Her interest in hiking and bigger adventures came a couple of years later with the book Pilgrim's Journey by Paolo Coelho. The classic El Camino to Santiago de Compostela, Spain's famous pilgrimage route, became her first hiking trip. She made a hasty decision, bought equipment and set off:

– How hard can it be, I'm only going to walk 800 miles. I was a rookie, and I did the hike completely wrong. I walked too far every day and had no rest days. I did 800 miles in 20 days, 40 miles per day. My feet were ruined and I had the wrong pack, the wrong socks – I did everything wrong.

Long walks clear your mind and bring peace.

Even though the hike didn't turn out as Helena had planned, something woke up inside her. A kind of addiction to that feeling, to only have goals for the day. To go from A to B with a feeling that nothing else was important in life. A calmness was awakened, the head was cleared of thoughts and there were no distractions during the hike. This first adventure became the starting point for something much bigger.

One day at work, Helena read about the new Te Araroa hiking trail in New Zealand that volunteers were building through the country. New Zealand had always been her dream country to travel to.

– I got a feeling in my gut that - I just have to do this! But I read that the trail was 3000 kilometers and thought "oh my god how is this going to go". It's different terrains through sand, snow, mountains and so on. How do I even pack?

Helena put the dream far down on her bucket list for now, and there it rested for a while. The first big adventure was instead to climb Kilimanjaro, but even that adventure was being postponed. A life-changing event changed this.

Near-death experience gave courage to follow one's dreams

A midsummer at home in her childhood town in Dalarna. Helena's mother was supposed to drive her to the train, a route she had traveled hundreds of times over the years. It was raining heavily that day and the rain just poured down. On the way to the train, their car met a large SUV that aquaplaned - and went at full speed straight into Helena's mother's small car. They had to brake hard and hope for the best. The SUV drove past just a few meters away, and continued straight into the forest. They escaped unharmed, but the incident shook Helena greatly.

– Then I realized that this could have been my last day in life. This was June 2014. In September 2014 I went to Tanzania and climbed Kilimanjaro. There is no time to wait for things, life can end at any second. On my birthday I stood on the top of Kilimanjaro. When I stood up there and looked out over the savannah in Kenya, it was almost like a religious experience. I felt that: you can do anything in life, you just have to decide.

After that climb, it was as if something happened to Helena mentally. The desire to experience new things, to challenge herself physically and mentally, has been within her ever since. The great adventure, the trek through New Zealand, no longer felt like something impossible.

5 tips from Helena – how to prepare for long hikes

Logistics planning becomes something out of the ordinary when you are preparing for a long hike. Sometimes, for example, you have to hike long distances without being able to buy food. Here, Helena shares her best planning tips for long hikes.

1.Get tips from others. Get help from others who have hiked the same trail you are going to. Check out Facebook groups for hiking. Contact someone in the group and ask if you can get advice on equipment and other things, someone who has experience and whom you trust.

2. Physical training. Get the right equipment and test it before the hike. Test your boots and backpack – they are very important and must work well. Test hike at home with the right weight in your backpack, you can have grocery bags with sand in them for example. Simulate the environment you will be walking in before you head out for real. Walk in the forest, on ski slopes and similar environments.

3. Mental training. This point is harder to practice if you have never done a long hike before. However, it is good to have done a few longer hikes at home, to get a feel for what it is all about. Although hiking at home cannot be compared to non-stop hiking in a mountain pass in New Zealand, it is important to practice.

4. Dangers and safety. Read up on potential dangers. How do I give first aid to myself and other hikers? What do I do if I sprain my foot or get a cut? Are there dangerous animals where I will be hiking? What terrain hazards might there be, such as high mountains or deep rivers? You should read up on how to cross a flowing stream. Watch videos on YouTube. Other risk factors are: what do I do if the weather gets bad, and how do I best protect myself in rain and snow?

5. An emergency beacon is important to have and can be the difference between life and death. An emergency beacon is a satellite-based GPS device that you hang on your backpack. The version Helena used had an OK button. Thanks to it, she was able to send a signal to her loved ones so that they could follow her position. There is also an SOS button for emergencies, which means you will get help within 24 hours.

3000 km on the Te Araroa hiking trail in New Zealand

In the fall of 2015, a year after Kilimanjaro, Helena traveled down to New Zealand to start the trek on Te Araroa . The plan was to walk the entire distance alone, but for the first 400 kilometers she took three other people with her. However, Helena decided to walk the rest of the distance alone, as the point of the hike was to walk in her own thoughts and not have to adapt to others.

– The biggest benefit of doing a long hike is being able to turn off all the noise around you, being able to land mentally in a way you never get the chance to do in the same way at home. When you hike for two or three months, that's when things start to happen mentally.

