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It is a cold January afternoon in Kent, snowflakes still on Earth despite the bright sun. On the North Downs Street, just outside the Sevenoaks and 20 miles from the center of London, a pauses and steps on one side of the narrow and muddy road to make room for a group of young people coming to the next way . But a strange thing happens. As the man and the dog wait, the people simply continue to come-two or three in the arm, all in their 20s, smiling and chatting in an animated way while pouring out of the forests along the path, a Gregarious Gen column -Z almost 400-strong people
Although he did not know him, the man was proving the last overground appearance, one by a new breed of walking groups that is receiving an activity previously accompanied by middle -aged sedat and recreating it for an audience Gen-Z and millennia. The information is divided into tiktok and Instagram, and groups often meet in household circles or within a short trip by train of other big cities.
For many of the organizers, it is about building the community, using the mental health benefits of spending time in nature, encouraging participation from under -representative groups and leaving the city’s frightening life. And for an increasingly discreet demographic, the early beginnings on the morning of the weekend are not a problem.
Before starting their walking group, two growing up in March 2024, neither Lucy Cooper nor the Yas message had been big. “We wanted to see more from the villages as we made new connections. . . Without relying on alcohol, ”says Cooper.
When the pair advertised their first growth on social media, the “seven sisters walk” from Seaford to Eastbourne, 60 people appeared. When 250 appeared for their second, they realized they might need to formalize a ticket system to avoid growing “too intimidating growth for people to enjoy”. Tickets now cost 2 pounds, and all 200 spaces usually sell within minutes; Last year, new branches have sprouted in Manchester, Leeds, Shropshire and Birmingham.
Last weekend I joined another new group, the Adventure Girls Club, meeting with 12 women and two dogs at the Bath station for a loss in downs. “The (traditional) walk community can often focus on walks on the farthest, fastest or most challenging road,” says the founder of Alice Keegan, “while I want to grow slowly, take the views, notice the surrounding nature me – a more conscious approach. “
Keegan, a qualified Mountain leader, once lived in the wonderful Bethnal Green of London and worked as a creative director of a design agency fed with the music industry. Feeling burnt, she recovered by walking solo in the lake circle and began to appreciate how useful she was for her mental health. Now she wants to support others to “escape the stress of modern living”.
We will present the city and raise the steep forest paths towards the Sham Fortress, built in 1762 for Ralph Allen, one of the main figures in the Georgian resurrection of Bath. As we go through the small wood, Keegan shows species of mushrooms including frills of a turkey tail, and black King Alfred lamps.
But if the connection to nature is a major obsession, it is the digital world that is enabling these new communities. Lauren La Faci, the direction of communication of customers based in Tiktok, says that “in recent months, walking enthusiasts have amazed millions of stunning landscapes and hiking lessons.” On the platform, #HIKING has 5MMS posts (and #hiketok has 270,000). In comparison, #swimming manages 2.1MN posts.
For Jeb Jagne, who founded overground in July 2023, “Walking became a way to take a breath and a way to decompose” after undergoing a burial, sharing of relationships and loss within months. Monthly shadows waits for monthly within an hour of the capital’s train. In their first, 43 people appeared; There can now be up to 500.
The walks are free and not marked which means that the organizers cannot limit the numbers. “There are already so many obstacles when it comes to finding space outdoors, I wouldn’t want to introduce another,” Jagne says. Overground is now collecting funds to create a training program for people from marginalized groups to become mountain guides.
Jagne, who previously worked as a DJ and promoter of the nightclub, has been sober for the past year. “I have seen people meet in congestion and form strong friendships, move to new homes and even go along with vacation. Walking will always be our northern star, but what really matters is that the first domino in the formation of a new relationship. “
Back to Bath, 13km Trodden and painful legs, Girls’ Club Adventure Clubs again at the train station. The group is separated, exchanging social media contacts and “nice to meet you”, returning to the suburbs with new counterfeit friendships-if just over four hours ago.
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