A great tip for your retirement: try walking someone else's dog.
Stay active, but make it enjoyable.
A great tip for your retirement: try walking someone else's dog.
We could bombard you with research here, but we'd rather give you the conclusion straight away: staying active is very important. You probably already knew that. Regular exercise is vital for the retired body. Not that you suddenly have to go to the gym every day. Just taking a good long walk every now and then is already great.
Fortunately, walking costs nothing. And in the Netherlands, we have a lot of beautiful nature and walking paths where you can cover many healthy kilometers.
ANWB Eropuit
On the ANWB website and in the ANWB Eropuit app, you can find them all: the walking and cycling routes of the Netherlands. You don't even have to be a member to use the app. It provides tips, routes, points of interest, and inspiration. With the most beautiful walking and cycling routes at all levels, in various lengths and locations in the Netherlands. That's the nice thing about our little country: there's always a nice route near you.
Pieterpad
Want to do something really special? Get good exercise and have something to tell the folks back home? Then try walking the famous Pieterpad. A route conceived, walked, and described between 1978 and 1983 by Toos Goorhuis-Tjalsma and Bertje Jens. Two friends who thought the Netherlands could use a serious long-distance path. You don't have to walk it all at once, of course. It can be done in parts, over months or years. Just walk a beautiful part of the Netherlands at your own pace.
Stichting OOPOEH
This foundation combines two very nice goals: they promote a more active life for people and a better life for dogs. What they do is simple: they match you with a dog of your choice, to walk whenever it suits you.
With this, Stichting OOPOEH hits three birds with one stone: helping you get more companionship and exercise, helping dogs get the attention and care they need, and helping owners find a reliable sitter. This is not a commercial pet-sitting service or dog-walking agency. It's even free: registration with Stichting OOPOEH costs nothing, and you will never have to contribute financially to the care of the dog.