This is Paul Gareau's Travel Buzz presentation on his epic bike trip from Alaska to Argentina. All photos copyright Paul Gareau.

1. 20,000+ miles…
Cycling from Alaska to
Argentina

2. Trip Blog and Pictures:
www.panamericantour.net
Bicycle Touring Meetup Group:
http://meetup.com/bicycle-touring-boston

3. Hi. I‟m Paul.
• (and yes, I really rode my bike from Alaska
to Argentina…)
• My touring background + touring overview
• How this trip came to be
• Quick details about the trip
• Highlights
• Safety and costs – especially their myths!

4. First, the route…

6. My touring background
• After college, I had the idea to mix
mountain biking with camping
• Didn‟t know that bike touring was “a thing”
• Knew I loved the idea of bike travel before
my first trip
• Tour every year with whatever vacation
time I have

7. Wait, what IS touring?
• Using a bike as a method of travel
• Can be one day, but usually multiple days
• Supported touring: just your bike + a van
• Credit Card touring: just your bike, a credit
card and restaurants and hotels
• Self-supported touring: you do it all. Carry
your own gear, cook, camp and do repairs

8. My Trips
• Northeastern US • Yukon Territory
• Glaciar and Waterton • Iceland
National Parks • Alaska
• Nova Scotia • Utah
• Prince Edward Island • Alaska to Argentina!
and Cape Breton
Island
• Great Divide
Mountain Bike Route

9. Alaska to Argentina? ;-)
• Not surprisingly, it started as a joke!
• In 2005 I rode from Canada to Mexico
through the Rocky Mountains with a group
of 10 people (“Ride the Divide”?)
• After: “Hey guys, how about we ride from
Alaska to Argentina next summer?”
• Looked at the blog and got hooked on the
idea

10. Alaska to Argentina?! :-
• Went to Iceland in 2007 with two people
from the same group
• After dinner one night “Hey, you want to
ride to Argentina right? Well, I‟ll go with
you!”
• Moment of change from an idea to a plan
• Leave in 2009, skip some “dangerous”
countries and ride for 11 months

11. Alaska to Argentina?!! :-o
• Everything started according to plan
• Travel partner was unprepared and only
lasted two months (get a good travel
partner!)
• I decided not only that I wouldn‟t quit
myself, but that I‟d go through all the
countries we planned to skip!
• (Thought that would add 6-7 months. Ha!)

12. Alaska to Argentina!! :D
• Didn‟t take long for it to become my
“lifestyle”
• The farther I rode the more time off I
took, more hiking, more side trips, more
time in places I liked or with people I
met…
• By the end it was about 22,000 miles and
31 months
• I never would have started if I knew I‟d
mostly do it alone or for such a long time

13. FAQ
Questions Answers
• What did you eat? • Food! (duh)
• Where did you sleep? • Camped at least 50% of
the time, other times at
cheap hotels or hostels or
even in people‟s homes
• Were you lonely? • No! Met many other
travelers at hostels, many
locals and travelled with
cyclists from half a day to
2 months

14. Finances
• It‟s about priorities…
• Some bicycle travelers spend $5 per day!
• $15 to $20 is more comfortable
• My “Get travelin‟ quick” formula:
• (cost per day * num days / days „till trip) = save per day
• $20 * 300 = $6000 (total trip cost)
• $6000 trip / 600 days „till trip = …

15. Only $10 per day!
• If you can save $10 per day, and can
travel on $20 per day, you can travel for a
year only two years from now!
• None of the long-term travelers I met were
independently rich
• Live simply, save and travel simply
• Myth Busted: “Long-term travel is
expensive”

16. Two examples
• Live in an apartment that‟s $100 cheaper
• In 2 years you saved $2400 – almost half
way there!
• Instead of a $200 iPhone with a $100 per
month contract ($2600) get an iPod touch
and a flip phone ($440) – there‟s $2160
• Saving $4560 was that easy! Only $1440
to go!

17. Safety
• Original plan was to skip most of Mexico,
Central America and Colombia - what a
mistake that would have been!
• Every country has it‟s risks – best advice:
use common sense
• Don‟t stand out, don‟t flash expensive
things or lots of cash, keep an eye (and a
hand) on your possessions at all times

18. Safety Cont.
• I once heard that “likeable” doctors were
far less likely to be sued for malpractice
• A likeable traveler is less likely to be
robbed
• Basically, if someone likes you they
probably won‟t sue or rob you…

19. Safety Cont.
• In two and a half years, traveling completely
exposed on a bicycle I NEVER had anything
stolen
• Followed for a block once because I had a big
camera around my neck – my mistake
• Carried important things in a fanny pack, which a
guy on the back of a motorcycle tried to grab
• Myth Busted: Travel isn‟t as dangerous as you
think!

20. A few pictures…

63. Thanks!
• I‟ll be at the Touring table if you have any
questions!