The aim of this challenge; 10 people finding more ways to fit walking into their daily lives to get fit, save money and reduce carbon emissions. Personally (and some might say selfishly), at the start of this challenge I focussed on the first two of these aims to motivate me, requiring somewhat more tangible or visible results of my output.

Don't get me wrong, in the back of my mind I do think about the planet and the need to work globally to reduce the damaging effects of our consumerist lifestyles but I am among a larger group of people who make small changes in the hope that our collective efforts will be effective. I recycle, I try not to use my car or public transport, I grow my own organic vegetables and make my own compost.

I respect the work of Eco Warriors (as I've heard them called) and I'm glad and in admiration of the lengths that people will go to, to improve the wider understanding of the effects of pollution on the future of our planet. However, at the other end of the spectrum there are folk who will recycle and buy organic food only to use this as a conscience free way to justify a flight to Bermuda, a jet ski and a 4x4 four city cruiser, as if our carbon footprint is a currency that can be borrowed and repaid. I like to think I tread a line of mediocricy between the two, although slightly left of the middle of course!

So am I the same 10 weeks later, absolutely not! I'm not about to live in a tree or only wear clothes made from recycled string or anything but I am genuinely more interested in the wider effects of my vehicle use and more attuned to the daily life effects on my own and my family's health, wellbeing and of course, wealth!

I've done a bit of counting and can proudly say that over the past 10 weeks I have walked a total of 877,690 steps - that's right, EIGHTY SEVEN THOUSAND, SIX HUNDRED AND NINTY STEPS!!!! That's an average of 12,538 per day which is roughly 6.3 miles over 70 days making a staggering (quite literally) 439 miles!

Using the Journeyon website as a guide I think that had I driven these journeys I would have created 146.3kg of co2 and with the rising petrol prices, even my small car would have needed around £318.50 in petrol. Interestingly, as I often complain about the cost of public transport, I would have spent less money using the bus and my personal carbon footprint would have been smaller!

My post challenge health check revealed some pleasing results. Blood pressure, fine, height the same which surprised me as i thought i might have worn my legs down a bit, weight, the same to the very pound which was great as I have been eating like a horse (in quantity, not nosebag terms) and this lets me know that my body is running nice and efficiently, telling me what it needs and all that. I'm definitely stronger and quicker and may even enter myself on Gladiators as I've always fancied having a fight with one of those giant cotton buds and these days I might even stand a chance!

So now that I have no conscience free way of using my car to get around Brighton, and I never use it for work, it seems like a bit of waste having one. The journeys I make outside of Brighton are few and far between and easily (and more enjoyably) made by train. I'm also ashamed to say that we are currently a two car family so emergencies and short of time trips can still be accommodated if we get rid of one. The upshot is, we plan to be a one car family by the end of the summer. A brave and slightly anxiety producing step for me, having had a car of my own for over 16 years, but a good one I think as we will have to continue being flexible with our use of the car and not over reliant on four wheels to get us around.

For me, the best part of this challenge has been the influence it has had on the children. They're happy to walk places and we are all trying not to cram our free time so full, that we have to speed from one place to another by car. This has had such a positive effect on us, not just financially but mentally. The benefits of regular exercise are well documented as being conducive to a sunnier disposition but what we have also found is that by slowing down and being more discerning in the plans we make and invitations we accept, we are making more time for ourselves and experiencing less pressure to be everywhere, doing everything with everyone else. It's a liberation and we've got our weekends back!!!!!

I will miss this challenge as it has been great fun but I won't miss what it has given to us as that is ours to keep and here to stay! Thanks Journeyon and in the words of a very wise, if a little repetitive, woman 'Keep up the good walk everyone'!!!!

Sometimes when I walk it feels as though my very steps are pushing the world around beneath me, like I'm riding a planet sized hamster wheel, does this make me mad, a meglamaniac or just a bit simple? Who knows, but if I stop we might all fall off the earth so I'm going to carry on, because I for one don't want to find out.

This and other thoughts have crept around my brain and introduced a beautiful randomness to my thinking that is so often lost during a busy day with no time to stop and retreat to those parts of your brain that are usually only awakened by sleep and some prescription medicines!

Walking everywhere has had other benefits too, for example, since the start of this challenge, not only have I saved money by not using the bus or car, but on two separate occasions I have stumbled across a £5 note floating about the pavement. After a quick scan to see if it has an obvious owner, a swift bend and grab has made me a little richer and a great deal smugger! So, two very good and largely understated reasons to walk everywhere I'm sure you'll agree!

