Tubewalking makes a nice change from the longer treks I've done, where my chief obsessions tend to be daily mileage and the state of my blisters; in contrast, tubewalking feels more like an extended sightseeing trip than a back-breaking challenge, and the difference really shows in the amount of stuff you have to carry. For tubewalking, you really can travel light, and it makes a world of difference.
This not only applies to the contents of your daypack, but also to the footwear you can use. For most of my tubewalk I opted for a pair of light trainers; these were left over from the days when I'd just started contracting and thought I'd be working from home on a regular basis. The idea was that I'd pop out for an afternoon jog to help ward off cabin fever, but even though I bought a flash pair of trainers at the London Marathon shop, I started working away from home almost immediately and the jogging fell by the wayside (as it always does – you think I'd have worked out by now that me and jogging are just not made for each other). Happily those trainers turned out to be perfect for long days trudging along miles of tarmac – especially when combined with the pair of anti-blister Wrightsocks that my sister recommended – and I saved my more traditional walking boots for the outer regions of the Metropolitan and Central lines, which are surprisingly rural and a bit too muddy for trainers.
Here's a list of what I ended up taking on each tubewalk. I tended to grab lunch at home for all except the most central walks, as it can be hard to track down food out there in sleepy suburbia. However, it's much easier to pick up drinks, so even on the hottest days I only needed to carry a litre of water, which really helped to keep the weight down.
Miscellaneous
- Daypack
- 1 litre water bottle
- Maps
- GPS
- Compass
- Pen
- Paper
- Lunch
- Umbrella
- Sun cream
- Blister cream and plasters
- Oyster card (charged)
- Palm computer
- Camera
- Spare batteries
Clothing
- 1 fleece
- 1 pair jeans
- T-shirt
- 1 pair trainers
- 1 pair Wrightsocks
- 1 Gore-Tex jacket (only if it's raining or cold)
- 1 pair sunglasses