Joy Ride: A Bike Odyssey from Alaska to Argentina

by Kristen Jokinen, Cheryl Strayed (Introduction)

Explorers Kristen and Ville Jokinen met and fell in love while scuba diving in Vietnam. Ville then left his native Finland to join Kristen in Oregon and together they embarked on a life-changing two-year cycling adventure covering 18,000 miles from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina. Despite never having cycled further than around the block, they persevered unrelenting, punishing rain and wind, altitude sickness, dog attacks, bike accidents, and countless flat tires to cycle between the ends of the earth. Kristen and Ville believe that kindness connects us to our shared humanity. They held babies, attended quinceañeras, drank pulque, played soccer, and visited schools. People in Mexico, Central America, and South America invited them into their hearts and homes, allowed them to camp in their fields and farms, and acted as personal tour guides. Kristen and Ville are love on wheels, and who doesn’t need a little more love in their lives?

Genres: Travel, Adventure, Memoir, Nonfiction, Cycling, Book Club

288 pages, Paperback

Published May 2, 2023

Reviews

[Sharon Orlopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fortunate to hear Kristen and Ville Jokinen speak about their adventures and their book, Joy Ride: A Bike Odyssey from Alaska to Argentina, recently at Changing Hands bookstore in Phoenix. The Jokinens rode their bikes from Alaska to southern Argentina. 18,000 miles in two years.

I have had a love affair with bicycles since I got my first bike for Christmas when I was eight years old. A bicycle represents freedom to me. The call of the open road with the wind in my hair is the start of a grand adventure.

The book is fabulous! It's straightforward and shares the crazy encounters they had with weather, road conditions, wildlife, food, and strangers. Most importantly, it highlights the incredible kindness of strangers who let them camp in their yards and shared their meals with Kristen and Ville.

[Craig Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joy Ride: A Bike Odyssey from Alaska to Argentina by Kristen Jokinen documented the author and her husband Ville’s two-year bike trek across the Americas from north to south. This was the third cycling memoir that I have read, following Through Siberia by Accident: A Small Slice of Autobiography by Dervla Murphy and Cycling Across the South Atlantic: An Oceanic Odyssey with a Bicycle by Simon Levell. Jokinen kept her book rather short; I raced through its 266 pages and could easily have enjoyed a book twice the length. One reason I found her book such a can’t-put-down read was that the author was so open about her experiences. The reader might find life on the road exposed to the elements to be predictable and boring if all she did was roll her eyes about the rain or the muddy mountain roads she had to climb. What made her memoir different from the others is that Jokinen told everything exactly how it was, holding nothing back, especially when it came to intimate matters. Living next to nature for two years can do this to you. Jokinen told it all: responding to the call of nature when there are no toilet facilities; always feeling horny for her husband (Kristen and Ville must have a wonderful sex life); and dealing with a bladder infection while riding and what that entails with a woman’s anatomy. Jokinen made the bike odyssey more relatable by inserting such intimacies. While most of us will never embark on such a long trek as theirs, the Jokinens still experienced the same pleasures and challenges as those who may have never even ridden a bicycle. Their odyssey could be enjoyed by everyone, not just cycling enthusiasts.

Jokinen also kept my attention by describing the people she met. Throughout the journey, Kristen and Ville met the most generous people, especially in Mexico and Peru. Random encounters on the roadside often led to invitations to dinner and offers to camp on their hosts’ property. People were happy to share what little they had and never accepted anything in return. Jokinen inserted a dig at Trump’s anti-Mexico rhetoric, since she was cycling through the country during the first Trump presidency. She only had the most gracious things to say about Mexico and its people. Many times during their trip through Central America, the Jokinens disguised their nationalities as Canadians or Finns in fear of what an American identity might provoke.

Jokinen recorded several observations and experiences that I found priceless, and I wanted to record them in their entirety instead of summarizing them with a few words. Here are my favourites, told in chronological order.

Heading south of Prince George, British Columbia:

“Since there were multiple, large, lumber mills along this stretch of highway, most of the passing traffic were giant log-loaded semis. If you have been in a car when one of these passed, loaded as high as a two-story building, you know that the vortex nearly blows you off the road. Imagine what it would feel like to be on an itty-bitty bicycle when one of these monsters thundered past about a foot from your body at sixty miles per hour.”

