You know, I'm thinking of coming down off my fence.
I've always been a little cautious of the RA, as it seemed to me that everything they could do, I could quite easily do for myself. I plan all my own walks, make sure there's always something for me to get distracted by on the way - a ruin here, a standing stone there. In fact, I quite like Myzeneye comment about being an "ASBO walker".
BUT ... my hiking pals are getting fewer and fewer between, and I don't particularly like walking on my own, I like to have someone to shoot the breeze with, even if it is only to glorify the likes of Wainwright or John Merrill. But it's the idea of crowds that bothers me, and all those colourful gore-tex jackets. It would just spoil it wouldn't it.
Personally, I love pouring over maps and finding new ways to cross fields, but maybe one should make the plunge??