Written by Ann Nordby
"It has been nearly two months since my departure from Europe. I’ve returned to my side of the ocean, back to the Americas. Being in South America, I feel a lot closer to home. Upon looking at a map though, I realized I’m still just as far away from home as I have been."
This diary entry sounds like something from Magellan's logbook or Darwin's journal. It hints at vast distances travelled solo, and the knowledge acquired along the way. It belies a worldly self awareness. It is in fact a 2023 blog post written by then 18-year-old Adam Swanson.
Like Magellan, Swanson circumnavigated the earth – not by sea but on a bicycle he named Victoria, after Magellan’s famed ship. Today, Swanson spends most of his time on the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus. He is about to start his third year in the Sustainable Systems Management program.
Swanson's journey took nearly two years. In August, 2021, he set off from Amsterdam with a friend. For four months, they crossed Europe, ending in with Croatia. For the second leg of his journey, he flew solo to Thailand where, starting in Bangkok, he spent 2022 crossing Asia via mountainous Nepal, ending in Turkey. The third leg was in South America: through Argentina, Patagonia and Chile. For the final leg of his trip, he flew to Los Angeles and biked up the USA west coast to Oregon, ending in his home in St. Paul, Minn. Later on, he calculated that the total distance travelled was the same as circumnavigating the earth – 24,000 miles.
While traveling, he carried a tent and slept outdoors in it for over 400 nights. But he also stayed in hostels, yurts and fancy hotels. Due to constantly changing COVID border restrictions, he was unable to plan more than a few days ahead. He experienced sickness, bike breakdowns, cancelled flights, Google translate mistakes, visa restrictions, bedbugs, extortion, hunger and complete bliss. He became somewhat famous on Tiktok.
Swanson blogged about the journey as he went, sharing photos of food, landscapes and friends he met along the way. Each blog post could be its own short story:
On finding breakfast in Thailand: "Every item on the menu was in Thai so I held out ฿40, which she took and motioned for me to take a seat. Ten minutes later she came out with a bowl of seafood soup, in which I recognized two items: Shrimp and liver. I was kind of nervous but I ended up liking it a lot and it fueled me for the rest of my day."
After riding uphill all day in Croatia: "At the mountain top I was hungry and tired so I got my hammock out and laid in a tree and made a huge dish of pasta. I ended up using every drop of water I had but I got to a town soon enough. It was worth the water, it was such tasty pasta."
While hiking through Georgia: "I have found that my favorite aspect that a country can have is its remote-ness. I love having rural countrysides, because you stumble upon so much beautiful land and you can experience more untouched culture from within the local populations. "
After waiting one month for a bike part in Nepal: "The woman at the counter said she couldn’t give the package to me. I tried to negotiate … I decided my best option was to grab it and run. … After 30 seconds some mailmen brutes appeared and pulled me back into the post office where I had to pay a $50 bribe to get my box."
On falling in love with Kyrgyzstan: Towards the afternoon I had wandered into a whole new biome. Suddenly I was in fields of color on either side with the smell of wildflowers constantly wafting onto the road. As I rode through valleys of wildflower covered mountains I knew Kyrgyzstan was going to be one of my favorite places to ride.
A dream fulfilled
Swanson had planned the trip since he was nine years old. "It was something that I always wanted to do," he said. The years after high school were the perfect time for him since he had not decided what to study in college, and wanted some time to think about that. Asked whether the experience had influenced his choice of major, Adam said it had.
"I was already thinking about environmental science of some sort. A big inspiration for me of going into Sustainable Systems Management is seeing the effects that humans have on the earth." He saw the negative effects of humans in big cities. "Flying into India, I couldn't see the end of the runway. When I was in Kathmandu, it was rated the most polluted city in the world. Normally you can see Mt Everest but I couldn't see any mountains from the city."
"Then, flying out of Kathmandu, I went to Kyrgyzstan, where most people live a nomadic life, ride on horses, live in yurts. It's pristine nature, surrounded by the Himalayas, with crystal clear waters that I could drink unfiltered. I saw the natural world versus the world humans create if we live the way we do."
Today, when he isn't in class, Swanson spends as much time outdoors as he can. He is the leader of an outdoor club on campus and works in the Recwell Outdoor Recreation Center. He leads bike trips, day hikes and backpacking trips. "I'm finding a way to make these things a part of my education. I'm sharing my experiences with others who are trying to learn about it," he said.
His two-year trek taught him a lot of things about himself and about the world, Swanson said. He also met a lot of fellow travelers who were recent college graduates, and "I could see how smart they were." He knew that he would eventually stop moving to go to college. Seeing pollution and the effects of human activity on the world made him determined to get a degree that would position him to solve human-caused environmental problems. While on the road, he made time to submit his application to the SSM program. "I knew it would give me such a perfect mix of both business and environmental studies. I knew I would be able to use that education to help change the world."