Ten million steps
Walk across Canada raising awareness about children’s mental health
On a cross-country trek to raise awareness for children’s mental health issues, Bret Mavriik is closer to the end than the beginning.
“It’s been a long walk, man,” the 49-year-old said with a laugh, as he and Nymeria, his four-year-old husky, took a break from the road Tuesday afternoon, just past Exit 25 in New Glasgow.
After selling off almost everything he owned, Mavriik and Nymeria left southern Ontario Sept. 28, 2015 – he lives north of Toronto – and walked to B.C., not in a straight line but taking detours along the way, making sure they got to as many cities and towns as possible (“I’m on my seventh pair,” of hiking boots, he offered).
On Canada’s left coast, he bought a cheap minivan and they drove back to Ontario and “after a few weeks rest, we left for St. John’s.”
He and Nymeria mostly sleep in a tent, moving off the highways, and while they’ve had a couple of dodgy moments out there, he’s never felt in any real danger. “I always feel safe,” Mavriik said, as he thoughtfully stroked the beard he started growing when his journey began.
“I know how to watch my own back.”
Along with his MP3 player, Nymeria keeps him company on the road. Mavriik also has the support of his two sons, both in their early 20s, one of whom has started a GoFundMe site to help pay expenses.
“If there’s really bad weather coming, we’ll try to get into a motel,” he added. Most of the time, they are happy to rough it (every 10 days or so, they also stop at motels to do laundry, recharge his cellphone batteries and get a little down time).
On Tuesday afternoon, Mavriik stopped into Tim Hortons on East River Road, got a coffee, then headed back to the Trans Canada Highway, walking east, a little more than 600 miles from St. John’s, N.L., and the finish line.
As has often happened during his travels, strangers approach him out of curiosity and once he explains what he’s trying to do, some of them share their own struggles with mental health problems, whether it be their own, or people close to them. They offer him words of encouragement, food and sometimes even temporary lodging.
“I always knew there were a lot of good people in this country.”
The husky is sleeping in the back seat of a car while Mavriik tells his story, but once she gets moving she’ll want to stay on the move, he explained.
Mavriik plans on writing a book about the experience once they’ve completed the last mile, which should be sometime in April. “It’s slower now. I’m lucky if I can get 30 kilometres a day – eighteen miles is pushing it.”