Near Nanaimo, BC:

“We tried to find a place to camp near Nanaimo not realizing until we arrived that it was a sprawling city. We took a few wrong turns off the freeway, down what we assumed were country roads, arriving in thick brush with an abnormal amount of paper and plastic bags and such flittering about. We pitched the tent, cooked some spaghetti, ate, played a mean game of rummy, and went to sleep. In the morning, we discovered the sign we had missed on the way in: Nanaimo Garbage & Recycling. We camped in a real-life garbage dump. Maybe in my next life I will be born a princess who sleeps in castles and rides in chariots, but until then I am a vagabond who lives in a tent, rides a bicycle, and sleeps in garbage dumps.”

Approaching Vancouver, Jokinen had this revelation:

“At the start of the ride, a day in the seat felt like an eternity. I don’t remember the moment I stopped counting the miles, but I know I noticed them less. My internal voice had been silenced. I was able to still my mind. Thoughts would come and go as I passed through ever-changing landscapes. I felt more peaceful, quiet, and calm. The chaos that had existed in my life before the ride felt far away.”

Cycling through Los Angeles:

“Passing through small towns on bicycles had been challenging. When it was sprawling cities, it became a larger brain drain that weighed on our nerves, but when it was a monolithic metropolis, the size of Los Angeles, it was pure hell. After Malibu, according to Google Maps, we would be riding our bikes through the greater Los Angeles area for just under one hundred miles. We needed to endure one hundred miles of continuous urbanization, solid houses, businesses, highways, freeways, pedestrians, drivers, traffic, and chaos before we’d escape at the other end and arrive at Camp Pendleton. My stomach hurt just thinking about it. Navigating through Los Angeles would be a complete nightmare in a car, but on a bicycle it was a death wish.”

Heading towards Puebla, Mexico:

“It had taken over a year, but I had found peace in the quiet places. Being an extrovert who thrived on friends, gatherings, and noise, I was surprised to find that I had grown to crave the quiet. I had traded listening to friends’ stories and opinions for my own thoughts. It felt as if it were the first time I was listening to myself and who I was.
“I realized I was not really listening before, only thinking about what I wanted to say. But with only Ville on the road, I found myself listening to the world opening, living, breathing, growing, and dying around me. I watched time pass with every pedal stroke and inhalation, looking only as far ahead as I could see and rarely looking behind me. Memories flashed into my mind. Before this adventure, I was so busy I didn’t have the opportunity to dive deep. Now, on long stretches of highway, my mind wandered into depths I had not known existed.”

In the Ecuadorian Andes:

“We had lived in a tent, four bags, a bicycle, and $800 a month. We were the epitome of inefficiency at home and yet efficient here in the developing world. That was why the response we received about our adventure varied greatly from people in the U.S. who couldn’t understand how or why someone would choose to do what we were doing to people south of the Mexican border who told us how fortunate we were to experience so much beauty on such a journey.”

Near the end of their journey at the southern end of the Argentine and Chilean mainland:

“But I had never loved anything more than living in a tent and riding on Blue Bullet with Ville. I could do this forever. I wanted to do this forever. I’d never been happier watching the world slowly glide by, my body in a constant state of sweating, climbing, always and forever climbing. I’d grown to love feasting on oatmeal, peeing on the ground, sleeping on an air mattress, washing my clothes in a sink, always having dirt under my fingernails, sleeping in sex motels, and talking with strangers.
“I never wanted to go back to my life before this.”

When they reached the southern end of their journey they were both laughing and crying at the same time. I was so attached to the couple that I too started to tear up. It was a shame Jokinen included no photos as I would have loved to see when they achieved some of their milestones en route, most significantly their arrival at Ushuaia, Argentina, at the end of their odyssey.

[JESS · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing got better deeper into the book, but Jokinen would've benefitted from a more thorough editor. I also had a hard time overcoming the first chunk that highlighted their complete lack of preparation for a trip so monumental.

