Walking with the Smartphone

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Nearly two years ago, in early 2009,  I joined a group of friends for a walk in the New Forest (near Southampton) in UK. It was a sunny, spring day and after a fantastic breakfast a group of 12  boot-clad 'nature enthusiasts' , one brave 6-year old and one baby (piggy-backing!) proceeded for a short walk, aiming to reach a local pub in time for a hearty lunch.







Five hours later we found ourselves in a swampy field trying desperately to get a signal on the one i-phone that we had in the group.The phone's map said we were in the middle of 'nowhere' and but our group of several experienced town planners, transport planners and geographers refused to believe it and pored over one big soggy map. 




A few false starts later we grudgingly acknowledged that the phone might be right and made a beeline for the country road we saw in the distance! We made it to the pub eventually and the food tasted better than any meal I've had before. All in all we agreed it had been a great day out.

Fast forward to Summer 2011. A group of six adults (some of them still nature enthusiasts!) decided to walk in Dedham Vale, an area of 'Outstanding Natural Beauty' in the Essex County, UK. The day was less sunny than the previous walk but reasonably mild, a good day for a walk. And once again we aimed to reach a local pub by evening meal time.

We passed peacefully grazing cows, little streams and farmlands growing wheat. The Vale seeemd very popular with dog-walkers which was generally okay, except for one person in our group who had mild cynophobia (fear of dogs) which caused us to stay on dog-alert!

We wandered around happily for about 3 hours, got slightly soaked in an unexpected drizzle and reached a sign that pointed to 'Manningtree', the next village-town. At this point we were all getting tired and if we walked to the next village we would have to take a bus back to the start point where the car was parked. Fortunately the other arrow said 'Dedham'. Aha, so here was a shortcut- even better than retracing the original path!



This worked well for an hour. Till we reached a field where we saw the Dedham Church steeple in the distance and no path to get to it. But this time we were better prepared. Out came four i-phones and one Android ! We scrambled to get our geo-spatial co-ordinates right, debated which of the two dirt paths might lead to a real path, looked for some sign of human life around (none!) and then reached a consensus to cut across a field of wheat.




Luckily in the UK Trespassers are not normally shot, so we proceeded quite confidently in the general direction of the church steeple. By this time our stomachs were growling and the tiny potatoes that were unintentionally unearthed by our trampling feet conjured up images of piping hot chips.

Eventually we reached Dedham town and wandered into the Marlborough Head Inn . And yet again we enjoyed one of those meals that taste extra yummy as you've been walking for over an hour dreaming about each tasty morsel. Our stay in the pub was made livelier by a distinguished-sounding gentleman on the next table impressing a lady with anecdotes from around the world, an 80s rock band tuning up next door and the fluttering balloons from someone's 50th bday celebration - all worth a separate post!

Coming back to the walks. How did we survive walks and treks before these smartphones? Well, I think we might have spread out a large map, observed at the position of the sun (admittedly one would be better off with a compass in the UK) and argued and debated for a good 20 minutes about the best path to follow. 


Or if we were in India, we might have just asked the next shepherd, cowherd or villager for directions to the nearest chai-walah. Or follow the wandering goats? The last one is probably not a good idea- they tend to suddenly leap off sharp cliffs. The point is that in many parts of the world it is usual to bump into several people in a four or five hour walk within a few miles a settlement. Luckily for city-born walkers who find themselves in places where this does not happen, there is 3G coverage. Viva la smartphone!

Comments

  1. Wei CuiAugust 30, 2011 at 2:33 AM

    Fantastic post. I am wondering if someone has developed a specific smartphone application for the convenience of hike.

    ReplyDelete
  2. NehaSeptember 25, 2011 at 12:44 AM

    I say this all the time to my map toting colleagues that India has a massive human GPS. You can never get lost here!

    ReplyDelete

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