The crowds on Mont St Michel can be a nightmare
I have to declare from the start that I am a fast walker; very fast in fact. With my long legs it’s no big deal for me to walk at over 4 mph, and if we’re rushing for a train my wife Sam will be jogging along beside me while I maintain a brisk walk.
Being quick on my feet is all well and good when strolling in the green and open spaces around our suburban home. But when trying to negotiate central London, or any major city, it can prove very frustrating. A very popular group grew on Facebook a couple of years ago berating slow walking people and wishing them something unpleasant for their lack of ambulatory urgency. While I don’t condone violence toward people on account of their walking speed, I did find it interesting to note that I was not alone in wishing that people in the city would get a move on.
For example, I can walk the length of Oxford Street in 15 minutes on a clear run at night. In the daytime however it takes at least an extra 10 minutes to negotiate the slow moving human mass that crawls along its pavements. Not only slow but unpredictable, with random stops, about turns and sideways lurches. What’s the big deal, many people will say? On the face of it, 10 minutes is nothing. But I actually find it physically awkward to walk at such a slow speed. I have to either halve my natural stride length or my cadence. I even end up tripping over the feet of those in front in my attempts to merge with the almost stationary crowd.
So what’s the solution? I find I often step into the road to make quicker progress. This is ok in some cases, although on Oxford Street, where big red buses often cruise down in near silence the consequences of a wrong step can be serious. Another option is to crowdsurf – this is the exciting thrill of darting into spaces as they appear between walking groups, sometimes even anticipating them before they form, and then jumping ahead or to the side into the next gap, leaving frowning faces from the snail-paced pedestrians left behind. Can lead to confrontation, but at least you feel as though you’re getting somewhere.
The final option is to grit your teeth and slow to the pace of the crowd, enjoying the view of the surrounding shops and people with whom you are walking (while making sure to avoid the feet of the person who has inexplicably stopped in front). This is of course the best option, and perhaps curbing my natural impatience might one day allow me to accept my fate and fall in with the crowd.
Am I alone, or do others share this bug-bear about getting around a city centre? I know others are passionate about the need to slow down and enjoy the surroundings, although I’m sure even those folks don’t advocate clogging up the busy pedestrian streets in the name of appreciating our environment. I will be interested to hear how other people manage to keep their patience when all around them are grinding the pavement.
I’m exactly the same. It drives me nuts – particularly when three or four people are in a row, ambling at a sedentary pace and completely blocking the pavement.
That said, I got an interesting perspective on this issue in Singapore. I was told that walking slowly is a way to avoid getting sweaty in the heat. I had to concede, it’s a good point.
I am a US citizen studying in the UK and I am glad to find other people who live here that feel as I do. I am a hiker and I usually walk 15-20 mi a day and maintain a brisk 3.5 mph stride. Being raised in a small town with ample streets it is odd for me to walk in big cities anywhere. Especially here in York where I want to get to the uni quickly which ends up taking an hour! I also feel awkward walking too fast because then I get too close to people in front or have to dart around them (then they look at you funny). But alas I agree with you Andy, the best solution is to breathe deep and slow down to join the masses. So now I do the opposite, I walk around very slowly with my camera and smile at people wlaking by so they’ll treat me nice for being a tourist
I have short legs. Still, I feel your pain. To the modern world I appear a fast walker. I do not snake slowly for no reason like the others. I walk to get places. When I stop to look I let others pass. I am a walking wimp. I blame my mother.
The problem isn’t with slow walkers. It’s a problem that’s cropped up in the last decade. It’s about those “family values.” You know, the fine, upstanding folks with the mantra “our family will line up so as to take up the whole sidewalk and will give way to no man nor woman.”
I’m old, so I’ll tell you a little secret. When I was a kid walking with my mom and another person would approach, my mom would grab me and shove me behind her, saying, “let the nice person pass, dear.”
Those times are long gone I’m afraid.
Completely with you on this one, it drives me mad. Especially as in most instances the most frustrating thing about slow walkers is the fact that they have no concept of anyone else around them, so you’re desperately trying to get past and they’re just (unknowingly) doing everything they can to get in your way. I find it especially had in the mornings on my way to work – my walk to the station coincides with the mums coming back from dropping their kids at school, most with the most ridiculously sized buggies in the world, walking three or four abreast and really slowly. And usually I’m running late. Or at lunch time – I work near Covent Garden so it’s pretty hard to feel like you’re getting anywhere among the ambling tourist crowds.
