Walking without headphones

October 28, 2026

For years every walk came with a soundtrack: a podcast on the way out, music on the way back. Last week I left the earbuds on the desk for seven days, mostly to see whether I could.

The first two days were restless. Without something in my ears, my head filled the gap with lists: errands, half-finished replies, things I should have said in a meeting. By the third day the lists ran out, and what was left was the walk itself.

I started noticing small things. The bakery on the corner bakes later than I thought. Two neighbors walk the same dog at different hours. The traffic light near the park is long enough to read a full page of a book, which I now do.

A walk is one of the few times in the day when nothing is asking for an answer.

I haven't given up podcasts. But I now take one walk a day with nothing playing, and it has become the part of the day where most of my better ideas show up, uninvited.