When I’m out walking I usually look at the ground about 12-20 feet in front of me. I don’t do it for any reason in particular; it’s just my default way of walking.
But recently I’ve started wondering if maybe I ought to be looking mostly at the horizon. I’ve got this feeling that looking at the horizon is a better way, a smarter way.
What do you guys think? Where are you usually looking when you are out for a walk?
I’m a down-looker and my wife is an up-looker; she often comments on what trees or the sky look like.
My opinion is that she tends to trip more often, but that could just be bias.
It depends a lot on how rough the terrain is. If it’s not a nice smooth sidewalk, looking at the ground makes sense.
I’ve always been clumsy. The family swears I can trip over a painted line.
Now that Vertigo seems destined to become a constant companion, I will forever more be looking straight down.
~VOW
My phone, obviously. You people are weird.
If I look where I want to look – at the natural beauty around me – then my yellow lab will trip me.
And then my view will be that of an Emergency Department.
So I tend to alternate between looking at him and looking around 
I’m a “look off into the distance where I’m going” / horizon person myself.
Generally look ahead. Elderly people tend to drift towards becoming down-lookers which is not a good thing as it increases the chances of falling. The feedback on balance while looking ahead is much better.
I mostly walk with my dachshund who will eat anything he can find. I’m always scanning the ground in front of him to make sure there’s nothing nasty for him to gobble up. I think I have permanently hunched shoulders.
This seems an odd question to me, like “Where do you look while driving: down at the dashboard or up at the road?” Well, both! I look down at the dashboard often enough to monitor my speed etc., I look at the road ahead of me (and behind me, in my mirrors) for obvious safety reasons, and I also look out the windows around me so that I know where I am and in case I see something interesting.
Similarly, when I’m walking, I look down often enough that I don’t trip or step on something I shouldn’t, and I look up and ahead and around so that I know where I am and where I’m going and enjoy the scenery and avoid bumping into anything or anyone.
I do pay reasonable attention to surroundings, but being used to floor-level pets I tend toward checking where my feet are going to be sure I’m not going to step on someone I don’t want to injure or into something I really don’t want on my feet/shoes.
If I’m walking in, say, the grocery store or a similar place that I know is flat without any trip hazards I tend to look at the horizon. If its somewhere where the ground is uneven? No way. I’m looking at my feet to make sure I dont trip over something small and otherwise inconsequential.
I always feel like an old man walking down stairs: holding onto the handrail and watching where each foot falls to ensure I don’t end up ass over appetite.
I tend to look down when I walk, because of my injuries. But I’ve always looked down, even before I destroyed my knees. Once I was walking home from school when I was eight. A neighbour lady admonished me for looking down. ‘Don’t look down! Look up!’ I kept looking down, and minutes later spotted a five-dollar bill on the sidewalk. That was a lot of money back then.
You know, this is a good question and I’m not really sure, offhand! I’ll have to walk some more and get back to you.
I think I generally face forward and look out at whatever’s directly in front of me, and of course I look both ways before crossing the street.
Most of the time I’m out for a walk it is with the dog. I spend much of the time watching her and seeing what she is sniffing. I also look for trash, I do a neighborhood trash pickup once a week. I also have to keep a look out for the idiots racing down a street that borders the neighborhood. The speed limit is 25 mph, most people seem to drive 40 and above. Once saw a young gal drive by in her Lexus, I could see her digital speedometer. 79 mph, 3 times the speed limit. This was in front of a middle school while the school was in session. I use an online reporting page on my city’s website, it doesn’t do any good. The reply is always that that road receives regular police patrols.
I look down a bit in front of me, and sometimes think I should look further down (as I have occasionally tripped on things ID didn’t see). It never even occurred to me to look towards the horizon, as that would mean I couldn’t see hazards at all I only need to look at the horizon if I need to orient myself, but then I can look down the rest of the time at the terrain. And, most of the time, there are enough structures not to need to look at all.
The only real benefit I could see of looking down at the horizon is in looking more confident, but I’ve stopped worrying about that sort of stuff most of the time these days.
In the city, I combine scanning the sidewalk ahead of me for tripping hazards with keeping my personal security in mind. Staring at one’s phone is just inviting a problem, IMO. If I’m on a trail, I combine scanning the path for tripping hazards with looking at the natural beauty around me.
I guess that makes me “elderly,” and when someone says that to me, I get pissed. I don’t see how looking down increases anyone’s chances of falling. If I can see a fist-sized rock and know that if I step on it, I could very well stumble and fall, but now I have the opportunity to avoid the damned thing, then looking down seems good.
I did qualify upthread that I have vertigo. I’m also deaf in one ear which creates its own sense of unbalance. Then add to it that I’m just clumsy. I’ll look down.
I have a tshirt that says: “I thought getting older would take longer.”
~VOW
I’m with Thudlow. My immediate reaction to the question was ‘I look around.’
The idea of going for a walk with my gaze fixed firmly in only one direction seems odd to me. I come closer to driving that way than to walking – but when driving I’m probably doing somewhere between 30 and 60 MPH. When walking, I’m doing maybe 3 MPH. Plenty of time to look around and still be able to have a good idea where my feet are landing. If the footing’s bad, I’ll watch my feet more; but I’ll also slow down. I’m over 70, I can’t assume any longer that I’ll bounce well if I fall.
– even when I’m driving, I’m not staring fixedly at the horizon. I may have no idea what the buildings look like that I’m driving past, but I need to watch the far distance down the road, the rear view mirror, the car(s) and/or other traffic immediately in front of me and approaching at intersections, and whether a deer or human or anybody else appears about to enter the road from the side. Oh yes, and an occasional glance at the gauges.
ETA: @VOW, I want that tshirt!
I look all around, almost like defensive walking. So that means I’m not that idiot in front of you that acts like no one else is using the sidewalk.