‘Not just a guy and a ferret’: Companions travels Europe for charity after troubled time
Charlie Hammerton, a 25 year-old living in Cornwall, England, has been receiving quite a bit of attention for his travels with his pet ferret, Bandit. The adorable photos of the non-traditional travel companions are circulating the internet, but their story goes beyond that.
“It’s not just a guy and a ferret with a weird story,” Hammerton told USA TODAY. There was more to their journeys than just a man and his best ferret friend seeing the world, though that was certainly part of the experience.
A ferret may seem an unlikely hero to many. But to Hammerton, Bandit was exactly that.
The pair met in 2015, when Hammerton was looking for a furry companion. As a member of the Royal Air Force, he wasn’t permitted to have a cat or a dog. But he could have a ferret. At a ferret rescue center, he became acquainted with Bandit, who was running around, knocking over pots.
“I thought, ‘Wow, that is the character for me,'” Hammerton said.
The two quickly became inseparable. Hammerton, who had struggled with PTSD and depression, said Bandit deterred thoughts of suicide at least twice.
“I was really suffering at the time,” he said. “I had been homeless, gone through domestic abuse, [took care of] my mom when she was terminally ill; it was a really, really dark time as a teenager trying to make something of myself and get into the Air Force after going through these really quite terrible things.”
He had buried it all. And suicidal thoughts were beginning to bubble up. Then his mother, who had ALS died when she was just 52. He suffered other losses, too: a mother figure and a good friend died around the same time.
He decided to make a change. In 2017, he began traveling for charity with his trusty sidekick, Bandit. His trips, hikes, walks and adventures benefited charities in the United Kingdom for ALS, drug safety and veterans’ mental health.
“I raised money by speaking to groups of people while in the events, through just giving and by getting attention from radio, TV and newspaper articles,” he said.
Bandit and Charlie Hammerton. (Photo: Charlie Hammerton)
Nature, Hammerton explained, grounds him.
“I was a bushcraft instructor, and the only place I knew I felt secure was with very minimal equipment in very isolated places,” he said.
He and Bandit began by walking Hadrian’s Wall in England. They walked more than 80 miles in three and a half days.
Their journey began to garner media attention.
“That was the beginning, in 2017,” Hammerton said. After that, he left the military and began speaking out about his own mental health and about others who may also be suffering, focusing on the stigma that surrounds young men’s mental health.
Next on the list was a 40-mile skateboard ride across London. Bandit completed the ride on his shoulder.
Then they completed another walk across the Arnhem Battlefield in the Netherlands.
The next trip took the duo through Europe.
They hit the road in a camper van in 2018 – purchased after he sold everything he owned – this time headed toward the Arctic Circle. But they didn’t stop there.
“Then I spent time really just following the sun, just taking it easy; I didn’t see rain for six months – it was unbelievable,” he said, noting they stayed in cities around Scandinavia.
They continued on through Europe hitting cities in Germany, France, Spain and Italy.
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?????❓#rome #italy #ferret #ferretsofinstagram #colloseum #travel #vanlife #gladiator #yesorno
A post shared by Charles Hammerton (@charleshammertoninspire) on
In Sicily, in July 2018, after months on the road, Hammerton decided to literally give away the camper van. “It was even nicer to give it to someone; that felt quite special,” he said. He wanted someone else to have the opportunity to travel as he and Bandit had.
He shared a photo on his Instagram to mark the conclusion of their “van days.”
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And just like that, our van days were over! Officially moved out today! Back packing with the Bandit from here on ??? farewell, Mary-Lou ❤️ #ferret #photooftheday #vanlife #campervan #backpacking #farewell
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Then, they flew to Amsterdam and back to the United Kingdom.
When they finally arrived home, he decided to “retire” Bandit from life on the road. A few weeks later, Bandit, who Hammerton estimates was around 8 years old, died.
“It was a perfect little story,” he said.
Now Bandit lives on through Hammerton’s company, Adventure Bandits, through which he teaches children outdoor skills and coaches them through difficult times.
Hammerton has also written a book about the time before their adventures, “Before Our Adventures,” focused on mental health. He said he plans to write another on their adventures, which he’s aiming to publish this year.
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