Whether you’re throwing sticks for your dog, kitted out in fancy dress for a charity challenge, hopping across stepping stones with your kids, or heading for a country pub with a gang of mates, there’s a lot more to walking than just chalking off miles and boosting physical fitness. For a start, just think of the fun places you can visit in Britain if you walk the 2.74 miles a day required to hit 1000 miles in 12 months. 
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You could eat freshly-baked cakes in Snowdon’s summit cafe, walk the Gruffalo Trail on Forestry Commission nature reserves, paddle in the sea anywhere on our 6,000 miles of coastline, splash through muddy puddles, and have picnics everywhere from windswept moors to quaint Cotswolds riversides. You can play games of nature bingo or eye-spy while you walk, hunt for the millions of geocaches stashed all over the UK, take selfies, collect mementos like feathers and shells, use a pocket guide to ID birds and trees – the list is endless. It doesn’t matter if your feet stink, your hair gets plastered to your forehead, your belly hangs over your waistband or your walking boots look like their belong in the 1950s. That’s the beauty of walking – anything goes, and all that matters is getting outside and enjoying yourself. You’ll forge stronger friendships through hours spent on footpaths and trails, connect with your kids in ways you didn’t think possible, and – possibly most fun of all – gorge yourself on sugary treats while you walk and giant pub meals at the end of the day, all in the name of fuelling the day’s exercise.   A few years ago, a video called ‘DofE Mud Jump Fail’ was uploaded to YouTube, showing a teenage girl with a heavy rucksack trying to jump across a bog on a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expedition. Of course, she tripped over, face-planted, and got coated from head to toe in mud. She laughed hysterically, as did every member of her expedition group, and probably every one of the 1.8 million people who have since viewed it online. That video’s a reminder of everything that’s fun about walking. Laughter, friendship, the pure joy of nature, getting out of your usual cozy comfort zone, and the ability to forget all about the pressures of everyday life to just giggle your way through a few muddy miles. Sign up to #walk1000miles today, join our Facebook group, meet some fun people, and let’s have fun together for the next 12 months.