Table 2.
Sample diary entry.
| Diary Question | Participant’s Answer | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Length of the walk | 3.4 km |
| 2. | Duration of the walk | 50 min |
| 3. | Weather conditions | Cool and sunny |
| 4. | Temperature | 5 Celsius |
| 5. | Describe your motivations/purpose for going on a walk? Did you deviate from your original plan? If so, why? | I had to go to the bank, so I walked there. I stopped at a new grocery store on my way back that I hadn’t planned on stopping at, but didn’t deviate from my route to do so. I wanted to walk even though I could have driven because the weather was nice (comparatively) and because I wanted the exercise. |
| 6. | What did you notice about your walking environment? Describe in detail the route you took, and anything you noticed about the landscape of your neighbourhood (a nice garden, a patio, street art, sidewalk or trail, flat/hill, etc.). | I noticed that some of the sidewalks were still un-shoveled making it challenging to traverse in some areas. I walked there down a relatively quiet street and walked back on a busier street. I wanted to see if there were any new shops that had opened in the downtown area since I’m not often on busy streets like King street. I noticed the construction fences around city hall had some colourful artistic banners pinned up on them. Those fences have been up for a while, so it’s nice to see some art being added to the landscape. I noticed that a few stores have closed and that many cannabis stores have opened up, some in close proximity to each other. I saw that a new fancy grocery store has opened up; it had been coming for a while, so I stopped in to see what it offered. I also noticed a new sushi restaurant had opened up, and I paused to look at the menu in the window. |
| 7. | Who did you notice on your walk? Describe your observations of the people you saw, but did not interact with. (Did you wave/nod at anyone, did anyone avoid your path, was there any conflict, etc.) | I saw many people out while I was on my walk. I noticed some people who weren’t walking or heading for a destination but were just hanging out on the streets. Most people, however, appeared to have a destination in mind as they walked. I saw a woman with a walker who appeared to be struggling a bit with navigating the sidewalks due to the snowy conditions. I saw people having to adjust their path due to puddles and slush. At one of the churches, in the front yard, I saw four men sitting around a picnic table visiting and chatting. |
| 8. | Who did you interact with on your walk? Describe in detail your interactions. (Did you speak to anyone, pet a dog, were there any confrontations, etc.) | I didn’t interact with anyone on my walk. |
| 9. | Did you walk with anyone, or any pets? What is your relationship with the person you walked with, do you routinely walk with this person, and did they have any affect on your interactions while walking? If you were not walking with anyone, what were you doing while walking? (Listening to music/podcasts, etc.) | I walked on my own. I listened to a podcast while I walked, and looked in a few windows as I went. |
| 10 | Was there anything else noteworthy that you would like to add? | N/A |