There are many pleasure walkers here who seem to be so upset at the guile of someone who dares criticize their beloved pastime that they completely missed the point of the article. The author's issue is with walking "culture" that encourages walking for walking's sake. In other words, walking that ignores surroundings and is more concerned with either the concept of walking or an interior journey where surroundings are just a backdrop to encourage thinking. I completely agree. These type of walkers aren't walking to see nature or observe new surroundings, they're walking to just "be". It reminds me of running hikers or mountain bikers that blow past you on beautiful hiking trails oblivious to the beauty around them. Walking or hiking to these people is more about the personal narcissistic pleasure they can wrench out of their surroundings rather than being receptive and "taking in" the beauty of nature. It's about "running" or "walking" and consuming views. I actually prefer Instagram hikers over runners. At least the Instagrammer is looking for beauty to share with others. The runners, pleasure walkers and mountain bikers are blazing over nature, the rest of you be damned.