I definitely slow down a bit when I’m away – it kind of depends on the place as to how slow. As David noted, in the Far East walking slowly does help with the heat. But I’m never able to be that slow – think it must be to do with having longer legs!
Great to hear I’m not alone. Like you say Emma, it’s maddening when you move one way to overtake and the person in front (unknowingly) goes the same way. You change direction, so do they! And yes, the full pavement line-up – there’s no excuse.
David, I agree that in hot (particularly humid) places fast walking is not an option, and you have to slow down to avoid sweating profusely. On a related point, the one thing that is guaranteed to slow me down to normal speed is a fully laden ice-cream cone in my hand.
I was brought up like you James, don’t worry! Let others pass, and never walk two abreast if you’re going to get in another person’s way. You still see it occasionally (maybe less so in London though).
Thanks to all for sharing your experiences.
No you are not alone! And I say this as someone who is usually walking around accompanied by a six year old with not so long legs! What really annoys me is the people who have no spatial awareness – stop in the middle of the footpath, stop right in the middle of a flow through point or the top of the escalator in a Tube station, that kind of thing. Is it just a lack of awareness, or are people so rude they just don’t consider, even subconsciously, that there might be other people around them that need to share the space.
Yes, walking slowly in humid areas means you might get less sweaty, but these days walking faster means you get inside (usually to the air conditioning) a lot quicker
Oh dear, another thing I have to feel guilty about. I am a slow walker. It wasn’t necessarily by choice – I have an arthritic knee and it’s slowed me right down. It has drawbacks – my partner is a fast walker and we no longer go for walks together – we go for walks in the same direction about half a mile apart. And no, I don’t stop dead in the flow of traffic as I might get mown down. I am a Londoner and have long since realised that it is very dangerous to be a slow person in a fast-paced city.
However, it also has benefits. I do get to see far more than him, admire the detail on buildings, take photos as I go – and chat to other people along the way. Having grown up in Africa, the African stroll is an immensely pleasurable experience and enormously beneficial for the travel writer, introducing all the local colour and characters that you miss on a headlong dash across town.
I feel your pain! I’m a very fast-paced walker myself and Oxford St, although my love for shopping always takes over, is a dreading thought. I actually have to do some mental preparation before I go there because otherwise I just end up walking to my destination on surrounding streets.
I like the picture of the African stroll, Melissa. Sounds like a moment where taking it easy is, as you say, a very pleasurable way to enjoy the surroundings. I can’t say I feel the same way fighting through the standing crowds of Leicester Square when I’m trying to get home after a meeting in the city though.
Also a great point about dashing across a town. It’s a shame, particularly in a new city, not to take in the buildings, the signs, the colour. Mind you, I would maintain that as long as I am observant I can enjoy these things at my natural walking speed as well.
Thanks to all again for your comments.
I definitely think it depends on if I live there or are visiting…I used to work at Disney and even there, where I was supposed to be happy/calm it was a grit your teeth experience sometimes with the gawking – and I know that sounds horrible but it’s tough when you know a place really well and just want to walk! I’m also tall, so my gait is so much longer and quicker than most people and it’s unnatural to walk too slowly!
I live in Mumbai, the city where pavements are more for the hawkers than for pedestrians. Most of us invariably walk over the covered drains running alongside main roads. And that’s where you find the slow pokes as well. Adding to this ambulatory misery are the Mumbai bus drivers infamous for having collided with trees and full grown elephants, claiming they couldn’t see the victim. It takes a lot of practice and self control to stay non violent and alive on the narrow strips of gutter Much like a video game that allows you just one life.
But my husband has found this rather pleasurable way of hurrying people ahead of him as he walks to the corner shop or the market. He takes our pet labrador along. She’s big and really harmless. But thanks to the macabre imagination of most Indians, she’s believed to be a blood thirsty predator. Works fine for us, as she almost parts the way ahead while smelling every nook and cranny of the delightfully obnoxious gutters. And my husband gets his almost daily ‘Moses parting the sea’ experience.
