There is a particular kind of no you say on a Wednesday.
The drinks thing, the family obligation, the favor somebody asked for. You turn all of it down because you are keeping the weekend clear, and keeping the weekend clear feels responsible. It feels like protecting something.
Then Saturday arrives, clear.
Here is what almost nobody tells you: free time and open time are not the same thing.
Free means nothing is being taken from you.
Open means nothing is holding it up.
We spend all week defending the emptiness and then act surprised when it turns out to be empty.
The good news is that this is a much easier problem than the one people think they have.
Let's dive in. 🧡
From our walking villages in 20+ cities around the world:
The mirrors behind Atlanta were not the only things reflecting on this walk. 🪞
Another beautiful morning in Columbus, soaking up the sunshine before Ohio remembers it is Ohio. 🥶
Not everyone made it into the Sacramento photo, but the swag certainly did. 😎
(Don’t see your city? We post the photos on Instagram or each Meetup group after the walk. Otherwise this email would be longer than a CVS receipt.)
🏆 Sacramento confirmed its host is not a myth.
A regular had only attended on Saturdays when Megan was away, so he had started to wonder whether she was real. This week, they finally met. Mystery solved.
🏆 Aveiro’s 20th walk came with one very good comma.
A visitor arrived for his second walk and asked, “How are you, really?” That comma did its job: he showed up more confidently than the week before and gave the whole circle somewhere deeper to go.
🏆 Philadelphia made plans before the walk was even over.
Five people came for the walk and were already arranging lunch together by the end. Apparently, mile five was not a finish line.
Saturday had one job: become a plan.
Instead, it is 1:47 p.m., the group chat is discussing absolutely nothing, and you are considering reorganizing a drawer.
Our newest Trail Tale is about why this keeps happening, five ways to rescue the day, and the one thing that makes future weekends easier to inhabit.
This week on THE BOARD WALKS, people brought these topics:
"Where does spontaneity fit in a calendar-driven life?"
"What is one good thing that happened to you this week?"
"What are your favorite hobbies right now?"
"What would you do for others with unlimited money?"
"What is the best place in the world you have visited?"
Screenshot these. Steal with pride. Bring one to your next dinner party to shift the conversation from "meh" to marvelous.
Quick hits:
🗺️ Every city, one page.
All the walks live on Meetup, which is also where RSVPs happen and where each city keeps track of its own people.
📷 The rest of the photos.
The three above are only a fraction of what comes in every Saturday.
🌍 Hosting.
A city opens when one person decides to hold the rhythm. If your Saturday mornings are already free, that is most of the job.
What’s alive in The Board:
The thing that makes an open Saturday hard is that somebody has to fill it, and that somebody is usually you.
Inside The Board, you are not the one filling anything. Things are already happening, with people who are already there, and the only decision left is which of them you want to join. That sounds like a small difference. It is the whole difference between a calendar you maintain and a calendar that maintains itself.
It is application-only and deliberately small, because a room stops working as a room the moment you can no longer hold everyone in your head.
Five miles. Saturday morning. Phones in pockets. Free, in 20+ cities.
You do not have to plan anything, invite anyone, or explain yourself if you skip a week. Find your city, join the group, and RSVP for Saturday.
Have a whimsical week,
Founders of THE BOARD WALKS