[Alex Pradarelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. The only word that comes to mind when I think of this book. Kristen and Ville are a force to be reckoned with. The book encapsulates what it means to not only survive—but live—and live well. The journey that took them 18,000 miles is full of laughs, hardship, friends, and an unbreakable bond you don't want to stop reading about. We all have wanted to pack our things, leave our lives, and get lost in places we've only dreamed of exploring, and Kristen's book may get you to do just that. Thank you, Kristen, for taking us along on your adventures.

[Craig Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joy Ride: A Bike Odyssey from Alaska to Argentina by Kristen Jokinen documented the author and her husband Ville’s two-year bike trek across the Americas from north to south. This was the third cycling memoir that I have read, following Through Siberia by Accident: A Small Slice of Autobiography by Dervla Murphy and Cycling Across the South Atlantic: An Oceanic Odyssey with a Bicycle by Simon Levell. Jokinen kept her book rather short; I raced through its 266 pages and could easily have enjoyed a book twice the length. One reason I found her book such a can’t-put-down read was that the author was so open about her experiences. The reader might find life on the road exposed to the elements to be predictable and boring if all she did was roll her eyes about the rain or the muddy mountain roads she had to climb. What made her memoir different from the others is that Jokinen told everything exactly how it was, holding nothing back, especially when it came to intimate matters. Living next to nature for two years can do this to you. Jokinen told it all: responding to the call of nature when there are no toilet facilities; always feeling horny for her husband (Kristen and Ville must have a wonderful sex life); and dealing with a bladder infection while riding and what that entails with a woman’s anatomy. Jokinen made the bike odyssey more relatable by inserting such intimacies. While most of us will never embark on such a long trek as theirs, the Jokinens still experienced the same pleasures and challenges as those who may have never even ridden a bicycle. Their odyssey could be enjoyed by everyone, not just cycling enthusiasts.

Jokinen also kept my attention by describing the people she met. Throughout the journey, Kristen and Ville met the most generous people, especially in Mexico and Peru. Random encounters on the roadside often led to invitations to dinner and offers to camp on their hosts’ property. People were happy to share what little they had and never accepted anything in return. Jokinen inserted a dig at Trump’s anti-Mexico rhetoric, since she was cycling through the country during the first Trump presidency. She only had the most gracious things to say about Mexico and its people. Many times during their trip through Central America, the Jokinens disguised their nationalities as Canadians or Finns in fear of what an American identity might provoke.

Jokinen recorded several observations and experiences that I found priceless, and I wanted to record them in their entirety instead of summarizing them with a few words. Here are my favourites, told in chronological order.

Heading south of Prince George, British Columbia:

“Since there were multiple, large, lumber mills along this stretch of highway, most of the passing traffic were giant log-loaded semis. If you have been in a car when one of these passed, loaded as high as a two-story building, you know that the vortex nearly blows you off the road. Imagine what it would feel like to be on an itty-bitty bicycle when one of these monsters thundered past about a foot from your body at sixty miles per hour.”

Near Nanaimo, BC:

“We tried to find a place to camp near Nanaimo not realizing until we arrived that it was a sprawling city. We took a few wrong turns off the freeway, down what we assumed were country roads, arriving in thick brush with an abnormal amount of paper and plastic bags and such flittering about. We pitched the tent, cooked some spaghetti, ate, played a mean game of rummy, and went to sleep. In the morning, we discovered the sign we had missed on the way in: Nanaimo Garbage & Recycling. We camped in a real-life garbage dump. Maybe in my next life I will be born a princess who sleeps in castles and rides in chariots, but until then I am a vagabond who lives in a tent, rides a bicycle, and sleeps in garbage dumps.”

Approaching Vancouver, Jokinen had this revelation:

“At the start of the ride, a day in the seat felt like an eternity. I don’t remember the moment I stopped counting the miles, but I know I noticed them less. My internal voice had been silenced. I was able to still my mind. Thoughts would come and go as I passed through ever-changing landscapes. I felt more peaceful, quiet, and calm. The chaos that had existed in my life before the ride felt far away.”

