Since December 31, 2008, I have walked a half an hour a day. While many Americans do this much and more, I've challenged myself to find a new place to do so every twenty-four hours. Again, one might suggest that such a move is not so noteworthy, but there are two catches. First, there's my day job. As a naturalist and public program coordinator for Mass Audubon, my walks this past year have taken me to some amazing places: the former leper colony on Penikese Island off Falmouth, Massachusetts, for instance, to an ever-expanding boulder field in the Poconos, and the puffin breeding colony on...

One New Year's Eve, inspiration hit. It involved a blog, a camera and a whole lot of walking. But it was perfect. Author John Galluzzo, a naturalist and historian by trade, would walk a half an hour each day, each walk in a different place, for a full year. Eighty percent of the time, he would walk near his home, in parks, on sanctuaries and down streets on the South Shore of Boston. But the other twenty percent of the time, he would step out of those bounds and explore less familiar places. Half an Hour a Day on Foot: Stepping Out of Bounds is the story of those meanderings and ponderings,...