About Didier Monot: The Journey Behind LifeTrail
I'm Didier Monot, the founder of LifeTrail, Hikefulness® hiking guide, professional mentor and Denmark WA local.
I guide people on the Bibbulmun Track and through the forests, coastlines and quiet places around Denmark and the Great Southern. I also work as a professional mentor, supporting people with confidence, independence, direction and change.
Both parts of my work come from many years of experience, many kilometres walked, and a genuine belief that people do better when they feel safe, respected and properly supported.
LifeTrail is the business name, but the work is personal.
People usually want to know who they are trusting. They may be trusting me with their child, their hike, their NDIS support, their first overnight pack, or a part of life that feels uncertain.
That is why this page matters. It is about who I am, where I come from, why walking became such an important part of my life, and how that now shapes the way I guide and mentor others.
The thread was always there
My story did not begin with a business plan.
I was born in Vevey, near Lausanne, Switzerland. Some of my earliest memories are connected to mountains, forests, walking, mushroom hunting and being outdoors with family.
When I moved to Australia as a child, I eventually grew up in Rockingham, south of Perth. It was a very different landscape from Switzerland, but the pull towards open space, tracks, bushland and distance stayed with me.
As a teenager, walking was simply something I was drawn to. I did not have the language for it then. I did not know it would become part of my work, my recovery, my business and my way of supporting other people.
But looking back, the thread was always there.
I needed space. I needed movement. I needed the kind of place where life became simpler for a while.
Walking became part of how I found my way again
Like many people, I reached a point in life where things had become too much.
I was unhealthy, overweight, stretched and carrying more than I realised. I had responsibilities I was not handling very well — work, family life, pressure, and the kind of exhaustion that does not disappear after one good night of sleep.
Walking became one of the ways I started to find steadiness again.
It happened quite unexpectedly after my marriage ended. A psychologist said to me:
“Didier, find a passion and a distraction to lighten your load. If it happens to be the same thing, that’s perfect.”
At first, it was not grand or heroic. It was just one walk, then another.
I began around places like Dwellingup and the Bibbulmun Track. I got things wrong. I got lost. I learned. I walked further. I slowly became more capable.
One of my early overnight hikes was to Swamp Oak, the first campsite south of Dwellingup. It was not a huge distance by expedition standards, but it mattered. It was one of those moments where I realised that walking with a pack, sleeping outside and moving through the bush could change how I felt inside myself.
Only four months later, I made the decision to walk the Bibbulmun Track solo, end-to-end.
In June 2016, I completed the 1,000 kilometre track in 68 days. I spent around 85% of it by myself and lost 20 kilograms along the way.
That experience changed the direction of my life.
Not in a flashy way. Not in a motivational-speaker way. More in the quiet way the track often works. Day after day, kilometre after kilometre, it stripped things back. It gave me challenge, rhythm, discomfort, beauty, fatigue, confidence and space to think.
It helped me remember parts of myself that had become buried under stress.
I no longer recognise the Didier before that walk.
“When a journey’s time has come, it cannot be stopped.” — Didier
I do not promise transformation
When people walk or work with me, I do not promise transformation. I do not try to fix people. I do not force breakthroughs. I do not turn our time together into therapy. Most of what happens is quieter than that.
A person might step out of their normal environment. They might slow down. They might notice the track, the weather, the trees, their breathing, or something they have been carrying for a long time.
Someone else might need practical support, a steady conversation, help making sense of a goal, or simply a safe person beside them while they take the next step.
Some people talk. Some say very little. Some make decisions. Some simply feel calmer by the end. That is enough. My role is to create a safe, steady space where people feel respected, supported and able to move at a human pace.
What is Hikefulness®?
This is where Hikefulness® lives. It is meeting whatever the walk brings — rain, fatigue, a sore body, a wildflower, a bird you stop to listen to, the leaves under your feet, an easier conversation with the person beside you — without rushing to judge any of it. You slow down, you notice, you let the experience be what it is, and you grow from it.
It is not only a hiking idea. The same thing can happen in mentoring, or in any quiet moment. But in nature, moving slowly on foot, it tends to land deeper.
I am so passionate and it is so embedded in me that I trademarked the word.
Why Denmark matters to me
I now live in Denmark, Western Australia, and this place feels deeply connected to the work I do.
The forests, coast, granite, weather, Bibbulmun Track and small community all shape how I guide and mentor. Denmark is not just the location of LifeTrail. It is part of the character of the business.
People in the local tourism industry have told me that what I offer feels made for Denmark, like a glove. I understand what they mean.
This is a place where people can slow down.
Greens Pool is my local beach. Even on a busy day during the school holidays, there is a calm there that is hard to explain. People feel it. They tell me they feel it.