After my week in Germany, which ended on Tuesday, it has been back to work and back to what I like to call, 'my real life'. This involves supermarket shopping, gardening, cleaning and this week.....decorating, my favourite! Despite the trials of adulthood, I've still managed to find time to walk and my little walking friends are also clocking up a phenomenal number of steps around the school campus and playground. On Thursday they both exceeded the 10,000 step target and were really proud of themselves. It's amazing how much ground their little legs can cover and the sorry walking excuses of yesterday are a distant memory. It's me who makes the excuses now.... 'Erm, no boys the dog's a bit tired today, I'd better stay at home and keep him company'!

I love their enthusiasm and the fact that they both wear their pedometers on their pyjamas as soon as they get up, lest they should lose any precious steps! I've seen a gradual but I think, lasting change in the attitude of these two young men towards walking and if this is the most I've achieved during these nine weeks, then I'm both proud and grateful for having been given the impetus to make significant, healthy changes to our lifestyles.

I'm genuinely sorry that this challenge is coming to an end and will miss the comfort of knowing that there are another nine folk out there counting their steps for journeyon and panicking every Monday about what the heck their going to write about (or is that just me?). I've even considered carrying on with my updates to journeyon but feel that a restraining order may be harmful to my career!

So after this week we're on our own with just willpower and dogged determination to keep us walking. Has it been enough? Maybe we should have a reunion in 10 weeks time and really get a measure of how much this challenge has changed the way we think and get about our city. As for the stats; average daily steps, 14,230, comments procured, lets just say, not enough and there are a number of people who won't be getting christmas presents this year, you know who you are!!!!!!!!

Here I am in sunny, (sometimes) and rainy, (at other times) Leipzig! Other weathers I have experienced are wind, showers, overcast and a faint rumble of thunder! But you didn't want a retro weather forecast, you're waiting for my exciting walking news so here goes!

This has been a bumper week for steps what with sightseeing, getting lost, not knowing any German so getting more lost and an epic climb to the top of Völkerschlachtdenkmal (Monument of the Battle of the Nations), an imposing memorial to the famed battle of Leipzig in which Napoleon's army was defeated by allied forces in 1813 (I don't remember ABBA mentioning that one!) There are 500 steps up and coincidently, the same number back down so that was a tenth of my step count in one fell swoop.

The staircase takes you in decreasing spiral until you reach a small platform where climbers are instructed by a system of traffic lights to climb the final, 50 inch wide staircase to the top. Like the stairs, the view from the top of the monument is breathtaking and rewards the brave and strong with a panoramic view over the Leipzig landscape; pleasing indeed!

A trip to Leipzig Zoo bought many a joy including an enclosure of playful monkeys, the ever vigilant meerkats and a brand new giraffe complete with wobbly legs and oversized knees. A wonderful day out but the constant stop, start, look, photo, walk, stop failed to register a significant number of steps on my pedometer so I had to top it up with a circuit or two of the city.

It's a nice place, Leipzig. Johan Sebastian Bach thought so (no, I didn't meet him...) He moved here in 1723 and remained until his death. Bach's Leipzig responsibility was primarily the education of several hundred boys in the St. Thomas School. But, because these boys were also choristers in the various churches of Leipzig, Bach was also responsible for the music in the town's four churches: St. Nicolas, St. Thomas, St. Matthew (the 'New') and St. Peters. Bach himself was personally responsible to direct the music at St. Thomas and St. Nicolas. Bach is burried in St Thomas Church which is a centrepeice and source of pride for this beautiful city.

I have defiantly increased my stamina for walking and am happy with the 15,437 daily average I've achieved this week. Holidays are a great opportunity to slow down and do more journeys on foot and where before I might have found the sudden increase in physical activity tiring, this time I have had bags of energy and some to spare!

Til next week, Auf Wiedersehen fürs Erste! (sorry if this is a poor translation - blame babel fish!)

I was fairly confident about this week's mini challenge, having had a number of people putting themselves forward to be my walking buddy for the day. I took it upon myself to set up an interviewing system to ensure that I was teamed up with a winning companion whose hilarious quotes and jaunty conversation would enrich my next blog. I put my 'interviewees' through a series of mental and physical challenges and adopted a Simon Cowell style of giving harsh, punchy feedback!

However, I was soon reminded that overconfidence can be a disadvantage and in no way compensates for half baked plans and loose arrangements! In sum, my walking buddy was tempted by a better offer (hard to believe, I know) and I was left making apologetic phone calls to the people whose offers I had rejected only to find that they too, had busy and exciting things to do that day. Something I said...????

