Walking can be a soul activity, so long as it is not done for some heroic purpose such as getting somewhere, losing weight, or winning a race. It was easier, perhaps, in days past to exercise the soul this way because there were good places in which to do it — no danger from fast automobiles and more access to nature — and not as many alternative forms of travel. Walking inspires and promotes conversation that is grounded in the body, and so it gives the soul a place where it can thrive. I think I could write an interesting memoir of significant walks I have taken with others, in which intimacy was not only experienced but set fondly into the landscape of memory. When I was a child, I used to walk with my Uncle Tom on his farm, across fields and up and down hills. We talked of many things, some informative and some completely outrageous, and quite a few very tall stories emerged on those bucolic walks. Whatever the content of the talking, those conversations remain important memories for me of my attachment to my family, to a remarkable personality, and to nature.
— Thomas Moore, Soul Mates