Alaiza Ruiz

ERWC/Period 2

Ms. Schneck

January 23, 2020

Into the Wild

May of 1990, 22 year old Christopher Mccandless announced he would be leaving his

home for the Alaskan Wilderness. Two years later, and he would be found dead alone and

starved inside an abandoned bus on the Alaskan Stampede Trail. Between the time he left his

home to the date of his unfortunate death, Chris lived his life as a wandering pilgrim traveling

from location to location meeting new people and making companions all while also trying to

survive life on the road with limited supplies, food and money. Life on the road was definitely

harsh and Chris faced a multitude of obstacles however there’s no doubt that he loved this kind

of lifestyle. Chris took pleasure and satisfaction in having to survive on his own everyday. He

enjoyed the risk and thrill of facing a new problem and having to figure out a solution to it.

Chris was fond of this lifestyle, in contrasting manner, that doesn’t mean life on the road is

suited for everyone. To be able to travel across the country without anyone else by your side, you

have to to be determined, driven and you have to know how to rely on yourself and even if you

do have these traits it also depends on an individual's personal preference.

It is shown many times throughout the book that Chris was not a people person. In fact,
he seemed to try to isolate himself from others. Although it’s not that he wasn’t popular or

unlikeable, he is actually described as kind and well liked by most. In school, he didn’t seem to

have many close friends and would purposely avoid becoming close with classmates. His

departure for Alaska is what then sets him on a path to social isolation. In the book John

Krakauer even describes Chris’ constant traveling as a way to avoid companionship, this is

shown in the quote "relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy,

of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it. He had fled the

claustrophobic confines of his family. He’d successfully kept Jan Burres and Wayne Westerberg

at arm’s length, flitting out of their lives before anything was expected of him. And now he’d

slipped painlessly out of Ron Franz’s life as well.", page 55 of the book. Some could say that

because of his tendency to isolate himself from others is one reason why he was able to survive

that long alone and in a way it’s true. Traveling on the road, you will be dealt with many

situations where you have no one to go to and that is where you have to start relying on no one

else but yourself. The mental toll that social isolation has on one's mind is heavy, humans are

naturally social creatures, every one of us cannot survive without at least some form of

interaction. Even Chris had to make connections with others on the road and in the end, those

friends he made while traveling were some of the greatest people Chris had ever met. Traveling

on the road you would have to be prepared to spend small or long periods of time alone, a

lifestyle that not everyone is suited for. I know for a fact that if I had to spend a week in the

wilderness alone, I would be driven to insanity.

Surviving on the road requires skill, a wide range of abilities and common sense.
Chris McCandless was foolish and a bit reckless at times but he was said to be also an intelligent

young man by many of his peers. A friend of McCandless, Wayne Westerburg describe

McCandless as intelligent, hardworking and determined. He excelled in school and was a

talented student in college and some of those traits is what helped Chris with many situations.

You have to be agile, and knowledgeable of the problems you will face when traveling alone

with little tools available. Chris knew this and did his best to research on how he would survive.

He would go to libraries and find books researching on the different types of food you can

survive on in Alaska. In a ted talk, Carine McCandless talks about how in the wild you must

learn how to rely on yourself. McCandless may have not been taught all the skills needed to

survive in the wild however he took advantage of the abilities he had already learned. The skills

and knowledge that wasn’t in his possession Chris tried his best to earn them.

“If you want to get more out of life, Ron, you must lose your inclination for monotonous

security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But

once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible

beauty”, Chris had said this in a letter to Ron Franz shortly after their departure. One of Chris’

drives to keep up his life as a nomad stems from the fact that Chris was passionate about taking

risks and making unexpected and out of the blue decisions. Chris enjoyed a life where every

week he had no clue of where or who he would end up with or how he was going to make it

through the day. Carine McCandless even states in her ted talk that “the greatest experiences in

life are far outside our comfort zones”. Living life on the road you have to be comfortable with
the uncomfortable. You will have to face situations you might not be ready for and make

decisions that are not so friendly.

In conclusion, no, life on the road is not suited for everyone. Living on little funds,

tools and supplies and little to no connections is difficult and something that just not everybody

can enjoy. To live life as a wanderer or pilgrim, you must be willing to sacrifice being

surrounded by others. You also have to be aware of what you will be facing in the events ahead

and have the common knowledge to survive on your own. The desire to keep moving forward

and the happiness you gain on your adventure is what will keep you from returning home and

lead you on this road that you have chosen. If you deprive no pleasure from taking these risks or

living as a wanderer, this life simply isn’t for you.