Happy (belated) New Year! Five days into 2021, how are you liking the year so far? To be frank, I haven’t felt much difference from 2020 mainly because of the shutdown/lockdown situation, which is looking pretty grim at the moment in Europe, with no real end in sight.
On the other hand, I’m grateful that I had the chance to take a New Year’s Day Walk. Also known as the Neujahrsspaziergang in German and Novoroční prochazka in Czech, it’s a tradition that started for me a few years ago. The physical activity has helped me mentally close and wrap the old year, and start a new one afresh.
In this post, I’d like to share a history of my New Year’s walks/hikes over the years; perhaps you could draw some inspiration from them if you are yet to perform one (but please stick to COVID-19 rules). I’m of the opinion that a New Year walk doesn’t have to take place right on the 1st (because life happens), although it’s probably best to do it by the second weekend in January to lock in that closure and turn over a new leaf.
On New Year’s weekend of 2016, I found myself in Naturpark Barnim with a meet-up walking group. After a stroll along the former Berlin Wall north of the city, we reached a mini outdoor zoo with all its cute animals and a pasture grazed by Highland cows.
J and I escaped the city for New Year 2017 to a renovated farmhouse in a remote village in Thuringian highlands. We spent the weekend hiking above the river Saale, the landscape changing from green to snow white from one day to the other. I also remember getting bruises from my then new hiking shoes, which I still wear to this day.
I have no recollection or documentation whatsoever of what I did in New Year 2018, unfortunately. It’s odd because I usually take at least one photo on either New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.
We rang in New Year 2019 with good friends in Berlin, enjoying the spiced hot fruit bake I made and watching fireworks through their living room windows. On New Year’s weekend, we took a stroll through Kreuzberg and Neukölln, crossing the Landwehrkanal to visit the Sunday market.
We escaped the city again for New Year 2020, and I see these escapades become a norm as J and I get tired of the deafening noise from private fireworks on New Year’s Eve. With a couple of friends, we spent New Year’s Day walking around the village of Groß Behnitz in Brandenburg before gobbling up the pizzas we made the night before.
New Year 2021 was spent with J’s parents in the countryside. We drove to Veletin in Central Bohemia and hiked a 6-km loop from there. No humans in sight, but there were many cows and sheep hanging out in the cold winter! You could check out the highlights of our hike below.
Anyway, where ever you choose/chose to walk this New Year, I wish you a brilliant weather and a fresh new beginning in 2021.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao Tzu
