Walking - U.S vs Spain by Bailey Disque

There are quite a lot of things different between the U.S and Spain culturally. This includes food, meal times, and a lot of others. However, what really surprised me about cultural differences was how much walking everyone does. What I thought I knew about walking specifically, was completely changed once my study abroad experience started. Back home in the United States, I drive everywhere. Even if it’s 5 minutes away, I drive or ride everywhere. Especially at my college campus at home. If an academic building is a 15-20 minute walk away, I will normally catch a ride with someone. However, here in Spain, it’s quite normal for a short walk to be around 30-40 minutes long! This really surprised me. It has now changed the way I view walking and time as a whole. Now, when I need to get somewhere, I normally just walk, even if it is over 30 minutes. It doesn’t phase me anymore! Not a lot of people have cars in Spain, and the public transportation is so amazing and cheap that everyone just uses that instead. Now, when I travel and something is a 40 minute walk away, I normally will just walk. Walking everywhere is such a common thing that it really changed the way I view it overall.