website has a brilliant list of other people attempting the challenge in their own neighbourhoods, plus a how-to section if you fancy trying this yourself.⁠ ⁠ What do you reckon? Fancy joining me?⁠ #everystreet

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 13, 2020 at 1:14am PDT

 

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Out tonight to run some more miles in my new lockdown adventure to run #everystreet. Looking for bright specks of light in dark times. I found Capella, the 6th brightest star in the sky and a mere 43 light years away. (Thanks to the fab Star Walk app for teaching me that.) The main thing I noticed tonight was an absence of smell. The lush, warm fragrances of spring – new growth and grass cuttings that have filled the last two weeks – were gone tonight. In their place, a cold wind and my breath ballooning in the light of my head lamp. Spring had tricked me, luring me out again in t-shirt, shorts and my newly shaved head. I shivered through 10k, never warming up, before deciding to dash for home. Two nights in, however, and I’m loving this new local exploration challenge. (Tip: www.heatflask.com is brilliant if you want to give this a try where you live.)

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 13, 2020 at 3:59pm PDT

 

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Days may drag, but this oak tree’s just getting started. Things may be frustrating, but someone’s got it worse. Work may be worrying, but someone’s got it worse. We may be struggling, but most of the world’s got it worse. Patience may be ebbing, but what’s a few fallow weeks out of a lifetime? Perspective: a timely gift from a late night run and an oak tree.

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 14, 2020 at 3:19pm PDT

 

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Out exploring again tonight. How have I never before seen this roadsign (just 2 miles from my house) for Frogs Crossing?! 😃🐸 Slightly tempted to steal it for my shed… I’m running #everystreet around where I live and learning to explore more locally than ever before. My challenge for you: head out tomorrow and notice something you have never seen before… #goniceplacesdogoodthings #neverstopexploring * Tips… Use @strava and heatflask.com for the logistics of an #everystreet challenge. Have a look at what @treesforcities are doing to make some good come from our local runs. Tag your photos with #everystreet so that other people can see what you’ve discovered.

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 15, 2020 at 3:03pm PDT

 

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Out running #everystreet again tonight. Stepped aside for a rare car into a tasty roadside patch of Jack By The Hedge or garlic mustard. Not the usual runner’s snack, but it filled my appetite for noticing and appreciating the small things around me…

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 16, 2020 at 3:14pm PDT

 

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Picasso portraiture meets white line painting… 🏃 (In the confined, weird world of lockdown, I’m running #everystreet around my home — microadventure and exploration on a smaller scale than I’ve ever done before. It’s a time for curiosity: seeking newness and inspiration in the seemingly familiar.)

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 19, 2020 at 2:28pm PDT

 

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Knowing that the wild world is trundling merrily along on its way without me, I’ve been missing the chance to go running in ancient woodlands carpeted with bluebells – one of England’s finest times of the year. Luckily tonight, out on my random mission to run #everystreet, I stumbled upon some bluebells on the verge of a busy road, right opposite the council landfill site. Stooping to photograph them, the breeze brought me a waft of rotting rubbish, a smell which weirdly I always quite like, for it whisks me away to whiffier, wilder parts of the world. I remembered being lost late one night in a part of Chennai I didn’t really want to be wandering aimlessly around. I hailed a tuktuk and the driver whizzed me back to where I wanted to be, zipping through the hot, humid night, the endlessly busy, beeping streets, the clicking of cicadas and loud Bollywood music playing from roadside food shacks, lit by bare bulbs and smelling spicy and exotic over the humdrum background aroma of the local tip… Who says we can’t travel the world right now…?

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 19, 2020 at 2:41pm PDT

 

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I can now reveal that all my talk of Adventure and other such nonsense was just a cover story for my true mission in life: to steal the Crown Jewels. But after 30 days of [gentle] lockdown I could not even imagine 30 years in prison. So I’m ditching the life of crime for the less risky rewards of modest book sales… (Sign seen whilst running #everystreet around my home — microadventure and exploration on a smaller scale than I’ve ever done before. It’s a time for curiosity: seeking newness and inspiration in the seemingly familiar.)

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 21, 2020 at 2:30pm PDT

 

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“Coop” or “Co-op”? As always, it’s up to us to decide how we regard a situation we are in… The opportunities as well as the constraints. Signposts teaching me Lockdown lessons as I run #everystreet around my home — microadventure and exploration on a smaller scale than I’ve ever done before. It’s a time for curiosity: seeking newness and inspiration in the seemingly familiar.

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 21, 2020 at 2:34pm PDT

 

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More roadsign wisdom for me. Life advice for lockdown (and beyond) seem whilst out pounding the pavements again tonight, running #everystreet around my home — microadventure and exploration on a smaller scale than I’ve ever done before.

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 22, 2020 at 1:42pm PDT

 

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I’ve found the perfect book to listen to while I run #everystreet – On Looking by Alexandra Horowitz. From the introduction, ““As it turns out, I was missing pretty much everything. After taking the walks described in this book, I would find myself at once alarmed, delighted, and humbled at the limitations of my ordinary looking. My consolation is that this deficiency of mine is quite human. We see, but we do not see: we use our eyes, but our gaze is glancing, frivolously considering its object. We see the signs, but not their meanings. We are not blinded, but we have blinders. My deficiency is one of attention: I simply was not paying close enough attention. Though paying attention seems simple, there are numerous forms of payment. I reckon that every child has been admonished by teacher or parent to ‘pay attention.’ But no one tells you how to do that.”⁠

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 23, 2020 at 3:21pm PDT

 

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This evening’s run was pleasantly interrupted by five fox cubs playing merrily at my feet; the six of us alone down at the end of a cul de sac lit by the flickering lights of every home’s massive TV. In the confined, weird world of lockdown, I’m running #everystreet around my home — microadventure and exploration on a smaller scale than I’ve ever done before.

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 27, 2020 at 2:28pm PDT

 

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“There are nights that are so still that I can hear the small owl calling.” – RS Thomas #everystreet #goniceplacesdogoodthings

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 27, 2020 at 2:30pm PDT

 

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Running #everystreet around my home, in the dark, brings other senses to the fore and makes me pay attention in new ways. Tonight: stopped in my tracks by the strong, sweet smell of hawthorn blossom.

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 28, 2020 at 2:27pm PDT

 

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The more I run, the more I see, the less I understand. Everywhere is filled with small things I’ve never noticed before and cannot explain. I’m sure these signs are useful and explanatory… but not to me. Or, rather, not yet. In the confined, weird world of lockdown, I’m running #everystreet around my home — microadventure and exploration on a smaller scale than I’ve ever done before. It’s a time for curiosity: seeking newness and inspiration in the seemingly familiar.

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 28, 2020 at 2:29pm PDT

 

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“The world is full of obvious things which nobody ever observes.” – Sherlock Holmes I’m out running #everystreet and (in one direction) I’ve finally reached the darkness at the end of town! Beyond here lie dragons. Or at least paths and woods beyond my running reach during lockdown. But along the way I’ve found myself some new ideas for when real life resumes, screenshotted a few map locations and sent them to myself: “Go explore here!” So now I turn my attention to another compass point. My evening explorations of every street continue… * (If you haven’t tried this idea can I urge you to give it a go? It’s given me real purpose and oomph in these unsettling times. I have found it fun, interesting, and a pleasing sense of mission. I use @strava and heatflask.com to record progress. Go on, give it a try… #everystreet. Thank you to @rickeygates for the initial inspiration.)

A post shared by Alastair Humphreys (@al_humphreys) on Apr 30, 2020 at 3:32pm PDT