Alex Glover with the new cart he’s using for his walk around Australia. Photos: Supplied.
Kiama’s Alex Glover is four months into his journey on foot around Australia to raise awareness for men’s mental health and suicide prevention, as he shares his mantra, “Wait one more minute, take one more step”.
Alex’s Strides Against Suicide walk started from the Kiama Blowhole on 21 January with a sendoff by his fellow Kiama Pipe Band members.
Unsupported and with a single tent and blow-up mattress, he’s now reached the Northern Territory after averaging 50 km a day – but not without a few interesting moments along the way.
With a mammoth 11,000 km and nine months still ahead of him, Alex said the reason for doing the walk was to help others who may have lived his story and struggled with their mental health, while also encouraging slowness and simplicity in people’s lives.
“I’m walking around Australia for men’s mental health and suicide awareness to encourage men in particular to just wait one more minute and take one more step, and to begin the steps of communication and reaching out if they are struggling,” he said.
“That’s my premise for the walk is to walk around Australia and hopefully help and inspire people that may be in a position of immense struggle and make them realise that all they need to do is focus on their next moment or their next step.
“But the reason why I began the journey is I went through my own journey growing up.”
Alex said events during his childhood led to him needing to manage his own mental health over the past 14 years.
“For me, going through something like that, you realise the only things that matter in life are the simple things, the slow things, and just focusing on your present surroundings,” he said.
“For me, it’s trying to show people that may be finding themselves in a similar position that there is a way out, and the steps included in that is communicating.”
Despite no preparation for his journey, he has always been fit through surfing and running, due to believing being active was a catalyst for positive mental health.
“But walking 50 km a day, every single day, whilst camping and doing it all by myself with no support wasn’t something I ever really did, but to be honest, it’s been fun,” he said.
That’s not to say there hasn’t been interesting moments along the way.
“Night number one, I was camped just north of Wollongong, and a car got torched about 30 metres away from me,” he said.
“I remember waking up to this huge explosion, poked my head out of my tent, realising there was a car on fire. So that was an eventful night one.
“Then last night, they’ve been doing a lot of back-burning – people throw bombs from planes – and it lights up parts of the Northern Territory, because that’s what happens after a big wet season, I’ve learned.”
Alex is fundraising to help those in remote communities.
He said he often found himself walking through either still burning or just burnt land.
“Last night, I was walking through a bit of smouldering land, and then a car was blowing up in the distance,” he said.
“I managed to find an area that had just been burnt so it wouldn’t burn again, because I’m trying to pick places that aren’t going to catch on fire in the middle of the night.
“There’s a lot of fun things like that,” he said, laughing.
Then there’s the rat plagues and relentless days of rain to the uncertainty of where his next meal or water supply will come from.
North of Brisbane, he lost 20 days after injuring his right foot, resulting in swapping his backpack for a makeshift cart he built to take the weight off his back.
That was until it broke down during a long stretch between Rockhampton and Mackay.
“I had to hitchhike into Mackay, get new wheels for it, come back and then finish that leg,” he said.
“When I got back to Mackay, a bloke had a new cart for me, which is the cart I currently have.
“There’s definitely challenges, but it’s all part of the process. It gives me a tremendous amount of fulfilment at the end of each day.”
Witnessing that kindness from people has been among his highlights.
“There’s a lot more kindness in the world than we think when we’re not rushing around all the time,” he said.
“A lot of people have a lot of respect for what I’m doing because mental health and suicide at least has one degree of separation for every single person.”
He’s also received generous donations, which he gives to mental health organisations in remote communities along his walk, with the “grassroots” approach helping him connect with people and break the stigma around men’s mental health.
“My journey is not just about the physical miles, but about connecting with people and spreading the message that life is worth fighting for,” he said.
“I still have days where I’m not amazing, yet I can still just do what I need to do.”
You can donate to Strides Against Suicide through his GoFundMe page and follow his journey on Facebook.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can contact:
Lifeline’s 24-hour crisis support line – 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service – 1300 659 467
Kids Helpline – 1800 551 800 or kidshelpline.com.au
MensLine Australia – 1300 789 978.
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