Aleksandar Popovic

Aleksandar "Alex" Popovic is the co-founder of Maverick Adventures, a UK-registered adventure travel company, and a walking retreat leader and meditation teacher who hosts in-person, movement-based retreats along Spain's Costa del Sol. He founded the company with his brother Nenad Popovic, and the two of them personally lead every Camino del Sol walking retreat. His work uses long-distance walking, structured reflection and physical challenge as tools for mental clarity, physical resilience and self-trust.

Alex's path began with movement. He started working out at 15 and kept learning, lifting and helping friends get fit. He has travelled to more than 50 countries, mostly solo as a backpacker, eating with strangers and staying in places where English was not spoken. He has described how those journeys taught him how similar people are everywhere. Before Maverick Adventures he worked in a corporate job in London, with a background in high-performance sales environments and team leadership.

The turning point came in Thailand. During a Muay Thai session on Koh Phangan, Alex tore his ACL, and the training, speed and strength he had used to define himself stopped. Waiting for surgery gave him time to ask what he actually wanted from his life. Recovery became his full-time job, built on discipline, rehab and patience. The idea for Maverick Adventures came during and after surgery: to combine fitness and travel, and to show others how to slow down while still using their physical abilities. Nenad's own route to walking, through years of long-distance distance walking including the Camino from Barcelona to Santiago, shaped the company alongside Alex's story. The brothers say it was born from adversity rather than a business plan.

The main offering is the Camino del Sol, a five-day, 66km guided walking retreat from Málaga to Marbella. Groups are limited to ten participants, whom Alex calls Mavericks. The walking days run roughly 19 to 27km and pass through Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Fuengirola, La Cala de Mijas and Marbella. Nights are spent in handpicked 4-star hotels with pools and a private single room. The retreat includes breakfasts in local cafés, a welcome meet and greet in Málaga, celebration tapas and drinks in Marbella, and a personalised preparation and training plan. Alex describes it as an adult adventure retreat, not a military bootcamp or a silent spiritual tour. Some groups have added an extra day on to Estepona. Maverick Adventures also designs tailored corporate retreats and team experiences of one to five days in Spain, Europe and the UK, and is developing a Founder's Escape on Rab Island in Croatia.

Alex also writes the Maverick Mindset articles, including recaps of each Camino del Sol. They cover walking as a tool for reset, founder-led travel, and what changes when professionals step away from screens for a week on foot.

The Costa del Sol setting is a coastline of seaside promenades, boardwalks, old towns and nature reserves. Each afternoon the group arrives in a new town, cools off by the pool and shares local food. Alex's retreats are described as calm but challenging spaces where people slow down, think clearly and reconnect with what matters most.

The retreats suit solo travellers, couples, friends, burnt-out professionals and active adults. Many participants are in their 40s to 60s and come from different countries. No ultra-fitness is required: anyone who can comfortably walk for a few hours and enjoys being outside is welcome. People leave with a sense of achievement, new friendships and a clearer head, and with the confidence that comes from covering real ground on foot.