In the middle of the afternoon of the cold January in Kent County, the southeast of England, the large patches of snow were still on the ground despite the dazzling sun.
On the North Downs Way walking trail is located just outside the town of Sevenoaks, about 20 miles from the center of London, a man who takes the dog slowly walking and stops, standing to one side of the dirt road Narrow and muddy to make room for the group of young people to go in the opposite direction.
An unexpected thing happened. While the man and the dog patiently waited on the side of the road, each group of people were passing in front of them, one group after another. All are young people, seemingly just passing the twenties, they go in row two and rows. They are full of life and enthusiasm, chatting to make a whole corner of the forest. The Zhen Z gene group is crowded with nearly 400 people, filling the trail through the quiet forest.
The healthy trend attracts young people
The man who took the dog for a walk in the forest did not know that this is the latest trip of the Overground Club, one of the emerging groups, specializing in organizing long -distance walks for young members. Belonging to the Z generation (people born around 1996 to 2012) and the Millennium generation (those born around 1980 to 1995). Previously, this activity was the pleasure of middle -aged people, loved the calm, today attracted many young people excited to participate.
Information about shared trips on social networks Tiktok and Instagram, then groups often meet in the suburbs around London or on a short train trip to other big cities.
For organizers, long -distance walking means building community, exploiting mental health benefits when immersed in nature, encouraging the participation of small groups, helping them temporarily. Far away the busy life in the city. For a modern population, focusing on a healthy lifestyle, getting up early in the weekend morning is not an obstacle.
Before the formation of the long -distance hike in the March 3, both Lucy Cooper and Yas Message were not professional hikers. Cooper said: "We want to discover the natural beauty in the countryside and get acquainted with many new friends ... but not by drinking alcohol."
For the first time, the couple Lucy Cooper and Yas Message promoted on social networks on a long -distance trip organized by them called "Seven Sisters Walk", from Seaford to Eastbourne, 60 people participated. Until the second trip, the number of participants is up to 250, they realize that it is necessary to set a form of management through ticket sales to avoid this activity becomes crowded and overloaded, making people not not Can experience the trip comfortably. Currently, Dykes Who Hike offers long -distance trips with a fee of 2 pounds (equivalent to 62 thousand VND) for each participant. Affordable prices make their trips many people hunt, 200 tickets per trips are usually sold out in just a few minutes. In the past year, they opened new branches in Manchester, Leeds, Shropshire and Birmingham.
Last weekend, a newly established hiking group called Adventure Girls Club, set up a delegation of 12 women and 2 dogs, meeting at Bath station to explore the downs. The founder of Alice Keegan said: “The previous long -distance hiking community often focuses on hiking in the longest, fastest or most challenging route target. Meanwhile, I like to go slowly, enjoy the scenery, immersed in the surrounding nature - a more mindful approach. ”
Keegan, a well -trained climbing guidance, once lived in the bustling Bethnal Green area of London and was an innovative director for a design company in the music industry. Feeling too tired, she heping herself in Lake District and began to realize the benefits of nature on her mental health. Now, she wants to help people "get rid of the stress of modern life".
The whole group strode out of the town and followed the sloping trails in the forest to head to Sham Castle, built in 1762, belonging to Ralph Allen, one of the key characters of the Georgian Renaissance movement In Bath city. On the winding path through the SmallCombe forest, Keegan shows people to see the diverse mushrooms growing in the forest, from the colorful Van Chi mushroom like the tail of the chicken to the charcoal mushrooms, black like charcoal is also known as a unique name The cake of King Alfred.
Connect thanks to social networks
If connected to nature is the burning passion of many people, the digital world is the catalyst that helps promote these new communities. Ms. Lauren La Faci, Head of Tiktok's consumer communication, is based in London, said: "In recent months, long -distance hiking enthusiasts have attracted the attention of millions of Cu Cu Cu. Netizens through films, photos of beautiful landscapes and instructions on hiking. " On this platform, the keyword hiking #hiking has 5 million posts. Meanwhile, the #Swimming swimming keyword is only 2.1 million posts.
For Jeb Jagne, the founder of overground in July 2023, walking long distances is an effective way to help him relax and relieve stress after a series of losses, lovelorn and losing his job that he faces within just within just within. a few months. The Overground Club organizes monthly pedestrian trips, the location is only 1 hour from the capital. For the first time, they called for 43 participants, now this figure can be up to 500 people.
Overground's walking trips are completely free and not selling tickets, which means that the organizers cannot limit the number of participants. Jagne said: "There were too many barriers when I came to the natural space, I didn't want to create any more barriers." Overground is currently raising funds to build training programs for weak groups to become climbing guides.
Jagne, who worked as a DJ and a nightclub advertiser, gave up alcohol for a year. He shared: “I have witnessed people meet at Overground and become a soulmate, moving to new places, traveling together. Walking is always a common passion, but the most meaningful thing is that we create a starting point for people to meet and build relationships. ”
Returning to Adventure Girls Club's walk, after a 13km field and her feet were tired, the girls returned to the Bath train station - the initial starting point. The whole group broke up, did not forget to exchange contact information on social networks with goodbye greetings, everyone went home, brought with them a new friendship, even though the person was a little mud -smeared.
