I live in London. Getting a foldable kayak actually changed my life

When I tell other Londoners that I love this city for its access to nature, they often respond by questioning my sanity. London is easily one of the world’s most talked-about cities, but it mostly conjures images of double-decker buses and red telephone booths.

Few visitors are aware that the capital has so many trees, it technically counts as a forest. But what I love most are the city’s rivers and canals, which remain undervalued and uncrowded—as long as you’re willing to get out on the water.

A few years ago, I moved to a part of northeast London that’s bordered by marshes, wetlands, and the River Lea Navigation. I loved walking along the canal towpaths when I first moved to the neighborhood, where I was delighted to watch the narrowboats that have been turned into cozy homes.

But on warm, sunny afternoons, the canals were hardly a quiet escape. Runners, walkers, dogs, and cyclists all used the paths at the same time, and we constantly got in each other’s way. I wanted a way to feel connected to nature without competing for peace and quiet.

So, I got a set of foldable Oru Kayaks.

Oru’s kayaks also open up travel possibilities that would otherwise be logistically challenging. I’ve taken mine on the Tube and London’s Overground many times, both to get to other waterways around the city, like the famous Regent’s Canal, and to go abroad. A few years ago, a friend and I paddled Oru’s larger Beach LT and Coast XT models across Scotland, along the 54-mile Glasgow to Edinburgh Canoe Trail.

We used public transportation to get there and back, and stayed in small B&Bs close to the water over four days of paddling. At the end of each day, we packed up the boats and walked to our hotels with our transportation on our backs. On the last day, when I got a shoulder injury that made for slow going, I simply hopped out of the canal, folded up my boat, and took a train the rest of the way to Edinburgh.