Anyway, just when I thought I was going to have to give up, who should I bump into but Captain Lawrence Oates of the Scott Antarctic expedition of 1911. He was going to pop into Primark and said he also had to get some bits from Sainsbury's but with some persuading he agreed to join me on a JourneyOn walk. He phoned his mum and explained his change of plan. I didn't hear everything he said, just something about going outside and that he would be some time. Fair enough, I thought, it's best to keep these things open ended!

We checked out the JourneyOn website, I had to do the typing what with the frostbite and all that, and we settled on a walk from The Clock Tower up Dyke Road and all the way up to Devils Dyke. Oates said that the steady incline would provide a good cardiovascular workout and would mean he wouldn't have to go to the gym that night which seemed to please him.

We set off up Dyke Road and walked until the houses we passed were replaced by fields and the noise of heavy traffic was distant and less bothersome. It was at this point that I decided to start fishing for walking tips and flesh for my week seven blog. Oates was a quiet, intense fellow and didn't offer much in the way of conversation, He seemed preoccupied with the idea that other people were walking the same route as us and didn't really understand why we would walk somewhere so, how shall I put it... 'discovered'.

I urged Oates to look around at the countryside which he did and he commented on the greenness of everything and how comforting he found the smell of warm soil, wow a poet I thought, this might be good after all. But I was wrong and Oates walked in silence most of the way up. I thought perhaps his reindeerskin jacket was uncomfortable on such a hot day but he seemed reluctant to remove it so I kept my concern to myself. I explained that the 200 metre valley was caused by melt water at the end the last Ice Age. I also told him the legend of the Dyke and how it got it's name, which I will repeat for you now.

Apparently furious at the conversion of the peoples of the Weald to Christianity, the Devil decided to dig a dyke through the South Downs, so the sea could flow in and drown the Weald. To ensure his efforts were not discovered until it was too late, he decided to dig it over a single night. However, his toils woke an old woman, who lit a candle: this then woke her cockerel, who began to crow. Seeing the light and hearing the cockerel, the Devil was fooled into thinking it was dawn, and rushed off with his work uncompleted, and the Weald was saved. Oates liked this story and thanked me for sharing it.

Once we reached our summit I rewarded Oates with pint and a packet of cheese and onion crisps at the and we sat outside and took in the full beauty of our surroundings. I showed Oates the brass plate map that identifies the counties that can be seen from the top of the Dyke and we spotted a buzzard swooping over the field below. I asked Oates to pose for a photo but he was too excited about the presence of an ice cream van so I was unable to get my pic.

We had an ice cream, I had a 99 and Oates had a two ball screwball, then we commenced our descent of the Dyke and headed for home. Just as we were leaving the car park, Oates broke away and dashed back to the top of the hill. Unsure at first of what he was doing, I kept back a bit then watched as he took a tiny Union Jack flag out of his coat pocket and speared it into the ground. 'There', he said 'now we can say that we got here first'!!!!!!______________________________________________________________

So here we are, half way through the challenge, some might say we've broken the back of it, over the hump, on the home straight, whatever term you use it amounts to the same thing: "We've made it"!!!

Week five has been pleasant as usual, with sunshine and working beside the sea contributing to my happy experience. My working week has, once again, provided me with more than enough opportunity to notch up my steps and the light, sunny evenings have helped me to top them up with evening strolls. I'm still largely a lone walker but have attracted company on several occasions.

Take this weekend for example, a two day camping trip to Wapsbourne Farm, with three other families and I had all the company I needed. The absence of comfy chairs, electrical items, running water and indoor toilets generated a number of trips up and down the campsite and very little sitting still. Not to mention the daily trip to the local pub some two miles away for lunch and chilled refreshments!

With eight children in tow, there was a requisite level of grumbling but this eased off very quickly as the walk took us through Ashdown Forrest and the children were able to run off and become 21st century Mowgli's, making friends with the animals and playing in nature's own adventure playground. Sore feet and tried legs were soon forgotten and replaced by ruddy cheeks and beaming smiles (too much real ale perhaps?!?)

My 15 year old Whippet also came along for the trip and managed to keep up with the long walks. Having Linford with us further increased my step count as he has a bladder the size of a peanut, a tendency to 'worry' sheep and an incredible talent for escaping the tent at night. All in all, he kept me on my toes!

Still, a pleasing daily average of 12455 steps, with a small number of them swayed or stumbled! I am still happy as Larry, eating like a horse and sleeping like a baby so it's all good in my camp this week.

