Walk to Israel (4,000 steps):

My exercise is walking. I walk about five miles a day - not all at once. In fact my five miles will be the sum of many short walks.

When I fly, I walk on the plane. Sitting for long periods of time can cause blood clots, and anyway I want my exercise. I discovered this month that for good walking, you need a large plane. A 747, say. Going from Newark to Israel on El Al, I managed to walk two miles on the plane. Coming back I did it again.

Some explanation might be in order. First, it takes me about 2,000 steps to walk a mile. I figure that any 2,000 steps will burn about the same amount of calories, so I count steps. (When I walk familar paths, I already know the step totals, but on the plane I had to count.) Second, there are times on a long flight when the aisles are pretty empty. On a large plane you can "dodge" the people-obstacles, back-tracking and crossing to the other side. Some people will get annoyed if you keep passing their seat, but you can keep moving to different sections of the plane.

Standing up and moving around a plane for ten minutes is a humanizing experience. You don't feel trapped by the crampness of the seats.

So: Walk to Israel. And if you don't happen to stay, walk home.