Cycling through Los Angeles:

“Passing through small towns on bicycles had been challenging. When it was sprawling cities, it became a larger brain drain that weighed on our nerves, but when it was a monolithic metropolis, the size of Los Angeles, it was pure hell. After Malibu, according to Google Maps, we would be riding our bikes through the greater Los Angeles area for just under one hundred miles. We needed to endure one hundred miles of continuous urbanization, solid houses, businesses, highways, freeways, pedestrians, drivers, traffic, and chaos before we’d escape at the other end and arrive at Camp Pendleton. My stomach hurt just thinking about it. Navigating through Los Angeles would be a complete nightmare in a car, but on a bicycle it was a death wish.”

Heading towards Puebla, Mexico:

“It had taken over a year, but I had found peace in the quiet places. Being an extrovert who thrived on friends, gatherings, and noise, I was surprised to find that I had grown to crave the quiet. I had traded listening to friends’ stories and opinions for my own thoughts. It felt as if it were the first time I was listening to myself and who I was.
“I realized I was not really listening before, only thinking about what I wanted to say. But with only Ville on the road, I found myself listening to the world opening, living, breathing, growing, and dying around me. I watched time pass with every pedal stroke and inhalation, looking only as far ahead as I could see and rarely looking behind me. Memories flashed into my mind. Before this adventure, I was so busy I didn’t have the opportunity to dive deep. Now, on long stretches of highway, my mind wandered into depths I had not known existed.”

In the Ecuadorian Andes:

“We had lived in a tent, four bags, a bicycle, and $800 a month. We were the epitome of inefficiency at home and yet efficient here in the developing world. That was why the response we received about our adventure varied greatly from people in the U.S. who couldn’t understand how or why someone would choose to do what we were doing to people south of the Mexican border who told us how fortunate we were to experience so much beauty on such a journey.”

Near the end of their journey at the southern end the Argentine and Chilean mainland:

“But I had never loved anything more than living in a tent and riding on Blue Bullet with Ville. I could do this forever. I wanted to do this forever. I’d never been happier watching the world slowly glide by, my body in a constant state of sweating, climbing, always and forever climbing. I’d grown to love feasting on oatmeal, peeing on the ground, sleeping on an air mattress, washing my clothes in a sink, always having dirt under my fingernails, sleeping in sex motels, and talking with strangers.
“I never wanted to go back to my life before this.”

When they reached the southern end of their journey they were both laughing and crying at the same time. I was so attached to the couple that I too started to tear up. It was a shame Jokinen included no photos as I would have loved to see when they achieved some of their milestones en route, most significantly their arrival at Ushuaia, Argentina, at the end of their odyssey.

[Michelle H · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading this book but it ended up being a disappointment. Kristen is a spoiled, privileged white woman and that really came across in the book. Good for them for not being cyclists and doing this ride. But whining about things because they were inexperienced and/or had not planned is not anyone else's fault.

She skipped telling about so much of the ride. It took me a while to catch up. They were in Alaska, entered Canada, and boom, they were in Vancouver. Wait...what happened to the rest of Canada. It is a big country. It was not described. There were a lot of big chunks missing. There were also chunks missing in Central and South America but she added info about the history of those countries. I understand that you can't document the entire ride, but only focusing on the countries but a little more about some of the countries would have been nice.

Her two favorite countries were Mexico and Peru. They were the two countries that she described the most. They were also the two countries that she described the people as having nothing and giving them/her the most. That is a great observation, but when they were about to leave Peru, she described how they loved the country because there was not a lot of internet, electricity, televisions, and lattes. They lived a simple life. Then 2 paragraphs later she was in a big city with her parents walking down the street drinking lattes. What a spoiled, privileged person. This was a defining moment of understanding how I really felt about her.

Next they went into Argentina and Chili. She was made when they took their food at the border between Argentina and Chili. That is something that is known by bike tourists and the fact that they did not know this was not anyone's fault but their own. She did not like Argentina because the people were always up late celebrating with their family. That is what the society in Argentina is like. The fact that is was not what she wanted, she did not like it. She sounded like a spoiled princess. The vey last leg of the trip, they had a tailwind and she road for miles flying while her husband was on the side of the road fixing his bike. It took her a long time to realize he was not there. Again...princess mentality. He took care of everything and she enjoyed the ride.

