Tyler Burgess is quick to notice the little change in someone’s front yard, to greet people when they are out working on the house and to find something to appreciate. Walking around Eugene might not feel the most exciting at first, but taking a walk with Burgess could change that.
Walking back from Monroe Park towards downtown Eugene on Broadway, Burgess spotted several houses, including a traditional English-style one.
“I wonder how beautiful the backyard would be,” she says and adds, “It feels like a different place, don’t you think?”
When Burgess turned 50, she thought she would do something different from the office work she’d done for decades.
“I thought about what women around my age like to do, and it was walking,” Burgess says — not knowing that she would be traveling around the world on foot.
She started organizing walking groups, and they became popular; more and more women — and some men — joined. She also organized a fitness walking class at the University of Oregon, which is still offered today.
“I never really traveled,” Burgess says, but her new hobby, career and passion reshaped it. When she visited Seattle, she picked up a guidebook but didn’t like it, so she wanted to make her own guidebooks for walkers. She’s published Oregon Townscape Walks, a walking guidebook covering Oregon towns including Eugene, Salem, Albany, Portland and Oregon City. It features her own hand-drawn maps, and she often takes a train for a walking day trip.
Burgess likes to paint as she travels, bringing her sketchbook and watercolor paints. Those pictures not only capture the landscape but also what she saw and noticed as she walked through the area.
“I like the rhythm of walking, and the slowness of it,” Burgess says.
As the walking group grew, Burgess began organizing more walking trips, including several in Europe. With a group of her clients, she set off for England on a coast-to-coast trip of 192 miles. She has since done 34 walking tours in 10 different countries.
She also took a pilgrimage tour, reflecting on the pilgrims’ mindset. She says that “humbling yourself and taking away your comfort” was part of the journey. “You get rid of all your status symbols, you don’t know if the person is CEO or someone,” she says.
Burgess showed the backpack she brought for the trip. She started picking up her sleeping bag, blanket, her change of socks (very important), headlights, some fuel items, and more, all neatly put together in a backpack.
“When you know the place around you, by familiarity with the roads and streets, you do feel at home,” she says.
She says that her walking clients would often be surprised by how little they knew about their neighborhood and the town they live in.
Oregon Townscape Walkscan be purchased at Kiva Grocery store, J Michaels bookstore, Tsunami books, Eugene True Value Hardware on Willamette Street, Sundance Natural Foods, Down to Earth, Main Street Market, Eugene Running Co. and Luxe in Oakway Mall, as well as online. Visit Walk-With-Me.com for more information.