To save himself from burnout, he goes to Lutry by bike to the North Cape!

“This Sunday, April 17, 2022, while my friend and I were on a ski tour above Arolla, I was not taking advantage of this day. The weather was beautiful, the landscapes were magnificent. But I wasn’t really there. And suddenly, during a simple conversion, I fall and slip. Alone in the snow, I start crying like a child lost in a supermarket. A few moments later, joining my partner, I cried again: I cried all the tears in my body. There, I understood that something abnormal was happening inside me.”

It was at this moment, that day, that Patrick Sumi, Lutryen, then an executive at Nestlé, realized that he could no longer take it. That he is at the end of his rope, as he recounts in his moving book, “Sur le fil” (Ed. Slatkine)and a documentary of the same name, the premiere of which took place last Wednesday at the Rex cinema in Vevey.

This great sportsman in his fifties, thirsty for travel and adventure, was on the verge of severe burn-out. A situation which will be confirmed to him by the company nurse. “She knew how to ask me the right questions. In particular: “If you were a smartphone, what percentage would you estimate your battery level to be?” I told him it was probably at 20%. “And what do you want to do with this 20%?”, she continued.

After careful consideration, Patrick Sumi made a radical decision: “I had to, twice in recent years, carry out a wave of layoffs. Having to fire honest collaborators, plunging them into disarray, undermined me. I played with my limits and was on the verge of breaking down.” After more than twenty-three years with his employer, he decides to stop everything, to give up his apron, before going under. “It was a difficult decision. My position was the result of many years of work. But once my choice was made, I suddenly felt freer, better,” explains Patrick. A few months later, time to prepare his successor and organize the rest of his own life, he handed in his badge and left his offices in Vevey for good.

To purge himself, to cleanse himself, our man will then embark on an old dream: a solo cycling journey of more than 5,000 kilometers, from Lutry to the North Cape. In agreement with his partner and his children, Patrick Sumi wants to live this experience light years away from his daily life as a stressed executive. He, who is an admirer of the writings of Sylvain Tesson and Pascal Bärtschi, left Lutry on April 1, 2023, in the rain. Head to the North Cape!

With necessary equipment but reduced to the strict minimum in a few panniers attached to his bike, Patrick Sumi will cross Austria, Slovakia, Poland, the Baltic countries, Finland, Sweden and, finally, Norway. During a journey facing himself, anyone who defines himself as a wandering cyclist will often have a hard time, the fault of sometimes unfavorable weather. Rain, snow, wind will, for example, put your physique and your patience to the test. Often sleeping in his tent, with locals or, sometimes, in a hotel, Patrick will also enjoy majestic landscapes and the midnight sun. And multiple meetings.

“The best passport is a smile. I had the chance to meet extraordinary people in all these countries. Like the Austrian Gustave, 93 years old, who opened the doors of his modest house to me. “If you have 1 euro, you can sleep at my place. Because everything has to be paid for,” he told me.” Soup, shower, breakfast or a simple coffee: Patrick Sumi’s daily life is punctuated by these timeless encounters and the generosity of the locals.

“After the first month, I really disconnected, taking advantage of having the time. It was wonderful to be at the edge of an isolated lake, in the middle of the forest and to be able to swim there, think there, lulled by the simple song of the birds. But it was also an opportunity for Patrick to experience real introspection: “I was facing myself, in the confessional. In these moments, in these situations, we no longer lie to ourselves. I was able to think about my life, like my divorce that happened ten years ago. I understood things about myself.”

The North Cape, Patrick Sumi will reach it on June 23, 2023. After crossing by bike a final tunnel almost 7 kilometers long which will take him to -220 meters under the sea, then being brought back to the surface by a slope up to At 10 percent – quite a symbol – he will have the feeling of having finally overcome his discomfort. “Arriving at the North Cape, I burst into tears of joy. It was then that a completely unknown man hugged me and congratulated me. He understood the journey I had just made. It was both fantastic and astonishing.”

After a few days in the region, Patrick Sumi returned to Lutry. But on the plane this time: “I really missed my family a lot.” How was the return to city life? “It wasn’t easy. For a while, I found it difficult to bear the noise and the crowds, after these months of solitude.” And with his loved ones? “It is clear that a life experience like this momentarily creates a disconnect. My friend and I need to find our feet. It’s not easy, but we’re working towards it.”

And now? “Through the mountain hikes that I organize, I want to support people who are suffering from burnout. Also do prevention.” What to say about this new existence in the making: “To say that changing your life is easy would be to lie. It also means agreeing to socially change places, to no longer earn the same salary. All this is prepared and organized, explains Patrick Sumi. Being a victim of burnout is often seen as a weakness. This has to change. Employees and employers must come together to confront this evil.”

What trips does Patrick Sumi still dream of? “Reaching Alaska to Ushuaïa… It may never happen, but it will, in turn, allow me to imagine other experiences. Who knows?” In the meantime, our 54-year-old Lutryen sent each of the benefactors he encountered during his three-month trip a photo of himself at the North Cape, with his thanks. A way for him to come full circle.

“On the wire”, by Patrick Sumi
Editions Slatkine, 190 pages
(On signing from 3:30 p.m. this Friday, October 11 at the La Fontaine bookstore in Vevey)

The documentary “Sur le fil” will be screened on November 9, 8 p.m., at the Casino de Montbenon, in Lausanne.