Volkswalking?

[elinnea]

Anyone else involved in Volkswalking? We've done it for the past several years and imo it's a great family activity and seems like it would be perfect for homeschoolers since all ages can participate. My kids and I always have great conversations while we walk.

 

I don't see a lot of other families though so I am wondering if people just don't know about it?

[Tabrett]

What is it?:bigear:

[HRAAB]

I'm trying to imagine what this is but coming up empty. We love to walk as a family and do so often. But volkswalking I'm not so sure.

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

I was curious, too, so I googled. Here are links with info about it:

American Volkssport Association

 

Volkswalking FAQ's

 

Sounds like fun! We often walk those distances, but just on our own.

[elinnea]

Here's the national website: http://www.ava.org/What%20We%20Are%20About/vmfaq.htm

 

Volkswalking are non competitive walking events. There are usually a 5km and a 10km route and it's free unless you walk for credit. When you walk for credit you pay $3.00 and you get your walk booklet stamped. After a certain amount of events and kilometers walked you get patches and pins. My older kids love getting their books stamped and seeing how far they have walked (over 500km currently).

 

Like I said, it is a great activity for our family because it is something we can ALL do together. I have a 12, 9 and 2 year old so it can be a challenge to find activities that are interesting for everyone.

 

We count it as part of our PE and sometimes as science or history. For example the walk we went on last weekend went through a local wildlife park (free admission since we were volkswalking), we walked through the woods and then got to see the animal exhibits (bears, foxes, otters, etc). Other walks have gone through historic sites like forts or courthouses or churches.

 

I hope this doesn't sound like an advertisment. We aren't in a volkswalking club or anything we just like going on the walks. We don't often see other families though which I think is too bad because it is really a lot of fun.

[Mom in High Heels]

Here in Germany it's called Volksmarching and it's basically an organized walk (usually through a trail in the woods) that has differing lengths. 5K is generally the shortest distance, then 10K, 15K, 20K and sometimes 25-30K. It usually costs if you want to get the medal or souvenir at the end (2-5 Euro per person). The trails are marked and there are way points along the route for food and drinks (sometimes free, sometimes not) and stations where you get a card stamped (to prove how far you walked). You can start the walk any time between 7am and noon (usually) and when you're done, you turn your card in to get your souvenir. We've done a couple and they're pretty fun. It's a big party atmosphere. Depending on when you start, you might be walking with a group of people, or you could be pretty much alone on the trail. Each way station normally has a group of people sitting around eating and drinking and having a good time and at the start/finish, there is usually a place to buy food and drinks and sit around and talk. During the spring and summer here, there are at least 50-60 every weekend in our paper. It lists marches in Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland. It's a very popular past time here.