When they got home to their 5 bedroom house (a point she had to make) it was more about them but no changes were made to their life. She didn't like the traffic but there was no mention of her or her husband working with the city to create more bike lanes. And they didn't change their life to riding bikes more to run errands. A 5 bedroom house for 2 people is an abundance and that of someone with privilege and is spoiled. She didn't say...after the ride we realized we had a lot and downsized. They also took advantage of Warm Showers on their journey, a service that people open their house to bike tourists. She did not say...hey, we were lucky to have so many people open their house to us so we joined the service and now host other cyclists. That would be a great way to meet people from other countries or who are riding across the country(ies) that they could discuss similar experiences.

A book about a ride from Alaska to Argentina could have been a great read. Instead, I met a princess who liked to travel and have people give her stuff. Yes, she did them miles. I give her that. But that is all. There were so many things she liked and and didn't like about biking but she did not work to make changes when they got home. Instead, she went back to her spoiled privileged life. You can't complain about problems if you are not going to do anything to make a change.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband and I met Kristen and Ville in Chile, towards the end of their epic journey. As we road together, they shared some stories of their journey, we laughed and laughed and were incredulous at some of the things that they had experienced. When Kristen said she was writing a book, we couldn’t wait to read it! I thought I had an idea of what they had experienced on their long bike journey, but I clearly didn’t have a clue! Oh my goodness, what a ride! I did not recognize those newbie riders who left Prudhoe Bay with no idea of what awaited them, nor did I really understand what riding that distance meant until I followed Kristen’s tale pedal by pedal across 18,000 miles and 16 countries. Kristen shares the story of their odyssey from Alaska to Argentina with a humorous and engaging style that keeps you turning the pages until you are finished. This is a tale of adventure, love, determination, grit, humour and connection. Across the continents, Kristen and Ville touched the lives of people of many different cultures and were touched in turn; a poignant reminder of our true human connection that can sometimes be obscured by fear. It is well worth the read! Enjoy!

[Matt Maar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring. My partner and I are taking off to bike across America next month and it was uplifting to hear about your journey; although I wish for none of the rain and headwinds you endured.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite thoroughly enjoyed this adventure. I had never read this sort of book before. Delightfully written and an inspiration (already planning a very small bike trip)!

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and inspiring, loved every page.

[Miranda Rankin · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful and inspiring. now i want to ride a bike

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great adventure, exciting. A little bit of “we’re not like everyone else” vibes. But well- meaning.

[Rowan Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun quick read as you follow a couples epic adventure. Cool to hear about their experiences in every country and state from AK to Argentina. The main message was human kindness is more common than you think especially amongst those who have the least to give, find a partner who loves adventure as much as you, you don’t need to have every detail planned out trust things will figure themselves out.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good travel tale of finding good people in the world. Too many close calls in traffic would have done me in

[Karen Painter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting read. Amazing what people can and will go through to reach a goal. This book had the good, bad and ugly as well as the wonderful scenery, and most important the people that the couple experienced on their journey. I would have quit way back in the beginning.

[Emily Michaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the most incredible physical and mental human feat I’ve ever read about! I loved the whole thing. What an adventure.

[James Ferrara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing journey, the author sort of comes off as a classic naïve American - you would have expected more inspection of her viewpoints after seeing the world but it seems she’s didn’t. Anyway, the story is inspiring and makes me want to jump back into an adventure!

[Linda Rozanski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Kristen Jokinen’s memoir of one exciting bicycle trip! Kristen and Ville met on a scuba diving trip in Vietnam, fell in love, married, and began their wondrous life of adventure together. Ville left his homeland of Finland to settle in Kristen‘s hometown of Bend, Oregon. But settle they did not! Both had the itch and drive to explore the world. After hiking the Pacific Crest Trail together for five straight months, they decided their next trip would be a lot faster and they would see more if they were on bikes! Even though they were not cyclists, they dove right in on a two year, 18,000 mile trip starting from Prudhoe Bay Alaska all the way to the southernmost tip of Argentina. The trip did not come without incidents though, like dog attacks, bear encounters, severe weather, sickness, tooth aches, and endless bike repairs. I found it amazing that they continued on no matter what dire circumstances they were in. And no matter where they went, no matter what country, the people they met were always so generous and kind, especially in Mexico. They were offered food and shelter and invited into people’s homes as if they were family. I wondered if an experience like this is even possible in the United States.

