How Walking in the Countryside Benefits Me as Someone With Autism

I have been going for long walks to reduce stress for quite a long time. It is one of my main hobbies and something I like to do regularly. This can range from walking all day to walking for half an hour. It acts as a good way of getting away from everything that is making me stressed and gives me time to think through things without being distracted.

I find the best places to walk around for me are usually in the countryside, as they typically contain fewer people and have a tendency to be less noisy and visually cluttered. When walking in the countryside I like to take in the area and enjoy what there is to be seen rather than worry about it too much. I find that when walking in town, things appear much more threatening and act as more of a hindrance. The peaceful setting the countryside provides eases my stress and reduces the amount of effort I have to put into processing everything.

Many people experience the benefits of the countryside, and for the most part the benefits I get are going to be the same as anyone else. But I think the reduced sensory processing aspect most applies to me. Of course there are going to be some parts of the countryside that are a lot more busy, with a lot of things to look at along with strange noises or smells. I find my favorite areas are open spaces, like the top of a hill with surrounding views. The things you are seeing are for the most part quite far away and therefore nothing to worry about. In an open space, you are also more likely to get fresh clear air.

I find walking is beneficial for all of those reasons, but also because I simply like to be outside, and I find visiting sparsely populated areas is one of the easiest ways for me to enjoy being outside. Being out in a town, even a small town takes a significant amount of effort. Just being out in one of those places without having to do very much can tire me out. I get home at the end of the day and have to process the different things I saw throughout the day. When I go walking in the middle of nowhere, I find I do not have to go through so much of a process. It is a great relief to get home and find I actually do not have much to think about. I also like to walk for the challenge. Even though it is a lot easier for me than going out into a busy area, it still has its difficulties. Going for a particularly long walk somewhere leaves me with a great sense of achievement afterwards.

This is all part of how I manage myself and deal with the things I find difficult. Being able to do something independently while minimizing the amount of stress is beneficial for me. It acts as a stepping stone to things I may consider more challenging and provides something for me to do in my spare time. I can also incorporate walking into my day-to-day activities. When I am out in a familiar area, I find it is useful to go for a short walk as a distraction, as I know where I can go that is both pleasant and quiet. This idea does not work when I am out in a busy town or anywhere unfamiliar. Then I just have to put up with it. Having a short amount of time to go off somewhere and not have to worry quite as much has a lot of benefits. When I am out in town, I would much rather do this than waste time in the shops.

This leads into another issue. Public spaces in general are not the best in terms of accessibility for me. Yes, I can manage to go into a shop and function fairly well when having to do all the tasks that are necessary to live. But it is more of an effort than some other people have to put in, to the point that I find it easier when I have the option of going off somewhere without many people or other distractions for a while. There are also people who find this much more difficult than me who would benefit greatly from revisions to public spaces. Simply getting rid of the loud music they seem to blast out of the speakers at shopping centers would be a great help. Reducing the amount of visual clutter would also help significantly.

This is especially important for places where people tend to stop for a long time, such as a cafe. I would really appreciate going into a cafe for a cup of tea or coffee, but I find the busy pictures on the walls and horrendously loud music give me enough of a reason not to even go through the door. I do not typically spend long anywhere where it appears it has been deliberately designed to be difficult to process. If I can easily exist somewhere, I am more likely to spend more time there and be happy. If a place was designed to be less visually cluttered and quieter, I think it would be much more appealing to a lot of people. The business would be looked upon positively for being inclusive, but they may also attract more customers who simply like a quiet, relaxing environment.

This has been a look into the benefits of walking in the countryside, and a comparison between that and the public spaces I typically find to be more of a challenge.