Atlán is an activist from Tenerife who, at just 21 years old, decided to completely change his life in order to find himself and become a writer of "great adventures". He put everything he needed in a suitcase and turned walking into his goal, the people he meets into his family, and the Canary Islands into his home. He has currently traveled almost the entire archipelago, and has just concluded his route through Lanzarote.
“When I was 19 years old, I was in Madrid. I looked back and realized that all the comfort and the future that my parents had given me, seeking the best for me, didn't make me feel alive. I had many questions, and in that mental stew, the right thing to do was to go to university. I changed my major three times: Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and Physical Activity Sciences,” Atlán explains.
Therefore, “without knowing who I was and without understanding anything”, only following the need to “escape the noise”, one day "the pot exploded": “I took a solo trip walking for 15 days through La Gomera that fascinated me and I returned with the idea of traveling the Canary Islands on foot.”
Now, sixteen months later, the young man carries 2,500 kilometers on his back and between 7 and 8 tons of garbage collected.
Atlán points out that this idea of cleaning the islands arose later: “I began to learn about what the archipelago really is, to know its richness and with it, all the degradation it presents: declining vegetation, beaches full of garbage... And I created the project.”
‘The Atlantic Recycle Walk’, a path of personal growth and help to the environment
‘The Atlantic Recylcle Walk’ is the name given to this idea, with which the young man has already passed through the entire coast and interior of the islands of La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Graciosa and the Chinijo Archipelago, transmitting his “adventures” through his social media.
Each of the steps he has taken has led him to feel “like a baby, learning to live again every day.”
Now, if he looks back again and takes stock of the last few years, the conclusions are very different from those obtained by his 19-year-old “self”: “I have learned to know myself and know how to be with myself, I have met people who have become my family and I have delved into what the Canary Islands are”, Atlán highlights.
However, he recognizes that, “as in everything in life there are hard moments”, in which he misses “the affection and worrying about someone other than myself.”
“I am at a moment where I need to stop learning”, says Atlán. “Sometimes I would like to reflect on what has happened without so much information continuing to enter my head... I want to see my family again, the friends I have made along the way and think calmly about these years.”
But when asked if he has thought about leaving this activism behind, he does not hesitate: “No. At first I embarked on this trip without being clear about what I wanted to do, but when I finished touring Tenerife I knew it. I really want to continue, and I will only stop when I finish walking through all of the Canary Islands.”, he affirms.
Lanzarote, a surprising situation
And that goal is close. Atlán has just finished his route through Lanzarote, and is now waiting for a sailor to help him continue his journey, since he always tries to travel in sailboats to move from one territory to another.
The activist indicates that it is necessary to differentiate between the level of garbage dragged by the marine current and that coming from people who throw waste inside: “Due to marine currents, in almost all the islands you find the same thing, in all the northern areas there is a barbarity.”
Regarding the Lanzarote space, Atlán indicates that the situation has surprised him for the better, since this is the island where he has cleaned the most beaches alone.
“I have not found ravines that are landfills, and although from Los Cocoteros to Órzola and from Órzola to Famara there is a lot of garbage, the towns are usually very clean”, he details.
Next destination: Gran Canaria and multiply “adventures”
With the tour of Lanzarote completed, only Gran Canaria remains, where he plans to be “several months”: “I would like to finish before the end of the year to reunite with my family on those dates, but it may be extended until January”, he explains.
If Atlán looks to the future, he does not know if he will extend this project to other places outside the Canary Islands, “because I do not know the projection that the fact that he collects garbage is having”, but he is sure that he will continue walking.
“I want to continue transmitting minimalism and love for nature, I want to continue traveling and I want to continue writing. I have thought about going through Macaronesia, the coast of Africa... I am not clear about the destination, but I am going to continue with the route”, he advances.
16 months of crossing and 0 days without polluting
What fills Atlán with the most pride from this experience is not having harmed nature during this year and a half, a fact that, as he relates, “has led me to reflect on how badly we treat the environment in which we live, and how happy we can be living sustainably.”
For this reason, he recommends everyone to follow this philosophy, and asks them to “allow themselves to get lost”: “If someone can take a solo trip, do it, because it will change their life. It not only helps you learn to choose a path but also to live with much less”, concludes the young man.
