TREK HEADS was started in 2013 with the aim to let the world know about the limitless possibilities to explore the natural beauty of Latvia. The group has so far has had phenomenal success in connecting local people and those from neighbouring countries too who share a passion for trekking, hiking and bushcraft.

We spoke to one of the founders of the organisation, Aldis Tilens, on his journey into trekking and outdoor adventure and the exciting plans he and others have for Trek Heads and its members.

To find out more about the group you can interact with them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TrekHeads.

How long have you been involved in trekking and what inspired you to get involved in the activity?

I think the roots go back to my childhood in the Scout movement, and the fact that I grew up in rural Australia. I loved fishing, walking in the hills and cycling. Even back then, because most of my friends lived in the city, I sometimes had to get used to the idea of exploring my enormous backyard alone. That all but ended with serious studying, partying, and a decision to move over seas to build a business. The decision paid off in the sense that over the years I had more and more spare time. The down side was that I had no passion outside of work and a robust social life, until a invitation to visit
a friend in Oman in 2008.

I was a different person when I returned, fond memories of a childhood outdoors came flooding back, and I re-discovered a yearning for adventure. It was enough to commit to my first pair of hiking boots. Since then, I have been wearing out one pair per year.

What opportunities are there to trek in your country and how easy was it to find others who had the same interest?

The decision to move to Latvia in 1994 was an adventure in itself. The years rolled on in an expat bubble, with no real local friends, completely outside the prevailing post Soviet culture.

The country developed and I stayed where I was, so when I took up my new hobby, I was back trapsing the countryside alone again. In those days, the local outdoor culture was largely confined to hunting, fishing, country homes and cabins in Summer.

I had to buy my first boots and other basics in London due to a lack of local choice and expertise. As my expat friends kept partying, so started my huge solo learning curve – walking the country and embarking on exotic month-long independent trekking expeditions to Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Norway.

I also got back in the saddle, cycled to North Cape and most recently 6,000km from Casablanca, Morocco.

With three others you set up Trek Heads, a club for people interested in trekking with the idea to connect with people around the world. How can people find out more about Trek Heads and how well has it enabled you to connect with like-minded people?

Just over a year ago, I was completely unaware of the rise of a vibrant outdoors sub-culture in Latvia. I was getting a lot of international interest on my personal YouTube channel, so initially I thought that might be enough to start promoting this lifestyle locally, mainly so I didn’t have to walk alone anymore.

With local friends of friends, who somehow also weren’t aware of other existing outdoors groups, we decided to establish an organisation to engage people in a outdoors lifestyle through our own activities. We wanted to be interesting enough to attract sponsorship for larger expeditions in other countries. We were all very frustrated about how little the world knew about the natural beauty of our own country, and the limitless potential to enjoy the vast expanses of woodlands, lakes, and coastline. That meant that our organisation, Trek Heads, had to be international, and in English.

Since its founding in December 2013, Trek Heads has stayed true to our objectives, and through our online presence has discovered the explosion of similar local outdoors orientated groups. There is a wonderful cross-over, but we stand out with our international following. That had to be developed, so now we have clarity – the Trek Heads Facebook page is a platform where members from respective countries can promote their events locally, and internationally. Other organisations in those countries can promote through their Trek Heads’ members.

For me, the most exciting part of all this is not just the obvious potential for global connections, but the opportunity of promoting your own country to a targeted audience. We are now actively establishing firm connections in the Nordic Region. The enthusiasm to participate is heartening, there seems to be a real need for a platform like ours. As a result, we will have our first cross-border hiking/camping meet with Estonian colleagues in February. Scandinavia is in our sights.

What treks have you been on so far and what countries have they taken you to?

With Trek Heads, I have been on many local weekend hikes, cycling tours and events, including a bushcraft weekend. These are very important, not just to enjoy nature, and get into shape, but to learn skills that one can take on larger expeditions. A good example is my 6,000Km, two-month cycling tour (nine countries) from Casablanca. Because of the skills I learned, I had a light load, could go further, and spent every night camping. Knowledge costs nothing, and weighs nothing.

The latest was a 30 day survival trek From Bergen to Oslo (Norway). None of these would have been possible without being able to attract sponsors through Trek Heads.

In the trekking you’ve done how much training and preparation has been involved?

Preparation is key, that’s why we go to a lot of effort to show how we prepare on the YouTube channel. This knowledge comes from reading, watching videos, and practice in the field. Being prepared physically is important, but not essential, that’s why we put our emphasis on knowledge.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get involved with trekking but currently has no experience?

Learn from my story, join our Facebook page, we are constantly posting informative tips, links, and how-to videos on YouTube. You can also post any questions and some knowledgeable person will answer.

Above all else, I would rate mental attitude, and a ability for problem solving, which can be learned. 

What exciting plans do you have for the rest of 2015?

At the moment we are limited only by the efforts of the few core volunteers we have. Our human resources cant keep up – that’s why we are recruiting!

The first exciting events are a series of cross- border hikes with neighboring countries.

Along with this we will be engaging major English speaking countries for membership.

There is a major extreme spring expedition on the horizon. It could be in Mongolia, Arctic Finland, or the Pyrenes. It all depends on the sponsorship we can get, we are seriously open to any offers at this stage!

Anyone who is interested in these potential plans can ask on our Facebook page here.