Having spent her life most often in motion, 99 Walks Pack Member Winter Avalon has continued this lifestyle not only on the road, but also on her feet, and her heart is thanking her. Not only is walking like breathing for her, but Winter also is not hesitant to tell others about the magic of walking and how it has, without a doubt, saved her life.
Born into a Navy family and continuing life in the Navy as she built a family of her own, Winter found herself moving every few years since birth and truly embraced the adventure. Being challenged fueled her spirit and, as an adult, she lives a life of learning and trying new things. “I love to be challenged, and to surprise even myself with what I’m going to do next,” Winter said.
At the age of 21, Winter received news from doctors that due to defects in her heart, it was unlikely that she would see the age of 25, and that her best chance of survival was to have a heart transplant. “All my doctors told me to just go home and rest, and to stay calm,” said Winter. “Well, I said no to the surgery. I really like my heart, and I believed in its own strength. So, I went home and became cautiously quiet, doing nothing that would possibly disrupt its beating in any way.”
But this quiet didn’t last as, just a few days later, Winter made the decision that instead of waiting for something to go wrong, she was going to live her life. And so she began walking. Walking to live. Her walking journey began when she lived in Scotland at a time when her children were in school and she found herself with a couple of hours each morning that were completely hers to do with as she wanted. “That was when I noticed a correlation between walking and my heart not messing up as much,” Winter said.
After a move to Yokosuka, Japan and finding herself in a home 7.5 miles from base without a car, Winter and her children set out on a routine to walk to base every other day to visit the commissary, exchange, cinema, etc. “We would do the needed shopping and carry everything back home in our backpacks. We knew no one, had no car, and did this for nearly a full year,” said Winter. “That year of walking back and forth an average of twenty miles every other day taught me and my children, who were 13 and 11 at the time, that by putting one foot in front of the other, we could do anything we wanted to. Also, not one time during that year did my heart ever mess up.”
Winter, now age 55, travels in her RV, or what she affectionately calls her “little house on wheels,” with her dog D’Artagnan and her newest family member, her cat Gypsy. She began her journey with 99 Walks in December 2020, after her favorite number “9” caught her eye—twice, and now finds herself walking in new places every week, her dog on his leash and her cat in a carrier on her back. “My life of travel was born from my desire to walk every single day on a new trail, with new vistas all around me. Joining 99 Walks was the easiest decision of my life. I wanted to be linked in some way to other women who, like me, knew the power of walking,” said Winter.
A fixed part of her life, and with pets who need to get out, walking is non-negotiable for Winter. It’s what she truly loves and being out walking in nature, exploring and learning, is truly a part of her. So, it’s no surprise that when asked what advice she’d give to a new walker that she’d bring love into the equation. “First I would have to ask you what you love. Then, I would tell you to add what you love into your walking,” said Winter. “If you love spending time with friends, go for walks with friends. If you love eating out, park two to three miles from your restaurant of choice once a week, and walk there. If you love being near water, find all the places around you where you can walk beside water.” She advises to find a reward for taking a walk, but then see how quickly taking that walk becomes your reward.
Winter says a life of walking has taught her that nothing is too far and nothing is really out of reach, as long as she continues to put one foot in front of the other. “Walking just makes miracles happen. My life just continues to get bigger and bigger,” said Winter.
Though she loves living on the road and cherishes the connections she makes in every place she stops, she does think back to her favorite place in the world: Dunnottar Castle in Scotland. “From the first moment I saw this place, it just spoke to my heart,” said Winter. “When you are on the grounds of this place, you can look down at the water crashing below and see the birds flying below you. This is one of the places that holds a piece of my heart. Walking here, with the wind running its fingers through my hair, leaves me always waiting to once again return.”
What’s Winter’s favorite thing about walking? “The life it affords me,” she said. “I know that without it, I wouldn’t be alive. Period. I had been walking to live for years, but 99 Walks adds all the more fun! The fun and the community aspect is such a game changer! Now just knowing with each daily walk I take that there are hundreds—make that thousands—of other women walking with me on any given day, well, this knowledge is everything to me. This community of women walkers is empowering! Now, not only am I walking to live, I am living to walk!”
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