Americans are baffled at how far people actually walk in the UK

Here in the UK we love a good jaunt, whether it be in the countryside, around our local park, or on our way to work.

However, it turns out that our love for walking isn’t a global thing because, according to one American this week, our passion for getting out and about on foot is completely bewildering to those on the other side of the pond.

Taking to Reddit, the American user expressed their disbelief after finding out that a ‘thirty minute walk’ is considered a ‘short walk home.’

Brett Jordan / Unsplash

They wrote: “I was listening to an ITV true crime podcast yesterday, and the person said ‘it was a short walk home, about thirty minutes.’ Is that really considered to be a short walk home?

“I can’t fathom walking that far in the US and considering it anything I’d do just to get home. Do people walk that much in the UK?”

They clarified in the comments that they were being serious, explaining that ‘most of the US just isn’t set up for walking.’

“No sidewalks, crazy drivers, plus just distance. Americans don’t walk. Also, where I am in Indiana, there is no mass transit. Indianapolis has it, but it’s scarce and quite unreliable. We drive everywhere. As in, everywhere.”

@areksan / Unsplash

Of course, the post was quickly inundated by amused British users who all couldn’t quite wrap their heads around a world of no regular walking.

One person wrote: “Thirty minutes is only a mile and a half, you’re joking aren’t you? I take my dog longer walks.”

Another noted: “I can’t speak for all people, but I would hate to meet the person to whom a 30-min walk is considered some sort of unusually length trek of incredible proportions. For any normal healthy person it’s about 1.5miles.”

The NHS website states that a brisk ten minute daily walk carries an array of health benefits and counts towards your recommended 150 minutes of weekly exercise.