Hiking
06 Jul 2022Iridium Nova
Sometimes all you really need is a long walk. One thing this galaxy provides in spades is lots of ground to put your feet on. Most of the time, we think of walking in a utilitarian sense. Walking to the concourse elevators, walking to the shops, walking to your local contacts, or walking up to your target/enemy so you can unload your intimidator in their face. But sometimes it's nice to just wander without a destination in mind. Next time you need to relax, land on some nice looking ball of rock or ice, get out of your ship, and just let your feet take you where they may. Pick a location with some rough terrain or interesting vistas and climb some mountains while you're at it. For a challenge, try not to use your jetpack. How you do it doesn't really matter. You're not actually trying to get anywhere. Just walk, or run, what ever feels comfortable, and let the Zen settle in. Just don't get too comfortable, after all the galaxy is still trying to kill you. Keep an eye on your gauges and remember you can call your ship in whenever you need it. No sense in dying for a bit of peace of mind.It's a good way to keep fit, too. If you've lived in space for any real length of time you know the importance of that. Nothing is worse than waking up in the morning to find half your foot floating across your bedroom. Of course, just about every station has medical facilities that can fix up atrophies good as new but it's always better to avoid it if possible. Sure, some will argue that it's a waste of time. Why walk around aimlessly on some dusty rock when you can get just as good exercise in your ship? But those people are missing the point. Since our primitive origins, the human body has evolved to receive a kind of innate empowerment from walking though nature. We've been around for at least a hundred thousand years, and we only figured out vehicles during the latest 1% of that time. There's a lot of genetic conditioning that's gonna be with us for quite a long time, and this is just one of those things. Might as well embrace it.
And for all you people who prefer long drives for that Zen experience, well that's okay I guess, but don't pass up an opportunity to get out and stretch your legs once in a while during your interplanetary off-road trip.