A brave Brit is trekking thousands of miles across Europe – battling savage dogs, wild wolves and brutal injuries along the way.
Swae Abdulrehman set off from Manchester last June armed with just a 55lb backpack and a dream of reaching Kenya.
Since then, the 28-year-old software engineer has clocked up more than 1,000 miles – enduring horror blisters, aching joints and dramatic weight loss on his epic journey.
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His incredible odyssey began after he grew disillusioned with life – despite landing a top job in finance.
And as he heads south across Europe, he’s discovering eye-opening cultures and unforgettable moments along the way.
“My head wasn’t in the best place, everything seemed meaningless to me,” Swae told What’s The Jam.
“I worked for years to get a job as a software engineer in a huge finance company, and still I felt empty.
“I’d been training for years, going from 18 stone to a lean 12.5 stone, which made me happy.
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“But I still felt empty.
“And worse, that feeling was leading me down a path of self destruction.
“So I just really wanted to do this thing.
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“I didn’t really care too much for outcomes or consequences.
“It felt like whatever I was doing was futile anyway.”
Despite knowing he didn’t have enough cash for the full journey, Swae took the leap anyway.
He said: “I sold all my things, made some irresponsible financial decisions and I was out the door with a few thousand to my name.
“These days I’m kind of broke.
“I have enough to eat daily but I dont have money for extras, just the necessities.
“People support and contribute to the journey which is pretty cool because otherwise my money would have run out a while ago.
“I insured everything before I left, because you never know, and that’s it.
“I put my faith in the most high and started walking.”
His route has taken him from Manchester to Dover, then Calais to Nice, before he hopped on a bus to Herceg Novi in Montenegro.
From there, he has trekked through Albania and North Macedonia entirely on foot.
But the journey hasn’t been easy.
He said: “Tough days come in different ways.
“There have been times when I have been confronted by a 60kg dog without a leash or owner.
“There have been days that I’ve looked in my bank thinking how far can I go, and days I’ve been exhausted with minimal rest.
“Tough days don’t wear one face here.
“Sometimes it’s just the compounding fatigue and the stress of the life I live.
“Dogs are the toughest bit.
“I don’t have problems with people.
“In France, I heard barking and looked to my left to see two Rottweilers sprinting through a farm gate towards me.
“I dropped my bag and climbed up a wall until a paramedic driving by helped.
“In the south of France, I went camping on a mountain and watched the most beautiful sunset.
“I set up my tent and just as I was getting in, a car went by and the man told me I shouldn’t camp there.
“He was a hunter and said this is where the wolves were.
“Needless to say, I spent the next 20 minutes fighting fear before I called it a day, packed my and tent and desended.
“I carried the anxiety with me through the rest of France.
“There have also been a lot of unexpected things.
“I saw a boy in Albania casually dragging a dog and throwing it onto a trash heep, turns out it was dead and that’s what you do with strays here.
“I found a kitten in Tirana, took it to my hotel, fed it and rehoused it.
“I’ve been so surprised by the kindness and hospitality people have shown me.
“I’ve been taken in, sat with and laughed with.
“In Tourtour, I casually met the mayor who offered me his private land to pitch my tent – that was pretty cool.”
Despite the dangers, Swae says his loved ones are now fully behind him.
He added: “My family and friends are more supportive than I anticipated they’d be.
“I had some push back from a few people but in the end they understood and by now I have everyone’s full support.
“My big brother was a solider and he told me that it won’t be easy, and these dogs aren’t a joke, and I knew that, but maybe I didn’t understand the extent.
“Recently we laughed when I told him ‘I get it now.’”
And the physical toll has been relentless.
Swae added: “It started out as blisters until I got boots then that problem went away.
“My joints are constantly in pain as well as the bottom of my feet.
“There’s not much to do outside of wearing good footwear and I’m currently in the process of trying to build some exercise structure into my life.
“I know I walk a lot but maintaining muscle mass would probably go a long way, mentally and physically.”
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