Show Notes
Episode 211 of The Adventure Podcast features adventurer Ollie Treviso. Ollie recently completed a 14,000km, 20-month walk along the Andes, from Tierra del Fuego to the Caribbean Sea. In this episode, Ollie opens up about how far he's come - from a rugby-playing teenager abusing steroids and working as an insurance broker, to living in a cave in Gran Canaria, working on farms, and eventually discovering the power of slow, human-paced travel. Matt and Ollie explore his first long-distance walk across the UK, complete with an over-packed rucksack, no tent experience, and a rule never to pay for accommodation, and how these early stumbles laid the foundations for his South American journey. They also talk candidly about grief and loss, why walking feels most meaningful, resilience, identity, and the uneasy balance between adventure, ego, and storytelling. This conversation is longer than normal. But its honest, fun, and full of surprising side stories. What emerges is not just the tale of an epic trek, but an honest reflection on what drives someone to keep walking into the unknown.
For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @theadventurepodcast.
Chapter Breakdown 00:00 – 09:00 | Beginnings & Pandemic Shift: Ollie’s early restlessness, failed plans for South America, and how COVID lockdowns unexpectedly pushed him into walking across the UK. 09:00 – 14:30 | Discovering Slow Travel: First long walks through Wales, Scotland, and Land’s End to John O’Groats; learning the hard way about kit, endurance, and the joy of stripping life back to basics. 14:30 – 20:00 | Tragedy & Turning Points: Family loss and grief collide with his travels, bringing him home but also deepening his sense of purpose and the need to carry on. 20:00 – 40:00 | Setting Out for South America: Why Ollie chose to walk the Andes, the decision to commit step by step, and the fears and motivations behind such a huge undertaking. 40:00 – 1:05:00 | Hardship & Kindness on the Road: Encounters with strangers’ generosity, moments of danger, and surreal cultural exchanges - from Venezuela to Argentina, including being mugged in Colombia. 1:05:00 – 1:20:00 | Companions & Survival: The story of a stray dog that joined him in Chile, brushes with wilderness, and reflections on walking’s unique intensity. 1:20:00 – 1:32:00 | Records, Recognition & Resistance: How the “first to walk the Andes” label sat uneasily with him, fundraising realities, and the tension between storytelling and self-promotion. 1:32:00 – 1:40:00 | Coming Home & Looking Forward: Post-expedition decompression, finding peace away from the road, and searching for balance between adventure, career, and life at home. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from The Adventure Podcast
Episode 233 of The Adventure Podcast features expedition medic and NHS GP, Will Duffin. Will has spent 16 years as an expedition and reality TV doctor, including four seasons as lead on-screen medic for Survivor. He talks to Matt about his winding journey to becoming a medic, and how his work became expedition-focused. He also tells the story of his first on-camera emergency, and how to handle life-threatening situations with cameras in your face and a safety team in your ears. They cover six months running a neonatal unit in Myanmar with his paediatrician wife, nature as medicine and who gets access to it, balancing family with a freelance career, and why his side hustle keeps him energised in a job where colleagues are burning out.
Episode 232 of The Adventure Podcast features legendary alpinist, Mick Fowler. Mick is 70 and still climbing in the Himalaya. He can't remember how many first ascents he has there, but spoiler alert, it's a lot. In this episode, Mick talks to Matt about balancing his seemingly ordinary tax career with an extraordinary alpine one. He explains his approach to alpine-style climbing, what makes a good multi-decade climbing partner, near misses, and the mindset needed to know when to push on vs when to turn back. Mick also talks candidly about being diagnosed with cancer and the colostomy bag he's lived with since. Together they also reflect on ageing and moderating objectives without losing satisfaction. Mick is one of the greats but is exceptionally humble, and this is an honest, no fluff conversation about the 'simple' life that got him the accolades.
Episode 231 of The Adventure Podcast features explorer and polar activist, Matthieu Tordeur. Starting with a solo trip to Antarctica at 26, Matthieu talks through his shift from solo self-funded expeditions to purpose-driven exploration. He explains what drew him to polar landscapes specifically, and they talk in detail about a kite-skiing research-driven traverse he recently did with glaciologist Heidi Sevestre. They discuss what that expedition actually involved logistically - data collection, kites, navigation, no hierarchy. And they get into some of the harder questions facing modern expedition life. The conversation also touches on glaciers, hope, hypocrisy, and whether there's still time to act.
Episode 230 of The Adventure Podcast features survival instructor, bushcraft expert, and TV adventurer, Naomi Allsworth. Naomi started as a sportswear fashion designer in London, before pivoting to bushcraft and working alongside Bear Grylls as a survival expert. She talks to Matt about finding her place in the bushcraft world, but also the criticism she has and still receives from some. She also reveals what it was like being cast on survival show, 'Alone', with just three weeks' notice, and how authentic survival TV shows really are. Naomi also opens up about her crippling postpartum depression, and that pushing herself back into wild, uncomfortable places was the only thing that pulled her out. Together they dig into the double standards facing adventurous parents, and they both get candid about the guilt, privilege, and precarious balancing act of a career built on being away. They also touch on Naomi's upcoming unsupported expedition, and representation vs community skepticism. It's an honest, no frills conversation around what it costs to build a career that lives online and away from home, but also what that can give you.
Episode 229 of The Adventure Podcast features founder and CEO of Trash Free Trails, mountain biker, and spaniel-owner, Dom Ferris. In this episode, Dom traces his path from a feral, nature-soaked childhood in Mid Wales, through teenage mountain bike racing and a wilder stretch of partying that cost him his sense of self. He goes on to found Trash Free Trails after a breakdown at Surfers Against Sewage taught him the hard way what happens when purpose tips into relentlessness. He and Matt open up about their own mental health struggles and the danger of tying your worth to constant output. The conversation also digs into the real philosophy behind Trash Free Trails; why litter isn't really about litter, the "activism arms race," the risk of accidental greenwashing, and the hard science linking single-use pollution to disconnection from nature. It's a raw, funny, occasionally tearful look at burnout, boundaries, and what it actually means to do good work without losing yourself in it.