I love walking. It’s a great way to clear your mind of whatever you’re doing and fill it with new ideas. It is the ideal way to discover a new place with no preparation required.
I love American cities because of their grid pattern. You can just walk for miles and miles and not think about direction, without getting lost. And the pavements are huge walking highways.
San Francisco has a ton of hills but rewards you with beautiful views, and a 7 by 7 mile walking paradise confined by natural borders which have amazing views. New York has a lot more miles and is flatter. I recommend Lower Manhattan (south of 14th St) and North West Brooklyn.
Because walking is such effortless activity, your mind has bandwith to notice things you would not see otherwise. Sometimes my mind is blank for miles on end, sometimes I have one great idea after another. It feels like you are very much in the present, so much it becomes meditative.
I like how expert flaneur Nassim Nicholas Taleb puts it: ‘Writing is 95% walking, 5% sitting.’