If you’ve travelled with Wheel & Anchor before, you’ll know that walking is part of the deal. Cobbled streets, gentle hills, the odd uneven path to a viewpoint or vineyard: all very manageable, but much more enjoyable with a bit of support. Many of our members already use a single walking stick, and do so with great finesse. It’s familiar, it feels natural, and it’s been the default for decades.
But there’s a quiet revolution afoot, quite literally, in how people walk, particularly in Europe. More and more walkers are trading in one stick for two lightweight poles. Sometimes it’s branded as “Nordic walking,” which conjures images of Lycra and power-walking through parks. In reality, it doesn’t have to be fast, sporty or even remotely athletic. It can be just…walking. Normal pace, normal clothes, just with an extra point of contact on each side.
One stick versus two: what actually changes?
Walking with one stick is essentially about support. You have a “third leg” that you can plant on the side that needs a bit more stability, perhaps a dodgy knee or a hip that likes to make its presence known on stairs. Used well, a single stick can offload some weight from that side of the body, give you a psychological sense of security, and help with balance on uneven terrain.
Two poles, however, change the physics of walking. Instead of one auxiliary support, you now have a four-point gait: left foot with right pole, right foot with left pole, and so on. That does a few things:
– It distributes load more evenly between left and right sides, which can reduce the strain on individual joints.
– It brings your upper body into the action, engaging the arms, shoulders and upper back instead of leaving them dangling by your sides.
– It improves balance in all directions—forward, backward and sideways—because you’ve effectively widened your base of support.
Studies in Europe on Nordic-style walking have shown increased energy expenditure (in a good way), better posture, and reduced perceived exertion compared with regular walking at the same speed. In other words, you’re doing more for your body, but it feels easier.
Benefits beyond the mountains
One misunderstanding is that two poles are only for serious hikes or mountain trekking. In reality, most of the benefits show up on exactly the kinds of walks our groups do all the time: city streets, riverside promenades, gentle country paths.
A few practical advantages:
– Posture: With poles properly adjusted to your height, your chest tends to open, shoulders roll back, and you’re less likely to stoop forward. That can make breathing easier and reduce neck and shoulder tension over a long day.
– Joint relief: Because some of your weight is transferred through the poles, knees, hips and ankles often complain less, particularly on downhills or long, flat days on hard surfaces.
– Confidence on tricky surfaces: Wet pavements, gravel, sand, ramps, shallow steps – two poles give you extra “anchors” so you spend less mental energy watching every footfall.
For many of our members, the shift from one stick to two doesn’t feel like a leap into sportiness; it feels like discovering an extra gear. You can walk the same distances with less fatigue, or slightly longer distances without paying for it the next day.
Practicalities: luggage, weight, and “faff factor”
The good news is that the gear has caught up with the idea. Modern trekking poles come in ultra-lightweight, collapsible or telescopic designs that fold down to the length of a folded umbrella or smaller. Many:
– Weigh only a few hundred grams for the pair.
– Collapse small enough to fit in checked luggage or strap to a daypack.
– Come with interchangeable tips: rubber for city streets, carbide for trails, small baskets for softer ground.
For air travel, metal-tipped poles generally need to go in checked baggage, but once you’re on the ground, they’re easy to deploy and stash away when not needed. You don’t have to walk with them all day, every day; they’re simply another tool you can bring out when the terrain or your energy level suggests it’s a good idea.
The psychology of “graduating” to two poles
There’s sometimes a quiet resistance here: “If I’m using two poles, doesn’t that make me look…older? Less capable?” In practice, what we see on trips is the opposite. Two poles tend to signal someone who’s proactive about their comfort and safety, not someone on the brink of needing a walker.
Think of it this way: skiers of all ages use poles, trail runners use poles, serious hikers use poles, not because they’re frail, but because they’ve learned that clever use of equipment lets them go farther, more comfortably, with less risk. This is simply borrowing a good idea from those worlds and applying it to everyday travel.
Maybe two really are better than one
Over the years, there’s been a familiar pattern on our trips. One member shows up with two poles. A few others raise an eyebrow, perhaps with a quiet, “That seems like a bit much.” Fast forward a few days, after some hilly town, a long museum day, or a stretch of cobblestones and suddenly there are questions over breakfast: “So, how do those things actually work?” “Can I try one?” A week later, the airport departure lounge features a small forest of poles sticking out of people’s luggage.
It turns out “two are better than one” isn’t just a clever title. It’s often what your knees will tell you after a day of walking in Porto or Kyoto, what your balance will tell you on a gravel path to a viewpoint, and what your energy levels will tell you when you realize you’re less tired than you expected.
You certainly don’t need two poles to travel with us. But if you’ve been a one-stick person for years, it might be worth giving the second one a chance. Worst case, you carry a bit of extra carbon fibre in your bag. Best case, you discover that a simple change in how you walk opens up a little more comfort, a little more confidence, and a few more cobbled streets you’re happy to explore.