Key Points
- Italian Nicolò Guarrera is walking across the world on foot.
- After Europe, South America and Australia, he will walk back home via India.
- He cooks and sleeps in the wild, asks for water from passersby, washes his clothes in houses of strangers.
Nicolò Guarrera, aka ‘Pieroad’ (pìe is Venetian for foot), is a man on a mission.
Right now, he is walking from Alice Springs to Darwin, a distance of nearly 3,000km.
But his plan is bigger, much bigger: he is travelling the world on foot.
However, he isn't campaigning for any cause. The walk is the cause.
The 27-year-old has already walked through Europe and South America and will enter Asia from Darwin where he reached via Adelaide — the two far ends of Australia.
By the time you read this, he would have walked through three continents and ready for the fourth, covering approximately 35,000km.
That makes four years of constant walking.
Wait, what? Let’s contextualise.
It was May 2020, and the world was facing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nicolò, a 27-year-old man from Malo, a little Veneto village on the outskirts of Vicenza in Italy, worked for a chocolate brand as a category planner.
One day, he left everything behind and began a world tour on foot.
I thought that if beauty will save the world, as they say, who will save beauty? So, I decided to store as much beauty as possible, and because I always loved walking, I started planning this journey.Nicolò Guarrera
Let’s put this into numbers.
For everyone who aims for the canonical 10,000 steps a day for their fitness, Nicolò will clock – considering an average of 1,350 steps per km – over 47 million steps by the end of his journey.
Nicolò is planning to end his journey in mid-2025, when he says, "I will walk back to my couch, at home."
That stacks up to 4,725 days or 13 years of walking.
Find a friend, find a treasure
Nicolò Guarrera pushing his trolley named Ezio along the road. Credit: Instagram/Pieroad__
With every step he takes, his friend Ezio accompanies him.
Ezio is not a fellow Italian walker, but a trolley in which Nicolò carries everything he needs to survive the trudge.
Ezio is the best companion. He helps immensely, he does not talk, and he listens. What more can you want?
As with his job, he had to deal with logistics and problem-solving in this pursuit too, for which Nicolò says he adopted a very rational approach to the crucial phase of trip planning.
He says he saved as much money as possible while planning the finest details of the trip like his itinerary, resting areas, food and other supplies.
Then some sponsors followed, providing him with necessities such as shoes.
“I have already gone through 14 pairs," he laughs.
Somewhere between the earth and the sky is a stream of thoughts. Credit: Instagram/Pieroad__
"I don't ask for money, I just want shoes or equipment. I have noticed that all my sponsors immediately felt empathetic towards my story, and they accepted to be a part of it," he says.
In the first two-and-a-half years, Nicolò crossed the border with France, then Spain.
The second continent on his list was South America.
Everything he does has “a strong rationale and follows a strict plan,” he says.
I need to walk at least 30km a day, and no more than 50km because my body needs sufficient rest. And guess what? I can eat lots of fatty food; it serves my purpose.
Nicolò Guarrera and Ezio reach the Northern Territory. Credit: Instagram/Pieroad__
The Italian walker is attracting supporters and social media followers day after day.
At the time writing this story, Nicolò, or Pieroad, had more than 22,000 followers on Instagram and almost 35,000 on TikTok.
Nicolò Guarrera prepares for the road ahead. Credit: Instagram/Pieroad__
His walks take him to remote places where he can go without a basic necessity of modern-day life for days on end: the internet.
Nicolò has his mobile phone, but he doesn't mind being disconnected for a few days.
It is a digital fasting that helps me detox, so I do not try to be connected all the time at all places.
"When I have connectivity, I get in touch with my dear ones and update my social media," he adds.
His daily routine is rigid and strategic.
"I wake up early, at around 6am and try to complete nearly 60 per cent of my daily target of 30-50 km in the morning," Nicolò says.
Nicolò Guarrera in his tent. Credit: Instagram/Pieroad__
Setting up the tent, cooking some dinner, reading a book, writing some notes and absorbing his daily intake of thoughts, possibly admiring a starry nightsky, are the key-points of his afternoons and nights.
"Unless I am with someone, in that case, I chat, chat, chat," Nicolò says.
Under the Southern Cross. Credit: Instagram/Pieroad__
He can’t store too much in Ezio and needs food that lasts at least four or five days.
“This means lots of protein and chocolate, which gives me immediate energy. When I reach a village or town, I can eat everything I want, mainly chips,” he says.
In Australia, “as the post works very well”, Nicolò prepared many small boxes while he was in Adelaide and posted them to the post offices he was meant to cross on his way across the length of the continent.
"It always feels like finding a $50 note in an old pair of trousers, I always forget what I put in the boxes, and I feel overwhelmed by the good vibes that come out of these boxes," he says with delight.
Nicolò eats "like a cow", as he needs energy for his mission. Lots of fats, no regrets.
“Bread, chocolate, butter, jam. And water, of course. Plenty of water, either directly or through the incredible amount of fruit and veggies that I eat," he tells SBS Italian.
Seriously, I eat double the amount I was used to, yet I am losing weight.
"In the desert, I lost seven kilos, I need to look after myself," he adds.
When he cooks his meals, Nicolò opts for carbs like pasta. He is Italian, after all.
Rice and proteins like canned legumes and "good fats" like avocado also make their way to his plate while he is on the move.
Nicolò's diet in the desert. Credit: Instagram/Pieroad__
After walking through Ecuador, Peru and Chile, Nicolò landed in Sydney in March.
With Ezio, of course.
But why Australia?
I had travelled to Australia seven years ago and had such a magical moment watching Uluru that I promised I would return, so here I am.
Nicolò Guarrera traverses the rocky terrain of northern Australia Credit: Instagram/Pieroad__
Nicolò’s fascinating mission may seem like the ideal life to some: full-time tourist, no limitations, no borders.
Freedom at its best, people might think.
But it’s not all that straightforward.
Physical and mental health need to be handled with absolute care and attention in the terrain he traverses.
“I must complete my Australian walk before the end of September as my visa will expire by then. And I am pushing to remain within this timeframe,” says Nicolò.
I had an issue with knee bursitis in Chile, and I need to be very careful. But I also cannot afford to stop completely for a few days.
Straight after finishing his walk through Sydney, Nicolò had the most challenging time.
The rain did not give him a break and his mental health was impacted.
"I kept repeating to myself, ‘why am I here? Why didn’t I stay in Chile, my favourite place'," he says.
A part of me wanted to quit and being alone might be an impossible cliff to climb in those moments.
Loneliness and silence, according to Nicolò, are “an absolute bliss” most of the time.
“The connection between myself and why and what I am doing is profound," he says.
The slow pace of walking reflects another way of interpreting life; this is the best lesson I am learning.
The world at his feet. Credit: Instagram/Pieroad__
After Australia, Nicolò will fly to Kolkata, India.
And from there, he will head northwest along River Ganga up to New Delhi.
His way home will now need to be amended, as when he first planned the trip, Ukraine and Russia were not fighting a war.
It will take me another couple of years to return home. Too late to ditch now!
Finally, he is grateful to Australia.
“The people are so kind and hospitable. I have been invited to their homes many times, and for me, it is something priceless, not only because I have the chance to talk to someone, but I can do my laundry and dry my clothes,” Nicolò signs off.
