Despite being unconscious, bitten by dogs and robbed by wielding gangs, Ollie Treviso walked over 8,000 miles in the Andes of South America.
The 29-year-old from Swansea hiked seven countries from the southernmost tip of Argentina to the Caribbean Sea in Venezuela.
“I will never forget the idea of the first day, what did you do? What did I do in front of the whole continent, I have almost no money, I don’t speak that language. It makes me feel very difficult.”
He said he was motivated to take on the challenges of “life-changing” after the “dark period” due to the loss of family members.
The novice adventurer is ambitious to raise funds and have an awareness of mental health philanthropy.
But he said three months of preparation are not necessarily enough to prepare for his adventure.
From “hostile winds” and “cold” temperatures in the southern continent to tropical climates in the north, he said he had to “learn the difficult way.”
His journey was tracked using a satellite phone, which signaled every 30 minutes so that people could know his whereabouts.
“I’m just a normal person from Swansea Manor and I want to show that ordinary people can take these huge adventures,” Mr Treviso said.
Mr. Treviso said [Ollie Treviso]
After about 100 days of travel, he faced his first life-threatening situation after falling into a canyon in a remote area of Patagonia.
“I lost my footing, slid into the canyon and hung on a rock. I managed to stuff my walking rod into part of the canyon,” he said.
“When I went to pull up, I slipped, hit the floor and lost consciousness. I don’t know how long it took.”
Despite feeling “delusion”, he escaped with his fractured foot and “cracked chin” and walked to the nearest village for more than 24 hours.
“There are a lot of challenges and dark days. I’ve received some news from my home that my grandmother (by the most important person in my life so far) has cancer, and it really makes me lose my emotions.”
Excerpts from Mr. Treviso’s Daily Diary, which he said, helped him deal with some of the more challenging times in a long 20-month walk [Ollie Treviso]
In Colombia, he experienced several setbacks and some dangerous situations.
After recovering from dengue, he was bitten by a dog and received treatment in the hospital.
Shortly thereafter, he was robbed by three men with machetes and knives, who took some money and cell phones.
But Mr Treviso said giving up walking was “never a choice” and there would be more kindness to everything that happened.
“Sometimes I have 30 or 40 [local] People walk with me in one day because they want to share.
“Once, I slept 40 houses over the course of 55 nights. I got 40 beds. Bonkers, it was incredible.”
Mr. Treviso said the generosity he experienced in many Andean communities was “incredible” [Ollie Treviso]
As he approached the end of his journey, the last transit from Colombia to Venezuela was something he had been afraid of for some time.
“I have hundreds of people tell me it’s a suicide message. I’m sitting in this cafe in Colombia and seeing the title says it’s the most dangerous place in the world, I feel uncomfortable with my stomach.”
As a car got in, he continued along the road toward the border, a man willing to help.
“That was the biggest headache for me and it really exhausted me and thought what to do when I got there? Then, I shared my pizza with this family in the most dangerous place in the world.
“I just think it’s absolutely incredible. It just shows that there are a lot of dangers in this world that have a lot of bad things happening, but there are a lot of good people, such smart people, such smart people.”
Mr. Treviso learned Spanish in the process and gained the confidence to hold talks at several schools and universities at the end of his journey. [Ollie Treviso]
Mr. Treviso joined with his father and brother in his final stop to the Caribbean coast.
After returning to Wales, he planned to try to formally admit the Andes formally walk to anyone walking to the farthest person in the world.
He also hopes to continue working in the community with local mental health charities before deciding on his next adventure.
He said: “Life may be too short. I lost several friends due to mental health and I know this is an increasingly serious problem in the UK, especially for men.
“I just feel like this is my purpose and the help I need, and the help I get when I need it, just showing me that I’m doing the right thing.”
