BreakAwayAdventure - Volksmarch.

Volksmarch - American Volkssport Association (AVA) http://www.ava.org/

I was born and raised in Germany, the product of a military family and I have many fond
memories of the time I spent there. One of the experiences I often recount to friends was my
father's habit of waking me at obscenely early hours on the weekend and stuffing my grumbling
body into the passenger seat of our beat up Benz for a drive into the country. The mission - our
ritual volksmarch.

Terrain in Germany (and Austria) varied from deep forest to sprawling meadows and pastures,
modern towns to medieval villages. The entire experience was a feast for the senses and one of
the things about my time spent in Germany I miss the most (German cuisine ranks pretty high too).
At the end of every hike (providing you complete in the allotted time) each participant is rewarded
with a medal. The medals we received were all unique and often beautifully designed. The medals
were themed, often depicting representations of associated towns or villages, produce (such as
vineyards) or relevant history and landmarks. To give you an idea of how many of these things I
attended in the 12 years I lived in Germany, I collected around 300 unique medals, each
representing either a 10 or 20 Kilometer hike.

While researching for this site I discovered, to my great pleasure, that volksmarching has been
imported to the US and I sincerely recommend you take the opportunity to experience one for
yourself. Bring the family or your son or daughter. Take the opportunity to reconnect with your
kids as my father did with me. At the very least, take the time to get to know your own back yard.
You'll be amazed at how much unseen treasure there is just an hour or so outside your front door
and how much weight you can lose doing these things.

Visit the American Volkssport Association at http://www.ava.org/ . The site is a little barebones
but extremely efficient and should get you started with an event near you. Events are broken down
by state. Don't hesitate to travel a little to get to one. My father and I routinely drove to Austria,
the Black Forest, Hiedelburg, Hamburg, Frankfurt... pretty much anyplace that old Benz could get
us. Half the fun was the journey before the journey.

For those of you who have been merrily trapped in the
confines of the US, a volksmarch (prounounced
folksmarsh in German) is a hike through the country.
Participants can register in advance or at the sign-up
table on arrival (though the latter approach might cost
you the opportunity of earning a medal. The hikes I
grew up with were either 10k or 20k and you picked
which you would attempt at registration. Breaks along
the way provided light refreshments (occasionally they'd
have a very popular grilling station with brats and
french-fries) and the entire hike took between 2-5
hours.

While admittedly unenthusiastic about losing my weekend
sleep, I always perked up a few hundred yards into the
walk and set about dashing around the trail in search of
neat rocks, mushrooms, wild berries and critters. My
father took the opportunity to educate me on all things
military, historical and never missed the chance to tutor in
literature and math. We talked about my deceased
mother, my father's family back home in Georgia, foreign
countries we'd visited or planned to visit. Each hike was a
brief opportunity to reconnect with a father who was
notoriously difficult to connect with the remaining six days
of the week.