A mile in his shoes
Trisha Benton
Randolph Times
RANDOLPH — Oliver Tic considers his occupation to be adventurer.
And his adventures led him to Randolph last week as a rest stop on his walking journey from the southernmost tip of Argentina to the northernmost tip of Alaska, nearly 16,000 miles.
The 38-year-old man from the Central European nation of Slovenia said he likes the small towns like Randolph best and was especially intrigued by the business names here of Drunken Moose and Frozen Cow.
“I was like, what is it with this?” he said of the business names with a smile.
His only other goal in exploring the town was to locate a pecan pie. He had his first taste of the nutty goodness traveling through Oklahoma and was eager for another bite. He was very thankful to have a roof over his head while in Randolph thanks to an available rental home owned by Lisa Gubbels.
Tic recognizes the adventurer life is not for everyone and most people he comes across are incredulous to learn of where he’s been and where he’s headed.
He tried his hand at a regular life - working 10 years at a sporting goods store - and decided that was not the life he wanted to live.
“I don’t live like community wants,” he said. “Everyone thinks you have to grow up, get a job, have children and have a family and that’s it. For me, that’s a little bit different.”
His walking journey was most inspired by Jean Béliveau, a Canadian who walked around the world - 65 countries in 11 years - to promote peace and non-violence.
“I want to try this to see how this is. I want to show people the world is not a bad place. If you look for negative, you will find negative,” Tic said.
As opposed to Béliveau’s journey, Tic enjoys GPS and convenience stores everywhere he goes.
Tic originally set out to complete his journey from north to south in 2018 and made it to Colombia when the COVID-19 pandemic forced him back home. He returned to Colombia to resume his journey last fall.
He averages about 20 miles per day but will have to step it up to be within walking distance of the Canadian border by the time his U.S. visa runs out on March 27.
His budget is $10 per day and most of the time he camps and uses his small camp stove to heat canned food to eat.
“I’d rather be on the road and eat pasta out of cans every day than to be home with a full table of food. I don’t need anything else but food and water and a safe place to put the bed,” Tic said.
He pulls a bike trailer on his walk which stores his wares along with his dog, Carlitos, who he adopted off the streets in Peru.
“She’s a little bit lazy for walking,” he said with a smile.
Tic’s not a person that’s prone to planning so he doesn’t think ahead more than a few days at a time.
Though he’s seen some amazing scenery from beach, desert, mountains and the plains, it’s the people he’s met along the way that has him walking on air.
“Most nice things happen when you don’t expect them. When I’m walking, I don’t expect people to be stopping. I’ve met really incredible people,” he said.
His most memorable experience in the United States so far was in Dallas. It was there that he was gifted tickets to see an NBA game and meet Luka Doncic, a Slovenian player who plays for the Dallas Mavericks. Doncic was nice enough to sign a jersey that Tic plans to take back home and auction for charity.
But it’s the everyday, mile upon mile, experiences that count just as much as the grand gestures, he said, like people inviting him - a stranger - into their home or offering another place to stay. It’s the people who offer him food or even just kind words.
“It’s the interaction with the people. It’s amazing how much people want to help you even when they don’t know you,” Tic said.
That’s what buoys him to continue his journey - another 4,000 miles from Randolph to his finish point in Point Barrow, Alaska - with the hopes to reach his final destination by August.
Although he’s looking forward to reaching his destination most likely it will be bittersweet.
“I will sure be happy that I reached my goal and was able to live my dreams. I’m also looking forward to seeing my friends after a long time,” Tic said. “But I will probably be sad because the trip will end. This is freedom that you cannot have at home.”
