Growing up, my parents, two siblings, and I dressed up to walk laps around our neighborhood every night after dinner. There was nothing to see and nowhere to go, at least not on foot: just half-dead grass and other people’s houses in a nondescript, suburban part of Texas. After a few yards in either direction, the sidewalk would end and we’d have to keep going on someone’s driveway or the side of a busy road, or simply do another lap around our sleepy block. Our world was not designed for walking — and still, we had a conviction to walk.

Late last year, I came across the “hot girl walk” trend: Influencers swore by the practice of walking without a destination in mind, either alone or with a workout buddy, to achieve myriad benefits, from reducing anxiety to easing back pain. What distinguishes a hot girl walk from any other walk, according to Mia, the TikToker who started the trend, is the mindset in which you embark on one: You’re supposed to focus on the things you’re grateful for, your goals, and most importantly, how hot you are.

My immediate thought when initially watching these videos was that I should probably start going on hot girl walks. That was quickly followed by a slight pang of annoyance; were influencers really trying to sell the act of walking aimlessly to me, a child of immigrants whose upbringing was defined by what were essentially unglorified hot girl walks?

Growing up, I remember feeling that our........

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