Around Denmark, you can walk under karri and tingle forest, stand on wild coastline, feel the weather change quickly, or follow a quiet section of track where there is nothing to perform and nowhere to rush.
For me, Denmark is not a backdrop.
It is where Wendy, my partner, and I live on five acres with karri trees. It is where I live, work, walk, play, grow my own food, guide, mentor and continue to learn from the landscape around me.
It is also where LifeTrail is now based.
How LifeTrail grew from this
LifeTrail grew from my own walking journey and my years of mentoring.
Before LifeTrail became a business, I had already spent years supporting people through life, work, disability, youth mentoring, confidence, independence and change.
I also spent many years working alongside Occupational Therapists. That helped shape the way I observe, assess, support and mentor people in practical, goal-based ways.
Walking gave that work another layer.
I began to see how different people became outdoors. Some became calmer. Some became more honest. Some became more capable. Some found it easier to talk while walking side by side instead of sitting face to face.
But I also learned something important. Walking is powerful, but it is not the answer to everything.
LifeTrail now has two clear pathways: guided hiking and professional mentoring. They are connected by the same person, place and values, but they are offered for different reasons.
A guided hike is planned as an outdoor experience. Mentoring is professional support, built around the person, their goals and their real-life situation.
Both need care, preparation and clear boundaries.
If you want to understand more about the journey behind LifeTrail, you can read The LifeTrail Story.
Guided hiking
Through LifeTrail, I guide private hikes, teen hikes, Bibbulmun Track experiences and Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journeys in Denmark, Walpole, Albany and the Great Southern.
Some people come because they want to experience the Bibbulmun Track with a local guide. Some want a private, quiet hike in nature without having to plan everything themselves. Some families want their teenager to have a safe, challenging and well-supported outdoor experience away from screens. Some people are new to hiking and want to build confidence slowly.
My role as a hiking guide is to plan carefully, manage risk, read the group, understand the track, and create an experience that feels safe, calm and real.
I come with a plan, and with the flexibility to adapt to the environment, the weather and the people in front of me. The track does a lot of the work.
Professional mentoring
I also work as a professional mentor.
Mentoring is practical support for people who are working on confidence, independence, direction, routine, social connection, employment goals, communication or change.
Some mentoring happens in the community. Some happens through conversation. Some may include walking. The focus depends on the person, their goals and what they need support with.
My mentoring work is calm, steady and person-centred. I work with the person in front of me — their pace, their goals and their real-life situation — rather than treating anyone as a problem to be fixed.
LifeTrail offers mentoring for self-managed and plan-managed NDIS participants, as well as private mentoring where suitable.
Mentoring with me is not counselling, therapy or clinical treatment. It is professional support, built around trust, consistency, practical goals and clear boundaries.
Explore professional mentoring
NDIS capacity building mentoring
The same care, whichever pathway
People come to LifeTrail for different reasons. Some come to walk. Some come for mentoring. Some come because their teenager needs a safe challenge. Some are not quite sure what they need yet.
Whatever the pathway, I take the trust seriously.
Sometimes I lead clearly. Sometimes I walk beside someone. Sometimes I step back as confidence grows.
The best support often looks simple from the outside. That is usually because a lot of care has gone into the preparation, observation and decisions behind it.
You are welcome to make contact
You do not need to know exactly which pathway fits before you get in touch.
You might be looking for a guided hike. You might be looking for mentoring for yourself, your child, a participant, or someone you support. You might simply feel that something in my story or way of working feels right.
You are welcome to contact me, ask a question, or tell me what you are looking for. From there, we can work out whether LifeTrail is the right fit, and which pathway makes the most sense.
Frequently asked questions
I'm the founder of LifeTrail, a hiking and mentoring practice based in Denmark, Western Australia.
Yes. LifeTrail is based in Denmark, Western Australia, in the Great Southern region. Denmark is central to the way I guide, mentor and work with people.
LifeTrail offers two main pathways: guided hiking and professional mentoring. They are different services, but both are shaped by my experience, values and connection to Denmark WA.
No. LifeTrail hikes are not therapy. They are guided outdoor experiences. They may feel calming, meaningful or personally helpful, but they are not counselling, clinical treatment or therapy sessions.
Yes. I offer professional mentoring for self-managed and plan-managed NDIS participants, as well as private mentoring where suitable.
Sometimes, yes. Mentoring may include walking where it suits the person and their goals. The focus remains on the mentoring goals, not on completing a hike.
No. You are welcome to contact me first. I can help you work out whether LifeTrail is the right fit and which pathway makes the most sense.
Yes, I offer and am fully insured to offer mentoring to anyone who feels they will benefit.