OP solved it, closing

of

Thank you for the in depth explanation -- that makes a lot of sense and certainly is interesting!

Oh, forgot to add, the "issue" tag is for problems that you know are with the kata, not for issues with your logic or when you're unsure. Please use the "question" tag for things like this in the future - I'll resolve this one.

you failed to test an instance where either a or b could be ""

def is_valid_walk(walk):
  print(walk)
  # the rest of your code

where exactly do you throw a print statement in this function? everytime i try in vs code it gives an error

Your logic is off in one part. Print the input, see why your code fails.

... and will, of course, return you to your starting point.

You're not doing that right.