What Is a Walking Buddy? The Meaning and the Different Kinds

A walking buddy is someone you walk with on a regular basis, by arrangement, so that you keep each other company and keep each other going. The plural, walking buddies, means the people you walk with, and a walk buddy is the same thing said more casually. A hiking buddy is the same idea on trails, where matching fitness and looking out for each other matter more. What turns a person into a walking buddy is the repeat: one walk with a colleague is a nice walk, but a standing Thursday loop with that colleague is a walking buddy. The rest of this explains where the word comes from, the kinds of walking buddy people have, and how a buddy differs from a walking partner or a walking group.

Where "buddy" comes from, and why it fits

"Buddy" started as informal American English for a friend. The Oxford Learner's Dictionary dates it to the mid 19th century and suggests it may come from "brother", or from "butty", a word miners used for a friend or workmate. Dictionaries also give it a second meaning, and that's the one in "walking buddy". Cambridge defines it as "someone who does an activity with you so that you can support and encourage each other", with "workout buddies" and "a study buddy" as examples. Oxford's version is "a partner who does an activity with you so that you can help each other". So a walking buddy isn't just company on the pavement. The point is mutual: you get each other out of the door, and you both get something from it, even when it isn't the same thing. My own walking buddy was a very good friend, and we walked together every Wednesday and Saturday. He came to clear his head; I came to lose weight, and to clear mine too. The conversations on those walks were some of the best we had, and that routine is what later inspired me to build an app around walking with people.

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The kinds of walking buddy

Most walking buddies are people you already know. A friend is the obvious one, and a walk is often how two busy friends keep seeing each other at all, because an hour's walk fits where a dinner doesn't. A neighbour is the most practical kind, since you live a few doors apart and walk the same streets, so meeting takes no planning. Some people's buddy is a partner, a parent or a grown-up child, and the walk becomes the one regular time in the week that the two of them talk without a screen in the room.

The other kinds start as strangers. Someone you keep walking next to on a group walk can turn into a buddy when the two of you start meeting between the group's dates. Someone you meet through an app or a local online group is a buddy found on purpose: you both went looking for a person to walk with at a certain time and place. And a dog-walking companion is the owner you keep meeting in the same park at the same hour, until walking the dogs together is the plan rather than the accident. That last kind tends to last, because the dogs need the walk whether or not either of you feels like it.

What a walking buddy is not

A walking buddy is not a personal trainer. Nobody is setting the other's pace or goals, and if one of you wants a coach, that's a different arrangement. A buddy also doesn't have to be a close friend. Plenty of walking buddies know each other's week in detail and very little else about each other's lives, and that's fine. Nor is a buddy someone you have to walk with every time. Most people with a walking buddy still walk alone on other days. And having company on a walk doesn't make a buddy a bodyguard: walking with someone is more comfortable for many people, but the usual common sense about routes and the dark still applies to both of you.

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Walking buddy, walking partner and walking group: the differences

In everyday use, walking buddy and walking partner mean nearly the same thing, and people swap them freely. The difference is tone. "Buddy" is warmer and more casual, so it suits a friend or a neighbour. "Partner" sounds a little more formal and goal-driven, so it suits a fitness plan or someone you've only just met. Where you live matters too: Oxford marks the activity sense of "buddy" as especially North American, so in Britain and elsewhere "walking partner" can sound more natural, even when the arrangement is exactly the same.

A walking group is a different thing. It's organised: there's a set time, a set route and usually someone leading. You can turn up without knowing anybody, and nobody notices much if you miss a week. England's Ramblers Wellbeing Walks are a typical example: free, short walks led by volunteers, and you don't need to book. A buddy is the opposite on most of those points, as the table shows.

That last row is the real difference. A group is easy to join and easy to drift away from. A buddy is harder to find, but a person standing on a corner waiting for you is a strong reason to show up. Many people use both: the group to meet people, and a buddy from the group to walk with in between.

A walking buddy in Walk With Me

In Walk With Me, a walking buddy is also a feature. Once you're friends with someone in the app, you can make them your walking buddy: you see each other's steps, send one wave a day, keep a joint streak going, and race each other for up to four weeks if you both fancy it. To find the person in the first place, the app shows walks near you on a map, and you can ask to join one or set up your own. Find out more about finding a walking buddy. It's free on the App Store and Google Play.

Sources

• Cambridge Dictionary. Buddy. Cambridge University Press, accessed 2026.
• Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. Buddy, noun. Oxford University Press, accessed 2026.
• The Ramblers. Ramblers Wellbeing Walks. ramblers.org.uk, accessed 2026.