Meet the Woman Bikepacking the Length of South America Alone

Published December 2, 2025 03:14AM

With all of her travel necessities tightly packed in bags strapped to her bicycle, Julia Esser found herself in Cartagena, Colombia, alone in January 2025. Her mission from here wasn’t a simple feat—it was the start of a long and arduous journey from the top of South America to the southern tip of Argentina.

To date, Esser says she has covered nearly 5,000 miles on her bicycle, including more than 600 miles of climbing. She’s only about halfway through her bikepacking trip, which has been delayed by a severe dog attack, a bout of dengue fever, and a painful case of bursitis in her right shoulder. None of these setbacks, though, has stopped her from pursuing her dream.

Outside sat down with the 34-year-old German bikepacker during a pitstop in Peru to learn more about her inspirations, motivations, and how she’s found the resilience to persevere through the most challenging times.

Julia Esser: Colombia. I was bitten by three dogs in the coffee region, and it was really bad—in both legs and in my arm. With a look at my calf, I was not sure how it would affect my leg and also the journey.

It took me more than four weeks until I could start walking again. And roughly two and a half months until I could get back on the bike. That was a really, really tough time—getting through it while being away from home and friends.

I thought about giving up, actually, the day after the dog bite. So, I reached out to my insurance and asked them to organize my flight back home, but they actually messed up. By the time I was past the point where the wound could get infected, I was like, OK, I just got to get through this.

In general, I prefer gravel roads to asphalt roads because they have less traffic, are safer, and are usually more scenic. In Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, I mainly took gravel roads.

A day in Colombia could be 31 miles and a mile of climbing. But on the Peru Great Divide, I could only go 15 to 20 miles because the roads were steep, in poor condition, and the route ranged from two or three miles in altitude.

The weirdest place I slept so far was probably the fire brigade. It’s quite usual among cyclists, but it’s still super weird to just sleep next to the fire trucks. I’ve also spent nights at gas stations and hot springs, but the place that still seems silly to me is the fire brigade.

I’m really looking forward to riding all the salt flats in Bolivia. It’s something that is pretty unique on this trip. And also riding down in Patagonia.

For quite a long time, I had the view that biking is boring and just an expensive sport. During COVID, I ran too much, got an injury, and needed a new sport. A friend told me he was super excited about his new bike, as he had to wait quite a long time due to COVID. At that point, I laughed about the four-digit price for a bike.

Well, two months later, I bought an entry gravel bike. I wasn’t biking that much in summer 2021 when I bought the bike, but when I realized that my initial place to hike in Nepal was still not possible because of COVID.

I decided to go on a bikepacking trip. I bought Ortlieb panniers and a train ticket to Austria. Just after biking out of Innsbruck, I was in love with bikepacking! Trips to Austria, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Georgia followed.

I would just say go for it. Do it. Don’t wait for anyone. Don’t wait for anything.

When you have this dream of going on an adventure like this, or any kind of other outdoor adventure, just do it. Trust your gut feeling. There will definitely be some tough and sad and rough moments—even dangerous ones. But there will also be beautiful ones. The rewarding ones.

Esser hopes to finish her 6,300-mile journey in Ushuaia, Argentina, in March 2026. You can follow her progress on Instagram and Polarsteps.

5 Questions With a Woman Solo Bikepacker