I have a compelling need to get places. As much as I am at my happiest watching the world pass, when I myself am moving, it’s usually for a reason. Bimbling, dilly dallying, mincing, sauntering I can do, but not in a crowd; I need to get past.
This has a real advantage as a traveller: It stops you looking like a tourist.
I also find it helpful when you end up on the wrong side of the tracks… . Look purposeful, look like you know where you are going, look confident and people leave you alone.
I am a pretty fast walker – especially in the city. I rarely leave home without a clear destination in mind and as a person who hates waiting, well… let’s just say I can “crowd surf” with the best. My height (I’m 5’1″) is an advantage and I’m slim so it makes maneuvering between posts, crowds and couples who do the no-hand-holding-yet-we-will-walk-close-enough-to-brush-against-each-other-once-in-awhile dance.
Perhaps we can have a lane dedicated to fast walkers? In an eco-conscious world that is fast becoming aware of the convenience of public transport or pedestrian walkways we need traffic rules for people traffic too. I adhere to the “keep right” system most times. Are there any other people traffic rules out there?
I so agree with this! It’s not so much slow walkers, as slow walkers in groups who apparently think no-one else wants to use the pavement. Even worse, people who stop to chat or stare or consult their guidebooks instead of moving to the side. It’s odd – people who drive are (usually) aware there are other cars on the road, how come people in groups on foot don’t have the same awareness? On rare occasions on narrow streets I’ve actually asked to pass, and the reaction is seldom pretty.
See also http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/13/barcelona-rebels-against-tourist-invasion?CMP=twt_iph
I, too, am a fast walker. I used to be very frustrated with slow walkers and those who are generally unaware of others, until I was traveling in Scandinavia with a friend. And we were lost on some city street and walking slowly and trying to figure out where we were, when some locals brushed by us angrily. And I realized, I had become one of THEM. The dreaded slow-walkers.
From then on I have had sympathy for slow walkers. They are unaware of other people because they are just focused on something else – and it might be that they are admiring my beautiful city, or they are lost, or they have some other need that just happens to be more important to them than the pace of a stranger. I don’t blame them. I find I’m much happier at the end of the day if I try being compassionate, instead of letting my anger get the best of me. Letting myself getting frustrated by something beyond my control seems pointless.
So it’s easier to deal with them now. I just take a deep breath and realize that for the few paces I have to slow my step won’t ruin my day. I’m not perfect, I still have my angry moments, but they are often humbling.
But the worst is the people who ARE aware of other people in the world and STILL crowd the sidewalk, as though they own it, forcing others into the street. That’s just rude.
The idea of a labrador scaring people off the pavement paints a funny image. Thanks for sharing that one.
Mark, you make a great point about it helping people stay safe. I admit I’ll often do the same thing and speed up when I’m in an area that doesn’t look right. And like you, I can stroll leisurely through a park, but put me in a crowd and I have to get through it.
Maybe it’s time for a crowd surfing tournament
Thanks also to Kathy for sharing the article from the Guardian. I’m sure Barcelona folk are not the only ones feeling the pressure on their pavements with the surge in visitors.
Thanks Shannon, Mark, Shyamashree, Mikaela, Kathy and Dyana for sharing your experiences.
I come to represent the slow walkin’ folks!
I will preface this by saying that my husband goes absolutely crazy when we’re walking somewhere. I’m a whopping 5’3″ so in order to keep up with a brisk pace my little legs have to move at lightning speed. When we are in no hurry to be anywhere, I like to take leisurely strolls.
The company I work for has a whole bunch of transplants from California and it even drives them bat crazy on how laid back Austin, Texas is. When we drive it is kind of like a “we’ll get there when we get there” attitude – everyone goes the speed limit and enjoys the drive.
In Europe I think I nearly die every time we visit a friend that sends us zipping and zooming around.
I’m not saying that walking quickly is bad – its just that some of us like to stop and smell the flowers.
You’re welcome to be there as a slow walker, Erica!
I think the consensus is that slow walking is ok; it’s inconsiderate walking that is the issue – those who sway from one side of the path to the other and those who line up their entire group acorss the width of the path and prevent others from passing.
