I decided it would be a good idea, and some good exercise, to occasionally walk home from work. I've always assumed getting home, at least from my city's downtown core, wouldn't be an issue if some emergency forced me to do it by foot. However, testing out that assumption seemed worthwhile in itself.

So rather than one of my normal modes of commuting, I walked home last night. More to the point, I did nothing to prepare for this walk - I simply headed home at the end of the day wearing what I'd normally wear at work and carrying what I normally carry to & from work.

Some things I found were:

Food. I could have use a little something extra to eat . In a true emergence, I likely would've eaten the PowerBar that's been riding in my pack for who-knows-how-long, but in this case I did't bother. If I do do this on a semi-regular basis I might keep a little extra something in my pack just for this occasion (maybe starting with that PowerBar) which would allow me to at least rotate out that food.

Hydration. I also could have hydrated a bit better. I did have a water bottle but didn't end up drinking at all; I was more concerned with public urination than mild dehydration! That said, I likely could have still had a little bit of water.

Clothing. I didn't have a problem with my clothing at all. I was wearing pretty typical stuff for the weather (it was around 4 C I think, maybe a little cooler at the end); khaki's & a dress shirt with a fleece & leather jacket for outerwear. Along the way, maybe 5 K in, the leather jacket went into my pack, but the fact that I had layers seemed good. I also had some light gloves that were nice, and some extra stuff in the pack I didn't need.

Pack. My pack performed well, as expected; it is actually a decent MEC hiking pack that I've pressed into city use. I had my laptop, notebook, some water and various related stuff with me. With the leather jacket in the pack, it weighed a bit over 17 lbs.

Footwear. This was a bit of a mixed bag. I think my actual boots worked okay, but my socks didn't perform so admirably. They were shifting around and bunching up resulting in several hot spots and a minor blister. This was the biggest weakness I found; I need to find a good sock for this use, that works with my city footwear, and keep a pair in my bag. Obviously my normal socks don't really cut it.

All in all, I'd say the test was a success; in just under 2 hours I arrived home, covering just under 12 km with little elevation change, none the worse for wear (for the most part at least). I learned some things and can now confidently do this on a semi-regular basis which, I'm thinking, I would like to do so I can walk this type of distance on a more regular basis; I don't get out hiking enough!