Having already hiked the Himalayas, the Arabian Peninsula, and the length of the Nile, Levison Wood sets out on an 1800-mile trek through eight countries spread across the spine of the Americas. With compassion and an eye for the picturesque detail, Wood tells of his encounters with indigenous tribes in Mexico, revolutionaries in a Nicaraguan refugee camp, fellow explorers, and migrants heading toward the United States. Along the way, Wood contends with quicksand, flash floods, skeptical policemen, and dangerous wildlife, not to mention crossing one of the world's most impenetrable borders: the Darién Gap route from Panama into South America, a notorious smuggling passage and the wildest jungle he has ever navigated.