Into the Wild


There comes a time in everyone’s life when they must leave their comfort zone and venture out not only to explore the world, but test themselves to see who they really are. This “soul flight” or journey to find your inner intelligence and wisdom is experienced by everyone, but is it possible that people with what is considered to be the “good life’ growing up must test these boundaries more then those who have supported themselves during adolescence?
There are a lot of people in this world, myself included, that have been raised in a relatively normal, loving home in a safe part of town. They have been given many tools to succeed in the world whether it is money, schooling or positive role models. In these situations it can be asked if these people are in more need to venture out on their own and truly find out for themselves who they are and what the world has to offer.
This theory seems to be considerably apparent in Chris McCandless when he ventures out into the Alaskan wilderness by himself almost immediately after graduation. He hitchhiked his way through Canada and into Alaska completely by himself carrying very little supplies. This expedition is looked at by many as a suicide mission, but Chris must have had a different view, he must have wanted to push himself to the extreme in an environment he had never encountered.
McCandless graduated with honors from Emory University after growing up in an upscale D.C. suburb with a loving family. It seems that he was a relatively normal person with very little outdoor experience, so what would make him choose to venture out by himself into the Alaskan wilderness with very little supplies directly after graduation? Was he just curious and stupid or did he have something to prove to himself? It is very possible that he was in desperate need of a soul flight, an adventure where he could see what he was truly capable of outside or suburbia and the classroom. Traveling and living in an old bus by himself gave him plenty of time of reflect upon himself and truly find who he was even though he would never have the chance to use this new found knowledge. This adventure is very common in almost everyone, even if it is not done to quite the extreme as McCandless’s.