'Epic bus riding': You can get there from here on public transit

And the idea is spreading. Ask Ryan Hashagen.

"We just got off the Metrolink in San Diego," Hashagen, 28, panted into his cell phone Oct. 14. "Now we're about to catch the bus from Oceanside to San Diego. Tomorrow we'll cross the border and start catching buses to Mazatlan."

This winter, Hashagen, who operates a pedicab and ice-cream tricycle company during Portland summers, is making his way from Bellingham to Puerto Varas, Chile, by a combination of municipal transit agencies, jitneys and regional buses, filling in the gaps with hitchhiking. With him is a friend who is Chilean, Lale Lorski.