It’s hard to believe that we’re almost to the end of another month which means, sadly, we’re nearing the final days of this October 2026 edition of the Cool Bloggers Walking Club.
I haven’t been nearly as disciplined and structured with my walking this time around… but guess what? It still works! I’ve done multiple Walk and Talks. I’ve also done a Walk and Putter and a Walk and Drive.
I’ve walked with my husband and kids and I’ve walked with friends.
And you’ve walked, which is nothing short of humbling.
I’ve certainly never thought of it in the context of a worldwide movement (pun intended, Engie??), but isn’t it so cool that we’re doing something like this “together”, despite the geographic distance between us?
More generally, I think that fairly succinctly sums up the joy of blogging.
Enough emotional reflection from me; let’s talk walks!
:::Week 1 Recap:::
:::Week 2 Recap:::
:::Week 3 Recap:::
BLOG FRIEND WALKS
Melissa is back in Australia after visiting all sorts of places in Europe! (Germany! Austria! Italy! and layovers in Finland and Singapore!)
WEEK 2:
- October 8: The chest infection I’d been trying to fight off finally caught up with me, but we still needed to eat, and I needed to pop into the pharmacy, so I walked about 30 minutes in total. This day’s photo is one of the many houses in Garmisch decorated with paintings.
- October 9: We moved on to Salzburg and walked through the Mirabell gardens.
- October 10: We had a day exploring Salzburg.
- October 11: We did the Sound of Music tour, which was good fun. G and I walked at Lake Mondsee.
- October 12: We travelled to the Eagle’s Nest and walked the short track up to the top of the mountain. The views were amazing.
- October 13: We travelled by train to Lake Garda. We were staying at Desenzano del Garda which has a little lighthouse at the port.
- October 14: We walked around Sirmione.
WEEK 3:
- October 15: G was visiting clients, so I went to Salo and did a short walk to the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Rio.
- October 16: We moved to Venice and did a sunset food tour.
- October 17: We caught the vaporetto out to explore Torcello and Burano.
- October 18: We walked through the busier parts of Venice to St Mark’s.
- October 19: We had planned to stop in Milan on our way to the airport, but decided not to in case there were riots again. So our only walk was from our accommodation in Venice to the train station, which was about 15 mins. (no photo)
- October 20: Walking around airports for I don’t know how long (Helsinki and Singapore and no photo)
- October 21: We are home. The girls came over for dinner and we walked Riley.
What an epic adventure, Melissa!
Meanwhile, fellow Australian, Kel, was on a different adventure, which included walking on the ocean (in a manner of speaking), and on land in New Zealand!
We just got back from a 10 day cruise from Sydney, Australia, sailing around the north island of New Zealand and back! It was mine and my son’s first cruise, and my husband’s second. We several days spent entirely at sea, during which I made the most by either walking laps of the decks inside (using stairs instead of elevators), laps of the running track on the roof, or the gym inside. Though I learned that in rough seas, walking on the treadmill is not fun – I had to hang on to make sure I didn’t fall off sideways! We also got to experience some beautiful areas of New Zealand, including Moturiki Island and the Bay of Islands. I’ll be blogging a recap of the trip soon.
I suspect I would lose my lunch trying to walk on a treadmill in rough seas.
Laura sent me a colour-filled collage from her walks in North Carolina.
I got to hike in North Carolina again this past weekend, near Cashiers. The leaves are finally starting to change colors down here, and it’s SO pretty – fall is by far my favorite season. Koda still got her daily walks in town, and I got to spend time walking around campus and the university horse farm. Very thankful for sweater weather!
What a fun collage from Michelle, walking in Montana.
It was a beautiful week of perfect fall weather in Montana. I enjoyed getting outside every day. I always wear my extra wide-brimmed sun hat outside. In the bottom right photo, the wind came up and blew my hat nearly inside out! That’s why I always have my chin strap on. I live in a windy place!
Walking pictures from Julie, who has recently completed a fabulous Visit Blogging Friends adventure!
