Exploring the World of Hiking

What's your favorite outdoor activity. Lately, my friends and I have started hiking. At first, I wasn't that gung-ho about it since hiking is basically just walking, excpet that you do it usually on trails in rural areas or out in the wilderness. However, when I gave hiking a try, I found it exhilarating, especially when you are out exploring new things and enjoying nature and the scenery. We were hiking with some European friends and they told me that the word hiking is generally understood anywhere where people speak English although there are sometimes differences in the way the word is used. For instance, off-trail hiking can also be referred to as cross-country hiking, bushwhacking, or bush-bashing. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, the word hiking is regarded as kind of an old word that means "exercise" and "heartiness" rather than "enjoying the outdoors," which they are likely to describe as hillwalking or just plain walking. In Australia, the term they use for hiking is bushwalking, which isn't surprising since Ozzie Land is mostly bust country. Meanwhile, New Zealanders use the word tramping for hiking and this is especially so for overnight trips. In other parts of the world, overnight hiking is referred to as backpacking while long-distance hiking is called thru-hiking. There are many other outdoor activities that have the element of hiking in them or are based on hiking. My friends say hiking is often still the only way to reach some of those magnificent spots overland and is probably also the best way to view nature. You can appreciate nature a lot better through hiking than in a vehicle or even riding an animal, say, when horseback riding. This is especially so since there are fewer distractions to the hiker such as windows, engine noise, dust and other passengers. On the downside, the hard part about hiking compared to these other forms of sight seeing is that hiking is more tiring, especially if we are talking about long distances or over tough terrain and particularly if you are carrying a backpack filled with food, water and other equipment. There are also more dangers for the hiker, such as inclement weather and road mishaps.