Teenage cyclist Liam Garner, over the course of nearly one and a half years, rode through 14 countries, covering more than 32,000 km in the journey of a lifetime.
Hailing from Long Beach, California, Garner believes he is the youngest person to have completed the feat of cycling through the Americas from Alaska to Argentina. “I always felt pretty much my entire life that I wanted to do or needed to do some big adventure,” he said in an interview.
Garner set off on his journey on August 1, 2021, from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, the northernmost point in the United States accessible by road. His final destination was Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost point of South America. He had just his mountain bike, a tent, a sleeping bag, around a day’s worth of food and water, some portable batteries, a medical kit, and extra parts for his bike.
Surviving on a budget of about $430 ($573) a month, Garner’s journey was self-supported. He was also able to seek accommodation in hostels, was invited into people’s homes along the way, and camped in tents when such options were not available. On his way, he also survived robberies – at least five times – and had his passport stolen, illness, and bad injuries. On Jan 17, 2023, after passing through Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, he finally reached his destination.
“After 527 days, 20,000 miles and 14 countries, I, Liam Garner, am now the youngest person to have ever biked from Alaska to Argentina,” he declared in a video.