Top left: This is from Lewiston, the village in New York that is across the river from Canada. I walked the 1.5 miles from my friend’s house to the river, and on my way back I took this picture. My phone camera was dying, so the only way I could take a picture was to turn it around and use the selfie feature, which is why it is crooked. I considered fixing it but decided it’s a better story this way.
Top right: This is in Lockport, NY, walking along this historic Erie Canal.
Bottom left: Walking with Birchie and Doggo in a beautiful park. Doggo LOVES to wade in the creek!
Bottom right: Autumn colors near Nance’s lake house. Such a pretty spot!
More gorgeous walking photos from Nicole, who is having an incredible time in Spain. This week’s walks saw her exploring Sentinal, Grenada, and Malaga!
Engie sent her weekly update from Wisconsin:
The weather is insane. It’s getting quite chilly at night and then warming up into almost summer-like temperatures during the day. It’s hard to complain about walking with my best dog friend and the skies are bright blue and the trees are changing. Here’s a collage of last week and here’s the link to the weekly roundup on my blog.
I know we’re not supposed to play favourites, but this week… my favourite has to be Jacquie’s walks in British Columbia because one of them involved walking her daughter TO HER WEDDING!
I can’t believe we are already at week 4 of CBWC and within days of the end of the month! The weather this month has been dry and sunny and with the beautiful colour of fall leaves to look at while walking, it hasn’t been hard to get outside. Rain has arrived and I’ve already found my rain pants!
I’ve been enjoying your gift recommendation series! I’ve noted the ones I am interested in that I plan to order now and also use later in the year. A big thanks for that as it can be so hard to come up with new ideas for people you’ve been buying for over many years.
Here’s my photos for this week:
- My daughter got married last week and my husband snapped the photo of my daughter and I walking from the hotel she was staying at to the venue. I’m not sure I clocked a full 10 minutes outside that day, but I know for sure I walked around a lot!
- Halloween monsters have popped up all over the neighbourhood.
- Frankenstein and Mummy move and make noise when you walk past them!
- I did a Nerikiri (Japanese confection) workshop with my daughter on the weekend. The walk to the workshop was not picture worthy, but I thought these treats I made were worth a photo.
- Bruno, the elderly resident bear who lives in the green belt behind our house, has been making several, “too close for comfort” appearances. He’s harmless, so far, but I am looking forward to the hibernating season.
It never fails to delight me when people reference the walking club as the inspiration for getting outside for a walk. mbmom11 writes: Most of my walks were inside. However, on Monday the thought of CBWC got me outside on a gorgeous autumn day. Coming up from the south on my house, I saw this glorious patch of red on the tip top of the maple tree in my yard. I had no idea- from my driveway, it’s solid dark green.
The other pictures are dueling holidays- Halloween hanging on in Target and Christmas shining through at Sam’s Club.
…I added another state to your map- Iowa checked off!
Hooray! I’m always excited to hear about new states/provinces/countries to add to the growing list.
Julie writes in from Connecticut: While I have yet to post these walks on Instagram and not done anything about reigniting my blog, I am still walking.
I can just imagine the crunchy sound those leaves would make underfoot, and that bridge shadow photo is fabulous!
Just look at this collage! Aren’t the colours—and views—absolutely stunning???!!!
Laura (see above!) also walked in South Carolina: Week 3 photos are attached! It’s thankfully been cool enough in SC to take Koda on more walks in the daylight. Aside from that, I got to go on a couple of hikes with local ladies’ groups this weekend, which were nice!
Sometimes walks can pay off financially, too. Katy is richer after her walks this week in Texas: I found 56 cents while out exercising this week! It’s going in my found coin jar! (Her walking recap is here.)
ELISABETH’S WALKS
DAY 22: THURSDAY
An overcast—but calm—October morning walk with Joy.
We did a few loops of a local trail system and caught up on the news from our respective lives and families. It’s always a treat to spend time with her.
I took a few photos of more silly Halloween decorations and fall foliage.
DAY 23: FRIDAY
This was a day of no structured walking, but a lot of time spent on my feet/walking around. It was the first day of our church youth conference.