The delights and challenges of hiking alone

When we hear Helena recount her hiking adventure from New Zealand, it is easy to understand the great appeal of long hikes. Being able to turn off all the noise, everyday stress and must-do's. The basic needs become priority one in life and the hike becomes like a long meditation journey. However, we are curious about what the biggest challenges were. Helena tells us:

– The biggest challenge I take with me from the whole hike was that I never got a break. If I run a marathon here at home, I can get a blanket, food, shower, dry clothes and rest when I reach the finish line. In New Zealand, I knew that if I walk a whole day in pouring rain - I will find somewhere to set up my tent, with wet clothes that will not dry during the night. I will find a stream to wash myself in when I am muddy, dirty and tired. I will cook and lie down soaked in my sleeping bag. The next day I will get up and do the same thing again.

In addition, Helena had to contend with her fear of the dark and rapid changes in bad weather. It is not entirely safe to be alone in the middle of a storm on a mountain. The terrain is varied to say the least in New Zealand and she had to cross more than 300 streams, many of them with running water. However, on the days Helena passed through a city, she was able to sleep in a warm and dry bed in a hostel. She continues:

– Of course it's hard to walk 3000 km, but the body is amazing at adapting and it adapts to what you put it through. After a while, the body gets on board and shows up. The head in particular – that's where you have to fight and it doesn't come for free. I had many mental breakdowns with tears.

Good hiking socks and boots are essential

Feet are important to keep in mind before a long hike. Helena barely had any blisters during the 3000-kilometer hike, even though her feet were wet for much of the time. Here are her best tips for keeping her feet blister-free:

• Stay one step ahead and tape your feet before problems arise, for example with Compeed patches. When you exercise at home, you will discover which areas are vulnerable, such as the heel and big toe.

• Walk in wool socks. Wool is kind to the skin as it is a natural material. Wool also doesn't smell and wool socks dry quickly.

• During her hike in New Zealand, Helena only wore the Technical Cushion High Wool hiking socks from Gococo. They are reinforced at the toes and heel, which are the exposed parts of the foot. Many people use double socks when hiking to reduce friction against the skin, but Helena did not.

• Wear dry socks when you start the day. Wash your socks in a stream and let them dry outside your backpack during the hike.

• Buy good hiking boots that you have walked in before. One tip is to choose a pair of boots that let the water out so that it does not remain in the shoe after hiking in watercourses. Helena wore leather boots instead of, for example, GoreTex. With a pair of leather boots, she could only wade through water and mud up to her knees.

– I have all Gococo's socks and have never worn any other sports socks either for running or hiking as they are completely superior! I have seen so many chafing and blisters on the hike, but I did incredibly well. Tape and have good socks are A and O. I only used a total of five pairs of socks on the entire hike of 3000 km.

130 days, 5.6 million steps and 170,000 SEK to the Swedish Cancer Foundation

It took Helena 130 days to walk the 300 kilometers from the north to the south of New Zealand and the pedometer showed 5,600,000 steps when she reached her goal. The tough solo walk was done with a clear goal. It was important that the walk had a good purpose, so Helena started a fundraiser for the Cancer Foundation. The reason was that her aunt was affected by the disease, and she wanted to give something back to the Cancer Foundation. It was the fundraiser that motivated Helena on the hardest days, when she reminded herself why she did the walk. The fundraiser gave 50 SEK for each kilometer, which resulted in 150,000 SEK, which later landed at a fantastic 170,000 SEK.

The hike in New Zealand resulted in new adventures

We ask Helena what she learned and reflected on afterwards.

– When you think you are tired and have nothing left – then you have at least 50% of your capacity left, she says

Helena is referring to the physical aspect, where the body can handle so much more than your head can. Another thing she mentions several times during the interview is that you have to find a why you do things. If you don't know it, it's easier to give up. This why is something we can all use in our everyday lives, she says.

After her adventure in New Zealand, Helena was nominated for Adventurer of the Year in Sweden. Another famous adventurer, Ola Skinnarmo, was on the jury and recruited her to his company. Since then, she has climbed Kilimanjaro five more times as a guide. Helena's thought-provoking words conclude the interview:

– If you have a dream, follow your gut and believe in what you want. If I had listened to all the skeptics, I would never have set out on this journey. Follow your gut and do what you want, people will still have opinions whether you do it or not. It's just as good to just do what you want.

Gococo thanks Helena Olmås for the exciting story about the hiking adventure in New Zealand, and the good tips for long hikes. Please follow Helena on Instagram . There you will find all the pictures from the hike under the hashtag #nzbyhelena.

Do you also want a pair? Hiking socks that prevent blisters and chafing ? Gococo has hiking socks in stylish colors, for women and men.