Take your time and enjoy the flowers
I completely understand where you are coming from. In crowds I don’t look at people, I take in the view, calculate speeds, the fastest route, where gaps are about to emerge and move quickly and efficently.
If someone stops in front of me for no reason and I am excusably close I will take a small step into them… not in a way that will assault or unbalance them. Just in a way that makes them realise that you shouldn’t stop right in front of a 6′ 2 guy marching directly behind them.
If anything though it isn’t the slowness that bugs me. It is the indecisiveness, the teetering from side to side while they make a decision. The inexplicable stop or the look behind which for some reason stops all forward motion.
I am all for taking your time, just be considerate to those on the move. Step to one side before stopping! Be slow if you want but be decisive! Is it really too much to ask?
Haha, so true Jason! The threat of a 6’2″ guy (same here) bumping into your back should prevent people from suddenly stopping, turning around or moving randomly into our paths. Maybe we should carry a bell like cyclists do 😉
Couldn’t have agreed with you more.. and I mostly end up choosing the strategy of crowdsurfing – though I didn’t know there was such a name to it.
I may have made it up Abhi 😉
YES! I’m not alone! I think the most irritating of all has to be the indecisive pedestrian who sees you coming, even looks you straight in the eye, has ample time to evaluate your speed and trajectory and still manages to toddle straight into you! Arrggh! *grinds teeth* If you don’t know where you’re going then park yourself up against a wall or anywhere that’s out of the way and *then* figure it out, just get out of my way!
Happy to give you an outlet for your frustration Anthony 😉
I commute from Chalfont and Latimer (metropolitan line) to Richmond, this takes me to Marylebone, Waterloo and on to Richmond, so it’s a long slog. This wouldn’t be a bad route as I am active, love running and the gym, but the slow people are what makes it interminable, the lack of urgency isn’t the problem, it’s the lack of awareness of other people that DO have urgency, the longer it takes between stations can mean an extra 30 – 40 minutes on my already long day. solution? Slow walkers keep to the SIDE of ANYWHERE you are walking, and if you are with a group of slow walkers, DON’T WALK NEXT TO EACH OTHER in BRITISH BULLDOG style wall off slowness. Please people, keep to the side and let the people who want to get to their destination this century jet past
It is the most annoying thing in the world. That’s an exaggeration, but I share your annoyance. I’m actually quite short and have little legs but like to walk fast as I am actually walking somewhere with a purpose like to get to a meeting, to the station, to my train at the station and through the park to get to a friends house. It amazes me how people shuffle and stop suddenly with the biggest suitcase in the world or how they walk side by side taking up the entire path. Or when they come towards you taking up the entire path and don’t move. Yes, I which to get run over by a bus. OK rant over, this post obviously made me want to vent!
Thank you Luke and Sam for venting your spleens on here. You’ve both hit on a particular point – trying to catch a train when you’ve only moments to spare and people just blocking the width of escalators or pavements, not moving anywhere and with no regard to causing an obstruction to others. Mini-tasers perhaps?
@TravelEditor just RT’d this article! It’s fantastic and I love that you’ve written it as I also get frustrated by “slow walkers!” After years of living in NYC and negotiating pedestrian traffic, I have one observation and one tip I’d like to share with you and your readers. The Observation: People walk they way they drive. They’ll pull out in front of you with out signaling (and even though there’s no one behind you) and then go 5mph under the posted speed limit. The Tip: Never establish eye contact with people when you’re walking toward them (I either look up or look at the ground). If you do establish eye contact, people expect YOU to move out of THEIR way. If you don’t “see them” it’s like Moses parting the waters of the Red Sea. They miraculously walk around you. Use this tip in big cities and at theme parks (no “staff” required).
@Marianne Schwab – nice tip, I will be adopting this one immediately. Sadly I fear with my bad luck I will be looking up, and fall victim to the infamous ‘gap’ we are always being told to ‘mind’
I’m totally the same and its crowdsurfing all the way.
This discussion takes on whole new dimensions in Andalucia where walking itself is held with some suspicion and walking quickly has never been witnessed. Also, the rules of the pavement are completely different. Whoever got there first, got there first. Why should they move? Ever?
You get used to it. Then you start doing it…