Teenager cycles more than 32,000km from Alaska to

Argentina in journey of a lifetime

Teenage cyclist Liam Garner rode through 14 countries cycling through the Americas from
Alaska to Argentina. PHOTOS: SCREENGRAB FROM LIAMTHEIMPALER/TIKTOK
MAR 28, 2023, 6:45 AM SGT

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”.

Instructions:
Read the following articles and respond to the questions below. Your reflection should add
up to at least 250 words.
Article: Teenager cycles more than 32,000km from Alaska to Argentina in journey of a
lifetime
1. How would you describe Mr Garner’s journey around the world? Explain your answer
with details from the article.
2. Would you like to travel around the world as Mr Garner did? Why or why not?

Article in IFD Issue 2023 (PDF attached): S’pore shines in the world of diplomatic relations
1. Why do you think it is important for Singapore to be on good terms with other
countries?

Response:
1. It was a dangerous one as he got robbed multiple times, had his passport stolen and
even got badly injured once. He said that there was blood all over his face one time and
had no idea about what happened. He ended up going through plastic surgery for that
incident and got over 40 stitches on his face.
However, it was also a memorable one as he managed to fall in love with someone
through it and was a great achievement to accomplish. He had to survive in 40 degrees
Celsius temperatures with no cell phone on hand. He could also seek accommodation in
other places and the entire journey was self-supported.
2. No, I would not. I would find it boring as I do not have anything to do in it and it is also
tiring to do it just for recognition. I would much rather be paid to do it and in this way, I
could use the money I earned to donate to charities. In other words, I would do it for a
cause. Not only is the journey going to be long, it will also be dangerous.
3. This is so that we can safeguard our interests and not have any conflicts between
opposing parties. We also play a role in facilitating regional and international conflicts.
An example is the North Korea-United States Singapore Summit in 2018. Singapore
hosted a meeting to make a peaceful ending to the North Korean nuclear crisis. It
resulted in a joint statement outlining the commitment to peace and denuclearisation of
the Korean region.