Take a Seat

When Dominic Gill set out from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, by bicycle on June 16, 2006, it was to be no ordinary bike ride. His goal was to reach Ushuaia, the southernmost city in South America, nearly 20,000 miles away, and he was starting off with virtually no money in his pocket, barely enough food to last a week, and, worst of all, with thousands of miles between him and his friends and family.But Dominic had a plan: His bicycle, Achilles, was a tandem and the spare seat was his secret weapon. He would invite strangers to join him on his long journey—strangers he hoped would become friends and help him turn a terrifying prospect into the adventure of a lifetime.In Take a Seat, Dominic tells the story of his incredible journey. Over twenty-six months, he covered 18,449 miles down the west coast of the Americas, passed through fifteen countries, was looked after by countless strangers, crashed into a Mexican banana truck, was nearly attacked by a mob of Bolivian political demonstrators, cycled past active volcanoes, and didn’t have a single haircut. All sorts of colorful characters took a seat on Achilles—from a meditating, pot-smoking French Canadian named Pierre to Adrienne, a lovely Appalachian girl who rode with him into Panama, and the dark-haired Joselyn from Chile. Eventually, Dominic reached Ushuaia, freezing and exhausted and with another new friend behind him—the 270th person to take that seat. He had achieved his dream.