Kristen and Ville were very lucky to both find a soulmate with the same goals and aspirations to live the fullest life possible.

After completing this trip and writing her memoir, Kristen went on a six month author tour signing books and giving talks all around the country. Since then, she and Ville cycled through the southern coast of South Africa, spent time with Ville’s family in Finland and backpacked/cycled Cuba.

[Rebecca Hogue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kristen Jokinen's Joy Ride chronicles a 21-month cycling journey from Alaska to Argentina with her husband Ville. While the physical accomplishment is impressive—covering over 18,000 miles primarily by tent camping on a budget—the narrative often prioritizes logistics over emotional depth.

As both a cycle tourist and writer, I found myself wanting more from the story. While Jokinen clearly documents their route, encounters with locals, and physical challenges (including some nasty dog attacks), the writing tends to tell rather than show. When she mentions being transformed by the journey, we don't see enough evidence of that change on the page. The personal growth gets lost among the tracked miles.

The book's strength lies in its portrayal of stranger-kindness and the practical realities of long-distance cycling. However, I kept waiting for more vulnerable moments, more sensory details that would pull me into her world rather than just describing it from a distance.

One useful insight: measuring journey segments in hours rather than kilometres creates more meaning for readers. Three hours in the saddle resonates more than "30 km," especially since cycling speeds vary so widely.

While Joy Ride succeeds as a documentary of an extraordinary cycling achievement, it left me wanting more emotional resonance and transformational storytelling.

[Joy Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this would not be a "Joy Ride" for most of us, I love that Kristen and her husband, Ville, were out there living their dream. Kristen's way with words impress me as much as their sense of adventure and ability to see the joy in the journey, even when the journey went "south." Sentences like, "The road turned south, the skies grew ominously dark and unloaded wet fury upon us." (p. 256), jump out at me. As a new writer, I found myself highlighting sentences or paragraphs on every other page.
This is what I posted in my last newsletter called Finding Joy: Talk about Finding Joy . . .
A month ago, as I looked for Finding Joy in the West online, I stumbled upon Joy Ride: A Bike Odyssey from Alaska to Argentina. With 4.5 stars from 130 reviews on Amazon and 4.2 stars on Goodreads with 365 reviews, and an introduction by Cheryl Strayed author of the best selling book, WILD: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, I knew I had to read it. If you enjoy adventures, especially outdoor challenging adventures, this book is a must read. From Alaska to Argentina, Kristen Jokinen kept me turning the pages. The challenges she and her husband faced in one day, far outweighed the challenges I faced in my entire tour of the west. I'll be talking about Joy Ride for a long time.

[Nicholas Yandell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring memoir about two brave souls, pulsing with the spirit of adventure, who undertook a bicycle trip from the top to the bottom of the Americas.

I love a deep drop. Where you understand the stakes from the start, but along the way you become fully immersed in the unfolding adventure, and suddenly it becomes something so much greater that you ever imagined it to be. In Joy Ride, there's many moments of bare survival, of receiving the kindness of so many strangers in so many places, and also numerous mind-expanding experiences that left Kristen and Ville, and me as a reader, wonderfully altered. Read the pages of this book and you're there, in all the life-changing vividness.

I love the relatability of this book, primarily because Kristen and Ville Jokinen were amateur cyclists, who had never undertaken any sort of trip even close to this kind of difficulty before this. With Kristen's humorous storytelling and spectacular place descriptions, Joy Ride both provokes the reader to consider taking such life-altering journeys and also helps to reignite faith in humanity through the kindness of people they met along the way.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many places in this book where I would have liked more detail. For instance, the author, Kristen Jokinen, might state that they saw many birds, but she doesn't name or describe them. However, in another place, she indicates how long this book would have been if all those incidentals had been included. I don't think the present length of 260 pages is so long that a few more pages to provide some detail to back up the assertions would not have helped.