Belle and I spent the morning working in the kitchen. She cut 1,000+ pieces of bacon in half. I helped cut up 150 pounds of carrots, 12 dozen cucumbers, and packaged most of the ~950 cookies that got baked that morning in the kitchen.
IT IS UTTER INSANITY cooking for almost 500 people. But it’s thrilling and special to be a part of such a mammoth volunteer undertaking.
Friday evening also involved a lot of On My Feet time. It was fun and exhausting. (I got home around midnight, and think I fell asleep around 2 am?)
DAY 24: SATURDAY
Up bright and early, I was walking out the door by 6:30 am.
This was yet another day with no structured walking, but I was gone from the aforementioned early hour until about 9 pm. I spent plenty of the day on my feet.
All of Saturday afternoon was spent doing local service projects in the community. Raking leaves for seniors, preparing meals for people who are unwell, delivering homemade gifts to the local hospital.
I was assigned to help with the food drive collection and it was SO MUCH FUN. I had an adorable group of middle school girls with me and they were very enthusiastic.
And look at all the food we (not just my vehicle, there were 10 adults overseeing this service project!) collected for the local food bank, along with about $1,000 in monetary donations.
DAY 25: SUNDAY
I fit in my much-longed-for nap after church. It was short, but sweet.
Ahead of the Formula 1 race—in Austin, Texas, so we could watch the whole thing!!!—we headed out on a family walk.
Volleyball Guy (so christened by Catrina) was visiting, so he came along and is (unknowingly) now a card-carrying Cool Bloggers Walking Club member.
DAY 26: MONDAY
A 5 km walk with John. I have some big things to tackle (mostly with regard to supporting my parents through upcoming transitions) and this walk helped me feel a lot calmer about next steps and my role in directing things forward.
It was a beautiful, sunny day.
In the evening, I fit in several more kilometers of extra walking/running at pickleball.
DAY 27: TUESDAY
A walk with Joy. It was sunny but windy (it has been windy for months!), so we walked at a brisk pace and talked at an equally fast rate. We had a lot of topics to cover and, as always, I left our time together feeling bolstered emotionally.
I forgot to take a picture while we were walking, so here’s one before I headed out the door. I don’t think I’ve talked much about how much I love my Zoom X Vomero Nikes before?
For years, I swore some of the old model Asics (Cumulus) were my all-time favourite shoe, but these Nike’s are now my all-time favourite. They have held up soooo well (they feel a bit like my On’s but those wore out insanely quickly) and the cushioning is next level. SO COMFORTABLE.
(Also, note to self: I NEED TO CLEAN THAT MIRROR!)
Last year, we had a discount to a local sporting goods store and I tried on and compared at least a dozen sneakers. These won. I’m always nervous that I won’t end up loving shoes long-term (especially if I buy them new/full price), but I hope they change literally nothing about the design for any subsequent versions of this model.
I washed them recently and they literally came out looking brand new.
10/10 recommendation from me!!
DAY 28: WEDNESDAY
A quick walk with John before I hopped in the car to drive to visit my parents for a long weekend.
WRAP UP PARTY + MAPS
Next week will be the final recap from our October 2026 Cool Bloggers Walking Club! That means it’s map time. I’ll pull together a few graphics so we can better visualize exactly where we’ve had people walking.
Here’s my list so far. IF you have walked in a country/state (American)/province (Canadian) that is not listed here, please either chime in the comment section below or send me an e-mail: optimisticmusings {at} gmail {dot} com
Feel free to send wrap-up collages to that same e-mail address.
Countries (14):
- Australia
- Austria
- Canada
- Finland
- Germany
- Italy
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Singapore
- South Africa
- Spain
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States
Provinces (4):
- British Columbia
- New Brunswick
- Nova Scotia
- Ontario
States (17):
- California
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Iowa
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Vermont
- Wisconsin
Happy walking!
Your turn.
- Anyone walking in a place not represented in the list above? Let me know!!
- What’s the funniest/craziest/weirdest thing you’ve seen on a walk this week?
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