A 27-year-old Brussels resident has announced her plan to walk every single one of the Belgian capital's 5,000 streets – accompanied only by her pet poodle.
Kathleen Peters, who lives in Saint-Josse but is originally from Zutendaal (Limburg province), told Het Nieuwsblad that her plan stems from the desire to know Brussels better.
"I already know Brussels well, but I was looking for a way to know it even better," Peters said. She added that so far she and her dog Betty have walked approximately 300 kilometres of Brussels' streets, leaving an eyebrow-raising 1,700 kilometres still to go: further than the distance from Brussels to Madrid.
"I started off without a strategy," Peters explained. "I thought: I can study for weeks to come up with plans, but then it will probably never come off. So I just went outside and walked."
Peters uses the Strava app to record her walking routes and noted that she has now walked nearly all the streets in her neighbourhood. "The time when I could just leave my home is over. Now I have to take public transport to get to new streets."
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When asked whether her self-appointed task might not be slightly boring, Peters responded: "Boring? Doing the same block with the dog every day is boring."
She explains that her walks have increased her affection for Belgium's capital: "With every kilometre I fall more in love with my city."