By the way, it's only fair to say that my success in the week four mini challenge was rapidly offset by picking Austria in the Euro 2008 sweepstake; I'm not holding my breath for a windfall.! Still, you can't win them all...

It's happening!!!

All over England people are leaving the comfort of their easy chairs, slipping into a pair of sensible walking shoes and putting their best foot forward! I have had such an encouraging response to this week's mini challenge with a good number of people sharing their own experiences of walking in their home town and making time to slow down and enjoy a more gentle pace of life. Those I have spoken to or emailed about the challenge have shown genuine interest and for some, curiosity, my younger brother wanting to know how far 10,000 steps is, how long it takes to walk them and what kind of pedometer I use!

My older brother and his wife live in London and regularly walk or cycle to work. Living and working in the capital city provides many rich opportunities to explore and investigate the lesser known parts of London and research the history that cities such as London and Brighton are steeped in! Fuelled by a renewed enthusiasm for walking my brother found himself enjoying a very long walk which concluded at a very aptly named road sign!

With the summer weather in full swing this week I have had a brilliant time this week and it has been a pleasure to complete my 10,000 steps a day. I am walking to and from work, using my lunch break to allow me to walk to clients living in more remote parts of Brighton and generally organising my day to accommodate as much walking as possible. I feel great and have developed the kind of sun-tan usually reserved for construction workers and gardeners! (At this point I must remind all to wear a suitably protective factor of sun screen and reapply regularly!).

Like so many of the people I have spoken to, I love the freedom that walking affords and the opportunity to take in all of my surroundings.

I find that I am noticing much more and truly appreciating the sights, sounds and smells, (well, some!), of Brighton. (See some of my pics here).

For those of you who don't know it, Jacob's Ladder is a pathway and steps cut into the side of the hill behind Bevendean. It comes out almost opposite the entrance to Wilson Avenue. I didn't know it existed until I used Journey On to plan a route from Whitehawk to Bevendean and I have been using it ever since. The other thing you need to know about Jacob's ladder is that it is 159 muscle burning, leg aching, breath stealing steps to get to the top. This did not go down well with my young travelling companions, a fact that forced me to hold back my own grimace in an effort to set a good example!

We completed the walk in a happier mood with the descent of Jacob's Ladder a far more pleasurable experience for all. The tired walkers then managed to harness a new super energy source and played in the park for the rest of the day. What struck me most about this experience is how reliant this family has become on using a car. So much is crammed into everyday that walking is not conceivable let alone feasible.

We have talked about it since and there will be some compromises on the use of the car for non urgent journeys. The boys are still not keen to consider long walks, partly through the belief that this would be 'boring'. They do however, like to use their scooters or bikes to ride alongside me while I do the job of walking!

I've got the kids interested in the Journey On website and they are starting to play around with it, looking at the different journey's they make and how long it would take to get to......

I really intend to keep this up now and make walking a natural and enjoyable part of our lifestyle. It's also a great opportunity for me to impart some irritating cliches involving the phrases, 'when I was your age' and 'a car is a luxury not a necessity'. The irritatingly correct reply that I got to this was, 'it is if you're a taxi driver'!

So, a good week all in all. I'm reaching my 10,000 target and having fun along the way.

I loved this week's mini challenge and challenge me it did! My biggest hurdle was to find a journey that I would normally use transport for. Other than a trip to visit my Mum some eighty miles away, I rarely use public or other motorised transport to get around. I did however, have an appointment in Peacehaven on Thursday which provided me with the ideal opportunity to stretch my legs and clock up the required step count.

Using the Journey On website to navigate my route was blissfully easy and produced a straightforward though appropriately detailed map for me to follow. The journey itself was sublime; the outward journey provided a peaceful saunter along the Sussex coastline bathed in late afternoon sunshine.

The return trip was made shortly after sunset and acquainted me with the soothing sounds of low tide and a host of new animal friends (I managed to catch the rabbit on camera but the fox was a little shy!) This little jaunt took a total of four walking hours and 31,698 steps. Not something I could do too regularly but certainly a very happy experience that I will repeat next time the opportunity arises.

The rest of the week was pretty good too. I have managed to reach my target of 10,000 steps or more on 6/7 days. My average daily steps this week are 13,701. I am finding it much easier to fit the steps into my daily routine and continue to walk most places. My personal challenge for the coming weeks is to 'spread the word' and inspire interest amongst my nearest and dearest to join the walking revolution.