‘I sold my house and just started walking’
As Dutchman Tom Boerman regales his hiking buddy with tales of hairy border crossings, Croatian prisons and camp cookups, it’s clear he is enamoured with his mission.
His mission is to be the first person to walk across all seven continents, yes – even Antarctica.
As of Friday, he’s on day 557 of his adventure, which has taken him through Western Europe, down the Balkan peninsula, across the steppes and archipelagos of Asia and across the Australian outback.
‘‘I started on May 8, 2021,’’ he chuckles. In the midst of the pandemic and with some restrictions being lifted in Europe, Boerman said: ‘‘well you had to do something!’’
Boerman who documents his walk with levity and humour on Instagram, says walking is ‘‘the best way to see a country . . . you can almost see the grass growing’’.
Having already walked the length of New Zealand on the Te Araroa Trail, this time his journey around the world comes with a charitable mission.
‘‘I am raising money to rebuild four schools in Nepal that were destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. I was there then, and over three million people became homeless, it was horrible.’’
Selling his house in the Netherlands, he initially wanted to begin the epic trek in Norway, but Covid measures scuppered that plan. Instead, he set off from his hometown near Rotterdam.
‘‘I just started back home, I sold my house and just started walking. Before I knew I was in Belgium and Luxembourg. I pitched my tent literally everywhere and by the time I reached Switzerland they’d reopened the borders.’’
Boerman estimates that he goes through a pair of shoes every five weeks, or 1000km. And his best shoe related hiking tip comes from Hamilton’s own Colin Hancock of Trek ‘n’ Travel, on his first trip to New Zealand.
‘‘He suggested that I use toe socks and this brand of shoes,’’ he says pointing to his psychedelically patterned La Sportiva pair, ‘‘they haven’t let me down.’’
Asked when he arrived in Aotearoa, Boerman said he was so caught up in life on the trail he had forgotten which day it was.
‘‘To be honest, I do not even know what day it is today . . . I think I flew in on October 13.’’
Boerman has a theory about Kiwi friendliness, too.
‘‘To me, it looks like everyone who lives under the equator is more laid back, open, chill, and just keen to help.’’
Having spent plenty of time on both sides of the Tasman contemplating things, Boerman said he’s fairly certain he knows who he sides with in the perennial Australia versus New Zealand dispute.
‘‘That’s an easy answer . . . There’s no wildlife that can harm you here.’’
The bi-cultural history of New Zealand also provides Boerman with food for thought.
‘‘You guys are embracing each other, you’re working together, you use each other’s language. It’s not just walking through the wilderness. I’m also interested in the cultural part . . . The way New Zealand works with Mā ori is quite impressive for a foreigner,’’ he says.
His culinary moniker out on the trail