Test time: Study says we visit 25 places regularly

Get a notepad and pencil. You’ll need it. Today we’re taking a test.

In an average week or even month, how many places do you regularly visit? The key is “regularly” visit.

Let’s say you start your day at an office, you run to the post office, you grab a cup of coffee and you dash into Wal-Mart for something or another.

That’s four places you have “visited”.

Or you start your day at the YMCA, you drop by your regular grocery story for that gallon of milk, you drop off something at church and you fill-up with gas.

That’s four more regular stops you make.

Your day may vary, but we all have places we visit regularly.

A new and exhaustive study was reported recently that says the average person has 25 places we visit on a regular basis.

And interestingly, if we come up with a new location — a new restaurant, for example —we tend to drop one of our former regular haunts.

I guess I’m more sedentary than most because, for the life of me, I can’t come up with 25 stops that I make on a regular basis.

And I’m embarrassed to tell you but most of my regular stops involve food. I’m on a first name basis with most of the fast food eateries in town.

I guess I should be proud that church is on my list but no bars make the grade.

That was not always the case.

The study confirms that most of us are truly creatures of habit, which honestly is only common sense.

I’ve asked around and few people I find can come up with those 25 mysterious places we visit regularly.

Let’s say you have young kids. Well then your “regular” visits would sometimes revolve around the lives of those young-uns.

As those kids grow, the locations change. You drop some locations and you adopt others.

Asking my age bracket, you find that medical offices pop up on that regular visit list. And that in itself is somewhat depressing. Yet expected.

The study that confirmed we are creatures of habit was no small undertaking. It involved over 40,000 people.

So take that notepad and pencil and start your list. You might find it interesting.

My personal list stopped at 16 locations. And I had to fudge a little to even come up with that number.

P.S. Don’t include bathroom stops on your list. That doesn’t count!