By Savannah Cottam — Sam is a contagiously charismatic Aussie; I met him while working as a backpacking guide in Colorado. As he told me about his adventures, I knew his story was one meant to be told. Sam traveled alone on his bike for 5162 miles from Canada to the border of Mexico.
I interviewed Sam hoping to find out his purpose and what he wanted to teach himself and others.
Samuel Lance Waddington’s Story
I grew up surrounded by substance abuse and addiction. Being the youngest, I watched everyone go down ordinary paths, for me it was something that I wanted to avoid. My outdoor education teacher taught me to believe in myself and showed me I can do some crazy things. After high school, I got hooked on the outdoor lifestyle and was living in a tent for more than half the year. I wanted to challenge myself in a way that I would almost laugh at. I think it’s very important that everyone at some point in their life challenges themselves to the point where they are almost laughing. But, by the time you chip away, you slowly realize that it’s possible and you are getting closer to the goal you set for yourself.
For me life has always been about challenge and travel, so I wanted to relate those two. In 2022, I sold all my possessions and moved to the east coast of Canada to a place called Miscou Island. I was living with my friend’s family with no plan. It was a very slow place out there. I had so much time to think that eventually I wondered, “how do I travel in a very cheap way whilst experiencing it in the way that I want to”. I like traveling very surface level and gritty, not like a tourist but instead as a local. From there, the bicycle idea was born.
I wondered what I was physically capable of doing. I looked at other people for inspiration and thought “maybe I could do something like that”.
Before I embarked, I had never owned a bicycle or done an overnight trip on a bike. I still don’t really consider myself a cyclist. I had a lot of outdoor experience and guiding, so the survival skills was not something I was lacking. It was more about getting bike fitness. That came quickly; it was only after a few weeks that I felt I was pretty fit and could ride all day without getting sore.
I started riding in Vancouver Island which is where I bought my bike. The bottom of Argentina was my goal. Everything in the middle is what I really cared about seeing. I did this in a very unorthodox way, I wanted to introduce a bit of a challenge (because biking more than 5,000 miles wasn’t enough?). I decided to start riding in the middle of winter, which was amazing. Riding through mountains in the snow with no one around is indescribable.
I had to make it to Colorado to work as a guide so I could stay in the US. I went through some pretty crazy weather and eventually made it to the job where I guided 16- to 18-year-olds on month long backpacking expeditions.
After the job, I was now in another crazy position. I had to cycle through the desert in the heat of the summer. I was getting heat with 110+ degree weather every day. There were some pretty tough long days, so I was certain that once I got to San Diego I was going to go home from there. Riding through the desert I really felt that I was at my limit and needed to reset.
I got to San Diego, it was the night before I was supposed to leave, I was laying in my bed, my heart was racing, I couldn’t sleep, and I though ahh there’s no way I’m about to get on a flight tomorrow. Sure enough, the next day I got on the border into Mexico, and it was absolutely amazing. I love the culture and scenery there but after a few weeks the desire to go home won. I think I wasn’t necessarily over what I was doing, it was more that I became excited to implement that I had in that year. I think that in 2025 I’m going to go back to the border and finish what I started.
Savannah Cottam: Did you ride all day every day?
Samuel Lance Waddington: There would be times that I would stop in places. Say there was a large point of interest, somewhere I was really interested to go, I would hang out there for a little bit. Probably the most riding I had done consecutively would be a couple of weeks.
SC: Did you ever pay for a hotel?
SLW: I only paid for a hotel room whilst I was in the US once. For the most part I lived in a tent, I was very lucky though because I was given a lot of hospitality. I reckon I had around 15 or 20 people hosting me throughout the journey which was one of the best parts of the experience.”
SC: How do you meet the people that hosted you?
SLW: There is actually a funny story, when I was in Canada, it was 3 degrees with snow everywhere. Someone had pulled over on the side of the highway and was waving at me quite enthusiastically and I waved right back thinking he was maybe just excited to see that I was doing something like this. He kept waving until I realized he was waving me down telling me to stop. He said “I know what it’s like to be doing this especially when you are in the winter, and I know how hard it can be to find a place. I live about a mile away with my partner. We have a farm, and I can cook you something and give you a bed you can sleep in.”
In situations like these, you have to be careful and make sure the offer is genuine, but he seemed trustworthy, and I took him up on the offer. Well, I got there, and it was the most luxurious cabin that was separate from the house with a fireplace, king size bed, shower, and I ended up staying there for a few days to wait out a horrible storm. It was such an awful few days of weather and I was so fortunate to find this place to stay.
I think when you have positive energy, and you are putting energy out into the world whilst also having the acceptance to recognize that no one has to do these things and you can’t expect people to do it either but staying open and positive when those things come your way.
For example, I try not to wear headphones whilst I’m riding or whilst I’m in new places because if I’m listening to something else, I’m detaching myself from that environment. I’ve had a lot of opportunities to meet new people that I wouldn’t have gotten had I been wearing headphones. If you are present, in every moment and trying to be positive and have those conversations, experiences tend to gravitate toward you.
The other way I find people is through a site called “Warm Showers” (https://www.warmshowers.org). It’s basically people putting their homes out as a host house, and you come in and they will accommodate you so you can use their shower and wash your clothes. For me, I consider it as more than just a free bed. I consider it as a cultural exchange so in exchange for the place to stay you share stories, have dinner, and really connect with your host, a lot more than you would staying in a hotel. Those experiences are always beautiful.
SC: What is the most important thing you have learned from this experience?
SLW: I think about this experience over the past year a lot, and the biggest takeaway from person-to-person is how I perceive the impacts that I can have on strangers. There were people that changed my life, whether it’s in the long term, you never know how long that change will last but in that immediate moment people quite literally changed my life. I had people pick me up in the middle of snowstorms on these really unsafe roads. People picked me up when my bike was broken and took me to a bike shop to help get it repaired. These are all small acts for them, acts that they probably will forget in a week or two but for me that sticks with me for a really long time. In the desert, when people stopped and gave me water, they were quite literally giving me life. So, the impact you can have on someone in such a short space of time, and it doesn’t even have to be materialistic, but you can change someone’s life so quickly with a small act of kindness. I want to give back the kindness that was made to me.
From a more individual standpoint, realizing that if a human has done it, I can do it. Even if they haven’t, I’m gonna try. When you do something as drastic as this, and people have done far crazier things than I have, I really admire that and hope to achieve the same. But, when you push yourself for an extended amount of time, your confidence and trust in yourself goes through the roof. I think the trajectory of my life, in my mind, has no limit.
SC: What do you want people to learn from you?
SLW: I wanted to pass on the information that I had learned about my life and what was possible for me. Obviously, we are all different but the feeling that you get from challenging yourself from something like this is unparalleled. I wanted people to feel that same feeling. I don’t necessarily want to inspire or motivate people. I want it to be an awakening from whatever it is in their life that they had buried in the back of their brains but has kept being pushed back to the side. I want to bring that thought that they’ve had to life and give them the courage to be like “yep let’s do it, let’s go for this”. It doesn’t have to be riding a bike around the world, everyone has a different challenge that they have been thinking about for a long time and ultimately just go for it.”
Questions answered with one word or sentence
SC: What is the worst advice you have ever received
SLW: You can’t do that.
“The worst advice that someone can give is telling someone that they are incapable of something.”
SC: What is the best advice you have ever received
SLW: Just keep livin’.
You can find Sam’s Instagram @Wadd.if and his Donations/Journal/Photos/YouTube in the link of his bio.
