30 miles. That’s how long we walked this past weekend. (Technically, according to one Strava post, it may have been more in the ballpark of 32.93… but who’s counting?)

Our trek to the great state of New Hampshire was made possible by the Harvard Outing Club. (Disclaimer: this piece is not sponsored, but our DMs are open…)

Why would you walk to New Hampshire?!? Well, this is a common question we’ve received. Partly for the bit, for the party schmick, and mostly for the Strava kudos.

Internalizing NH’s objectively sick “Live Free or Die” motto, Mirika and I chose to do the former. Indeed, walking 30 miles (did we mention we walked 30 miles?) gave us the temporal freedom to ruminate on life, relationships, and all the construction going on lately. It also gave Mirika tendonitis (ouch).

Speaking of interminable construction projects, we got to thinking about a number of other remarkably slow processes in our lives. Enjoy, below, our carefully curated list of things that take longer than walking to New Hampshire (we would know!):

1. FlyBy

This is NOT to be confused with *flyby* — when supplied with a sufficient number of Popup Bagels, we’re pretty efficient. Rather, we’re talking about the subject of many an outraged Sidechat post; the bane of the upperclassman existence: Annenberg’s grab ‘n’ go lunch service. Ostensibly an expeditious alternative to dining hall lunch, FlyBy is anything but. With its wraparound lines overpopulated by freshmen who could just go upstairs, you’re better off opting out. FlyBYE.

2. BerryLINE

The name says it all.

3. Yale baggage claim

As if we needed any more proof, YaleGate of 2025 made clear who was on top (for those in the know).

4. Getting a response from a professor

Standard email response time ranges from 2-3 business days to never. I just want an extension. Or a recommendation letter. So that I can get a job. Please, please, please respond to me. (Still waiting on that response as of now)

5. Quad

Okay, this one was expected. But it had to be said — there’s a reason you all have scooters. And no matter how you milk Quad Formal, a 15-minute walk is still 15 minutes that you’re never going to get back. (Out of curiosity, we ran the numbers: making one round trip from the Quad daily gets you roughly to Pennsylvania in a semester.)

6. CS50 lecture

Seriously, why is each lecture 3 hours? Even with a snack break in the middle, this still feels Draconian. You could walk from campus to New Hampshire in the span of four CS50 lectures. Perhaps it’s time to reevaluate your priorities…

7. Scheduling a meal with that friend you “haven’t seen in ages”

At a college awash with Google Calendar invitations and overly specific to-do lists, it’s almost impossible to get social plans on the books. It’ll take 2-3 weeks of going back and forth over text before one of you will inevitably give up trying to schedule something and leave your chances of hanging out again to fate.

8. Hanging the Canaday flag up in Annenberg

In the spirit of “Live Free or Die,” there should be “No Tuition without Representation.” Canaday dominates first-year life — with more students than any other first-year dorm, one would think that a flag in Annenberg to complement the others is only fair. But alas, as founding father James Madison once (might have) famously said in the Federalist Papers, “It is unjust that the smaller Dorms should have more representation than the larger ones.” By the time someone remembers to do this, it could very well be ten years from now.

9. Finding love at Harvard

We’re still waiting on this one…

Update: if you want to watch a video about the experience, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQhj-176H3I!