I used to think writing was the priority, or running, or lifting, or brazillian jiu jitsu.
It is walking.
Even above travel, music, inspirational reading.
Walking is king.
The reason people are happier with dogs is because of the walking.
I think that a large part of it is the walking. Walking your dog is a massive confounder. A walk gets you sunlight (vitamin D), social interaction usually positive about people wanting to pet your dog or ask about the dog, and walking movement.
Walking in and of itself.
It is also like joining a little (dog) club. The cafe that you go to all the time? Well, it was not until you had a dog that you realized the barista gives out little dog treats. Home Depot lots of the associates carry dog treats and it is allowed to bring your dog.
Walking easier than running.
Running you have to like dress different, I guess. Walking, I mean you walk. Maybe you wear walking shoes instead of dress shoes. But even that you do not need. We walked around London all day, 15k - 25k steps, and most of it was dress shoes. Boots too.
You can do other things while walking.
Namely, you can have a conversation. You could even work theoretically if you had a walking treadmill and a standing desk, although I do not recommend working while walking all the time.
Sure people jog during a phone meeting, but you sound all out of breath if you actually have to talk.
How to make it fun.
Do inclines instead of flats. Faster to a sweating workout without having to 'push' yourself on speed.
Earbuds for audio. Huge unlock. Put one in and so you can still hear everything around you. When I was growing up I was a runner and my coach said, we do not listen to music while running, we are runners, not joggers. He may have meant it as a joke, or maybe just as a throwaway comment, but being a naive high schooler, I took it as gospel.
Well, for walking, forget it. Sure it is great to be completely disconnected. But with just an earbud (remember just do one!) you can turn a boring, mundane, walk into something interesting with just some audio. It is a tiny dose of magic.
Yes, you can go full idgaf speaker phone or bluetooth speaker, but it changes the experience two ways: people react to the music and you might be thinking about the perceptio of people and what you are listening to and what they hear. Ex. curse words or out of context quotes. Plus, you do not need to scare every animal away.
Do make yourself do it everyday. Just do what is fun and what works. Variety. Indoors, outdoors, flat, hills, phone call, music, no music, dog, no dog, people, no people, texting, listening to videos, listening to podcasts, listening to your own music...just be smart and safe.
Which leads to the last tip.
Go somewhere with no cars, if you can. There are neighborhoods with no sidewalks. Sometimes I walk there, just take up a portion of the street and if there is low traffic and slow neighborhood people can go around you easily. But walking in a park is nice. Walking on a sidewalk. Walk in an alley .
Have fun.