Hello! My name is Lucian and I am bicycling from San Diego to Cabo in Baja California! Effective October 2024, I will transition from the Naval Service and embark upon an adventure before I return to whatever professional career opportunities await. I am supported by my wonderful wife, Faith, who has encouraged me to pursue this dream from the moment I first told her about it.

I first got the idea sometime in 2018 or 2019. I had heard of long-distance cyclists traversing the world on their bikes, but I never thought it would be something I’d plan to do. During my final deployment in 2020, I could not stop thinking about getting on a bike and riding off on an adventure. Combined with my interest in the culture, geography, people, and cuisine of Latin America, a plan began to form in my mind: once I had finished exited the Navy, I would pack up a bicycle, and attempt to ride from San Diego all the way to Argentina. I began to plan in early 2022, planning the route, reading the experiences of cyclists who had done this before, and formulating a packing list. I pored through blogs and testimonies of cyclists who have done this before, trying to find the right bicycle for me, the right camping tent, and anything else essential to travel by bike. I did outcome planning, thinking about the things that could go right and what could go wrong. And while my original plan to cycle to Argentina was compressed and amended to just cycle through Baja, I still felt to truly manifest my commitment, I had to tell people my plans and so I began to tell people about the trip, often receiving incredulous responses, surprise, and concern: "aren’t you worried about crime in Latin America?" "Are you sure you've thought about this?" "Why would anyone want to do this?"

The why is rather simple. I remember once, during a visit to Guatemala, walking through a jungle pathway to see the ruins of Tikal, and coming across an elderly woman and what must have been her 5 or 6 of her grandchildren. Their hut was rather simple. The few piglets they had walked around in a bamboo box to be protected from jaguars. The children, despite smiles on their faces as they waved at us tourists walking by, were undernourished. Today, I still think about where those kids are now. Are they still in that same hut? Are they still hungry? I am so fortunate to be in the position I am to take the time to travel this incredible region by bicycle, and I would like to be able to give back to the wonderfully kind people of Latin America who face problems like hunger and malnourishment.

56.5 million people in Latin America suffer severe hunger and 8.6% of Latin Americans are considered undernourished. 90% of donations to this page will go to Action Against Hunger, a charity that works to provide hygiene supplies, cash for food, and mental health support to Latin American communities in need. Donations also go toward equipping small-scale farmers in the region to learn techniques and skills to save money and grow food more consistently.

I am in a lucky position where I feel comfortable enough to take time off to embark on a trip such as this. I have financially supported this trip including the bicycle I will ride, the gear I will need, and other required items. With that said, only 10% of donations made to this page will go towards extraneous funding during the trip to include emergency gear resupply, bicycle maintenance needs, and hospitality requirements (for when I'm not camping on the side of the road!). This Go-Fund Me is not about funding a vacation, but about bringing attention to a beautiful part of this world filled with diverse culture, exquisite cuisine, incredible geography, and some of the kindest and most humble people on the planet. I hope you'll join me on this journey and consider donating!