TO SHAKE THE SLEEPING SELF

A young man rides a bicycle from Oregon to Patagonia on a quest to find himself.

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 profound reflections on life soon attracted hundreds of thousands of followers and got him featured by National Geographic and The Paris Review.

In this unflinchingly honest memoir, Jed 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 his inspiring 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."

Jedidiah Jenkins is a travel writer, entrepreneur, and Instagram personality. A graduate of USC and Pepperdine University School of Law, Jenkins began his professional career with the nonprofit Invisible Children, where he co-wrote and helped orchestrate the viral Kony 2012 campaign. Currently, he is the executive editor of Wilderness magazine, and his work has appeared in the Paris Review online, GOOD Magazine, and been covered by National Geographic.