Good morning!
Once upon a time, in a charming little village, the houses looked like plump mushrooms. Life was peaceful—except for one minor nuisance: the court jester.
The jester had been detained in a low-security holding area, under watch for bothering the townspeople with his nonsensical humor and, perhaps more troubling, his disturbing choice of footwear. Those assigned to guard him found him as tiresome as the villagers.
To avoid dealing with him, they routinely left the keys to his cell dangling from a hook—well within reach. For months, they took suspiciously long, four-hour lunch breaks at Applebee’s, hoping he would “escape” before they returned.
Finally, mid-bite into some half-priced appetizers, the jester took the hint. He grabbed the keys, walked out, stopped at the General Store for a turmeric root (for reasons known only to him), and galloped off toward freedom.
Determined to turn his life around, he set out to help people. First, he applied to business school. Rejected. So, he tried medical school. Accepted.
Medical school looked like Hogwarts.
For eleven long years, he mastered the nuances of his craft—drug-eluting stents, islet cell transplants, PCSK9 inhibitors. He learned about the marvels of medicine that cost billions of dollars. But then, one fateful evening, over a pint of non-alcoholic ale at the village tavern, he and his fellow townspeople stumbled upon a revelation.
“You know what?” someone muttered, squinting at the fine print of the daily paper. “It says here that over 80% of cardiovascular disease is preventable. And the solution? It’s as cheap as the dirt beneath our feet. Why aren’t we doing this?”
They grabbed the tavern’s abacus (resting on the clavichord, naturally) and quickly calculated: some people didn’t have to die at 44 or 64. They could live to 94 or more. In fact, Hundreds of millions of people were sick when they didn’t need to be.
That night, they made a pact. If they simply walked around the castle once a day—just 30 minutes—they could be healthier and happier.
And so, they walked.
They walked because it was easy. Because they liked seeing their friends. Because, for the first time, they felt in charge of their health.
Word spread. In nearby villages, people whispered excitedly to one another. Messengers on horseback carried the news farther still. In 1022, word-of-mouth was all they had—but it was enough.
Then, one cold Friday morning in March, the jester received a special scroll from the Kingdom in the Biggest Village of Them All, reachable only by steam engine. It read:
“Hear Ye, Hear Ye!
We declare Walking Around The Castles to be a worthy idea. We wish to announce your program to all the townspeople across this flat world of ours, so they too may celebrate the beauty of a long life filled with laughter.
Just like the people in your charming little village with its fat mushroom-shaped homes.
Hark! We shall arrive soon!”
Panic set in. The villagers scrambled to tidy their homes.
When the visitors arrived, they were kind, professional, and genuinely interested.
After their stay, the townspeople gathered to wave them off, watching until the steam locomotive disappeared into the horizon. Then, they turned to one another.
This could be good. Very good.
That night, the local team behind Walking Around The Castle (WATC) returned to their humble headquarters—now ‘World HQ.’ They invested heavily, purchasing a larger server, two additional phone lines, an AI subscription, and a generous supply of plant-based snacks for their new volunteers.
They had been warned. This visit would likely set off a Great Big Storm.
A Great Big (Beautiful) Storm that would cover all the lands.
20th Anniversary 🎉
April 9, 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of Walk with a Doc! We’re planning to celebrate this milestone all year long, starting with 20 days of health tips, an April Walk Challenge, raffle prizes, and more.