It is a fine book, though. One is awed at the length of the journey from the northern edge of Alaska to the southern tip of South America, a lot of it on terrain that wasn't even a path. And the weather was not always cooperative. There were adventures every day.

Jokinen's main point is how good, kind, and generous people are which she supports with plenty of stories that demonstrate its truth. As for bad parts, she and her husband have a positive attitude and take insects, rain, flat tires, and abysmal accommodations, and so on, in stride, so the reader forgets to think, "Well, that would have spoiled my trip!"

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

💭Thoughts:
First off, wow, what an amazing adventure Kristen and her husband went on. I truly can’t imagine how much strength and perseverance it took to bike all the way from Alaska to Argentina.

I loved how the book flowed. The pacing was perfect and the short chapters really helped keep me engaged. I couldn’t put the book down. I had to know what happened next.

I loved reading about all the different people Kristen and Ville connected with along the way. So many people were willing to help them. It restores my faith in humanity.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves adventure and stories about travel.

Thank you to the author for an advanced copy to read and review.

[Jenelle Bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a privilege it has been to ride along with Kristen and Ville on their epic, and for many people in the modern world, unfathomable journey from the top of the world to the bottom. Their story goes far beyond what many would consider “safe” and “sane” and I loved every moment of it. I had tears in my eyes when we got to the end of the journey. Kristen’s goal of writing this book is to inspire people. Kristen, if you ever read this, know that you have deeply inspired me to set out on my own bike adventure AND for the planner in me to just plan to put my butt on a seat and pedal forward. Very grateful I visited a bike shop while visiting Bend and stumbled across this beautiful book. Thank you!

[Malin Friess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have so much respect for Kristen Jokinen and her husband, Ville, for cycling over 20,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina in 21 months. They had very little experience when they started, and the book shows all the challenges they faced—riding through rugged Alaska, dealing with mosquitoes, accidents, bad weather, and even a huge boulder blocking their way, and border crossings in South America. They could have quit so many times.

What really stands out is their determination and the kindness of people they met along the journey. 5 stars. I have no desire to ride through these conditions..but enjoyed living vicariously through their story. Also fun because they are from Bend.

[Wendalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's interesting how much misery one can withstand in the pursuit of adventure. We're all different and have varying levels of tolerance -- Kristen and Ville clearly have off-the-charts levels of tolerance for discomfort. There were so many moments - broken tailbones, dog attacks, dengue fever, gravelly roads - where I would have pulled over and adjusted my plan. That's why I like to read books like this! It's the closest I'll get to this kind of adventure.

My biggest takeaway from this book was how much kindness Kristen and Ville encountered along the way. Heartwarming and inspiring.

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

A longhaul bikepacking adventure that WAS an absolute joy to read. Kristen’s narration of her and Ville’s adventures is the perfect balance of unfiltered challenges and descriptions that make you tempted to follow in their footsteps for brief moments…Until you realize that the armchair version is probably for the best! What makes this a stand out from some other adventure stories is her ability to give space to the history of the countries they travel through and the people they met along the way.

[Raquel Meyers · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a ride. It was so well written and you were often on the edge of your seat. Even if you are not a traveller, recreationist etc. you will enjoy this book. It is very inspiring and humbling. By the end you might be ready to sell everything and live a "simple life". Kristen and Ville are truly amazing, brave, strong, determined and have the kind of loving bond that you don't see in marriages in this country much anymore.

[Roy Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite the Ride! You’re sitting in a coffee shop, enjoying the company of a good friend. She’s telling you about this crazy adventure they went on. You can’t believe what they have done, you laugh with them, you cry them, you’re inspired by them, and you feel a part of their journey. What a great tale, but be careful, this story may inspire you to go on your own Joy Ride. And if you do, you will never be the same.

[Breanne Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joy Ride follows the adventures of Kristen and Ville as they ride bicycles from the northern most tip of Alaska to the southern most tip of Argentina. I picked up this book because I wanted to live vicariously through this adventure of a lifetime. What I left with however, is that the magic of this world lies not in how crazy of adventures we go on, but in the people we share our lives with. This book is a constant reminder that people are kind and generous. The reminder is a gift.