Teenager cycles more than 32,000km from Alaska to Argentina in journey of a lifetime

Over the course of nearly one and a half years, teenage cyclist Liam Garner rode through 14 countries, covering more than 32,000km in the journey of a lifetime.

Hailing from Long Beach, California, Mr 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,” Mr Garner told BBC in a video interview in a video posted on Feb 16.

He had previously documented an 800km-long journey taken over eight days from one end of California to a Taco Bell outlet in another, with the eight-part video series accumulating more than seven million views on TikTok in December 2020.

Mr Garner said that someone had recommended him a book about a man who biked from Oregon to Patagonia. “And I read the book and I kept thinking to myself, “wow, if that guy could do it, why can’t I do it?”

He set off on his journey on Aug 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.

According to CNN, Mr Garner 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.

“At 17 years old, I’m going to be the youngest person to ever do it,” he said in a post on Instagram.

“It’s gonna be the hardest and probably best thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Over the course of his journey, Mr Garner told CNN that he “basically made [his] own [route]” as he went along.

“There’s an official route, and then there’s unofficial routes,” he said, adding that as long as he was going south every day, he knew he was going in the right direction.

For the first eight months, Mr Garner travelled with a riding companion named Logan until he reached Colombia, and then rode solo for the remainder of his journey.

Surviving on a budget of about US$430 ($573) a month, Mr Garner noted that he had heard comments that he was only able to do this because he was a “straight white, rich guy”.

“I am a first generation Mexican immigrant. And I’m not rich,” he told CNN. He said his parents, who are separated, were not thrilled by the idea but are now his biggest supporters.

“This was self-supported. And it really doesn’t take that much money to do this. I don’t want people to think that you need to be rich to bike tour. I’ve met people from all economic statuses.”

He was also able to seek accommodation in hostels, and was also invited into people’s homes along the way, camping in tents when such options were not available.

However, the road was sometimes rocky.

“There have been moments I have been scared,” said Mr Garner, although he had “never once regretted doing the trip ever”.

Several videos recount incidents where he was robbed – at least five times – and had his passport stolen. He also fell ill and was once badly injured.

“I don’t remember anything. I just remember waking up covered in blood and I just didn’t even know what happened,” he said in a video, after he had “flipped completely head over heels and landed right on [his] head” in Cali, Colombia.

This injury, which put him out of commission for a month, saw him get more than 40 stitches, as well as plastic surgery to piece his ear back together.

“Thankfully, there was no permanent damage besides a bunch of scars. I definitely have taken many years off my mom’s life,” said Mr Garner, who decided to write a will after the accident.

He also admitted that he considered giving up after he was robbed in the south of Mexico, on top of having to deal with the extreme heat while having no connection to the outside world.

“We didn’t have cell phones. The weather was difficult. it was over 40 degrees Celsius every single day. I got sick during that time,” he said.

On Jan 17, 2023, after passing through Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, Mr Garner 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.

“When I graduated high school, I wanted to do something so absurd and incredibly unbelievable that if I managed to pull it off somehow, I would never be able to doubt myself again,” he said in front of a sign in Ushuaia, Argentina.

“And now that I’m standing here in front of this sign, I know that this was the most important thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

However, his journey has not ended.

Mr Garner plans to hitch-hike and backpack all the way back home to Los Angeles, also documenting his journey home – but this time with someone he fell in love with in the course of his journey.

Following a long-distance relationship lasting a year, Chloe flew to Ushuaia to meet him two days after he had concluded his cycling adventure.

Mr Garner said that he did not expect to fall in love – “but sometimes, it just happens that way”.