Includes bibliographical references and index.

The plan -- It begins -- The coast is clear (Northern California) -- The temptation of home (Southern California) -- Crossing into Baja -- Some background as I lose my mind (Baja and my childhood) -- Cartels and coconuts -- The cathedral sits on the temple (Mexico City) -- What happens if I go home? (Oaxaca and Christmas) -- Harry Devert (Panama) -- A new continent (crossing to Cartagena) -- Cocaine and cute little mushrooms (Cartagena and Medellín) -- God on the trail (Medellín to Salento) -- Sex hotels and here comes mom (Cali to Quito) -- The coldest night (Quito to Cusco) -- Empire falls to empire (Machu Picchu) -- New blood into Bolivia (Bolivia and Argentina) -- All by my Argentina (solo down Argentina) -- Entering the holy land (Mendoza to Bariloche) -- Alone in God's most obvious work (the Carratera Austral) -- Mom and the mountain (Torres del Paine).

On the eve of turning thirty, terrified of being sucked into a life he didn't choose, Jedidiah Jenkins quit his dream job and spent the next sixteen months cycling from Oregon to Patagonia. He chronicled the trip on Instagram, where his photos and reflections on life soon attracted hundreds of thousands of followers and got him featured by National Geographic and The Paris Review. Jed now narrates the adventure that started it all: the people and places he encountered on his way to the bottom of the world, and the internal journey that prompted it -- the question of what it means to be an adult; his struggle to reconcile his sexual identity with his conservative Christian upbringing; and his belief in travel as a way to "wake us up" to our lives back home. As he writes in this account of his search for wonder and a life he could believe in, 'It's not about the bike. It's about getting out of your routine -- and that could look like anything."