After years of travelling and living abroad, Saultite Sheila Trevisan has published her first book, Greater Than a Tourist - Adventure Sports: 50 Travel Tips from a Local, earlier this year.
She first found her passion at the age of 15.
The then Korah Collegiate student had gone to France as an exchange student.
“My mom took in exchange students from around the world while I was in high school,” Trevisan says.
“I spent years learning from students from around the world and I couldn’t wait to go explore more for myself. When I showed interest, [she] sent me to France to experience it for myself.”
Returning from France, the Sault native completed her high school and enrolled at Algoma University where she completed a Bachelor of Arts double major in Political Science and Law and Justice.
Although the Sault would remain “home,” Trevisan wasn’t to live in the community for much longer.
In 2008, she moved to South Korea to begin her professional career.
“I expected to be gone for only one year but I learned so much about myself in that time that I would never have been happy to return to my ‘normal’ life in Sault Ste. Marie after that incredible experience,” she said.
“From there I backpacked Africa and accepted different work contracts in other countries which allowed me to travel for four years before I settled in Perth, Western Australia [in 2012].”
Once settled in Western Australia’s capital, Trevisan completed her Master of Human Rights at Curtin University.
Upon graduating, she continued her career trajectory within the government which brought her to her current position as Senior Policy Officer in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.
“I work in community policy with an aim of better protecting vulnerable people and improving future outcomes across the State.”
Even though she decided to settle in Perth to focus on her career, Trevisan never lost the urge to travel.
“I continue to travel, even after settling in Perth, several times a year to unique places around the world.”
With the experience she gained through travel, Trevisan came upon another opportunity.
“I was on sabbatical and had some time on my hands,” she says.
“I looked into freelance writing work and came across a pitch for a Greater Than a Tourist book submission.
Greater Than a Tourist is a travel book series that was developed to provide in-depth tourist experiences and opportunities through the eyes of a local.
Each individual book has a different author and focuses on a different locale or subject matter.
Trevisan saw an opportunity to use her lived experience and write what would be her first book.
“I submitted my idea and it was accepted immediately. I wanted to do something a bit different and write in general terms about adding adventure sports into all travel, rather than focus on a specific location,” she says.
“It is a broad-reaching book that is useable on a whole different level to the location-specific ones. [Although] I didn’t focus on specific places … there are a few recommendations of places where you can do certain sports or examples/mentions of where I have done them. For example, canyoning can be done around the world, but I focused my attention more on Karijini, Western Australia as that’s where my experience was.”
Adventure sport is also referred to as “action sport” or “extreme sport” and is perceived to have a high degree of risk, often involving speed and height and often requiring heightened levels of physical ability.
“I love the thrill and the adrenalin rush,” she says.
“I have always been into the ‘beginner level’ sports like hiking and snorkeling, but I started getting a feel for the more adventurous ones as an adult, possibly when I bought a sport boat and spent my weekends spinning around the Lake Superior shores.”
Trevisan’s extensive travel provided increased opportunities to try adventure sports in exotic locales.
“I tried them all,” she says.
“I went parasailing in Bali and absolutely loved the experience of being up in the air and out of my comfort zone. From there I continued to find new experiences at every opportunity. Within a year of that, I flew a plane, tried surfing, went cage diving with sharks, bungee jumped, and so much more.”
All of this experience translated into the publication of Trevisan’s first book, Greater Than a Tourist - Adventure Sports: 50 Travel Tips from a Local.
This passion for new and exciting things extends into the other parts of her life.
“I’m always finding the road less traveled and experiencing a country as a local would to the best of my knowledge and ability,” she says.
“I like to try new foods and stay in unique accommodations.”
Her favourite was staying in a tree house overlooking an active volcano on a remote island of Vanuatu.
Despite her love of experiencing new locales and experiences, the Sault will always remain “home” to her.
“I regularly return to visit my friends and family who still reside there,” she says.
“I’ve always tried to get back at least once a year, sometimes up to three times a year. I recently spent seven months back in the Sault from August 2020 to March 2021 while on sabbatical.”
This Saultite hopes to continue her creative writing in the future.
“I regularly draft reports for work, but writing as a personal goal is entirely different and I really enjoyed it. I’d love to continue developing this skill and explore more of my creative side,” she says.
“This was an incredible experience.”
Greater Than a Tourist - Adventure Sports: 50 Travel Tips from a Local is available in a printed and digital format on Amazon.ca, as well as in an audiobook format on Audible.
For questions or more information, Sheila Trevisan can be reached via email.