How to use the online timer
Half an hour of walking is the least demanding thing on this list and the one most likely to actually happen. It also has the clearest seasons here: from November to March the promenades, parks and beaches are the obvious place for it, and from June to September the same walk moves indoors, into a mall or onto a treadmill, without much loss beyond the view.
Start the count when you set off and leave it counting in the background. Thirty minutes out is a different proposition from thirty minutes there and back, so decide which one you are doing before starting. Keep the page open on whatever is in your pocket, and remember that a phone screen locking can suspend the tab, which is why a laptop suits anyone walking on a treadmill indoors.
Walking is the easiest thing to attach to something else you already do — a call taken on foot, a shop that is twenty minutes away rather than five, the last stretch of a commute done from a stop earlier. In the cooler months, going out at the end of the day catches the pleasantest stretch, since the light lasts an hour or so past the heat.
Common questions
Where do I walk in summer?
Indoors, for the most part — a mall, a corridor or a treadmill. From November to March the promenades, parks and beaches are the obvious answer, and the late afternoon is the pleasantest part of it.
Is thirty minutes out or thirty there and back?
Decide before setting off, because it doubles the walk. Half an hour out and back is a fifteen-minute turning point, which is easy to lose track of once you are into a call or a podcast.
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