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Is there something greater out there calling your name? Do you want to find your purpose in this world? Do you want to be free and live on your own rules? Well if you said yes to any of these questions I have just the book for you, it's called Into the Wild. It’s about a young man that went by the name of Alex Supertramp, he abandoned his entire life to go live on the land, he made lifelong friendships, found inner peace, and traveled all over the country. He was a normal guy like you and me, doing what he was supposed to do but there was something in him that yearned for nature, isolation, and to live.  For two years he went whichever direction life took him, Northern California, South Dakota, Mexico, Arizona, Alaska. He went from job to job, home to home, town to town, person to person, he experienced more than most do in their entire lives. If you have a heart that beats for adventure this book will speak to you, it will change the way you see life and inspire you to go find your inner self, travel, and live a life worth remembering.

Into the Wild

This book has really inspired me. One of my close friends, Dani Johnson, also read Into the Wild and it effected her in the same way that it effected me from what I read on her blog. We both want to be as adventurous, brave, and carefree as Chris was and we both want to travel, Chris did exactly what we both have wanted to do. I have wanted to travel and live kind of like Chris McCandless for a while, but because of this fun thing called anxiety, I could never imagine doing half of the things that he did. Now that I have read this book it has kind of changed my perspective. I have now seen one person, although he died, who traveled and went with whatever life threw at him and lived a life that he enjoyed. I feel like he was really happy with what he was doing and I hope to one day feel the same about my life.

142 City Bus Location

Four things that this book has taught me:
1. To come prepared. I want to live carefree like Chris, but I also want to survive.
2. To move around and as Chris said " revolutionize your life and move into an entirely new realm of experience." He told his 81 year old friend Ron Franz to "Just get out and do  it. You will be very, very glad that you did." I hope that I can take his advice and live a
life like his.
3. Human relationships are not the only thing that can cause joy in my life. I do not need anyone else to bring me joy, there are many other things that can do that for me. Nature is one of those things.
4. Happiness is out there for me. One of my favorite quotes from the book, one that has really effected me is when Chris said to Ron in a letter, "My point is that you do not need me or anyone else around to bring this new kind of light in your life. It is simply waiting out there for you to grasp it, and all you have to do is reach for it." I have had issues with happiness in my life and this quote is really comforting to me, because happiness is waiting for me, I just have to try for it.

This is just an awesome picture of Chris.

Although I have not finished this book I have really enjoyed it, I think about it a lot, and it has changed a lot of how I am thinking about my future and what I want. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 12.

Also, there is this super cool Chris McCandless blog thing that I have been reading. Here is the link: Chris McCandless Blog

We all leave our mark

I feel like there are a lot of kids in my grade that are like Chris McCandless, they want to leave everything they know behind and begin a life that rings true to them. They want to go where life takes them and experience as much as they can. The thing about most of those people is that they are ready to drop everyone, become completely independent, and leave their known world. They feel like the people they leave behind won’t care, or won’t matter, there will be no attachments for them. They need to realize that every interaction humans have with each other leaves an imprint, a ten minute conversation can be enough for someone to remember you for the rest of their life. Part of living and experiencing life is the people. Those who travel will meet so many people in their lives, tell so many different stories, listen to so many different stories. They will swap pieces of themselves with other people just through a few words. Humans can’t just disappear, no matter what we will always leave our mark.

There were many lives that Chris McCandless changed. Ron Franz, an old man who housed Chris for a little bit, wanted to adopt him. Wayne Westerberg, a man who Chris worked for, says that his life was changed by Alex and that he still thinks about him often.   He was just some kid from El Segundo, California that decided to leave behind his life and live one that quenched his thirst for something more. He went on his own terms and lived life however it was calling him. I don’t think that Chris had any intention of leaving such a lasting impression on all of those peoples lives, yet he did. His death resonated throughout many people and haunted them. They remembered him and cared about him, they created bonds with him, even if they were just one way. It was something that was just happened as a result of his interaction with other human beings. I feel like this can be applicable to anyone, no matter how socially impaired or how free and independent they are.

No one in this world will go without that one person that cares about them. Chris McCandless is a perfect example of that, once he left his family and lived a life where no one really knew him, a life where he didn’t stay around long enough to get too connected, he still got connected. He came into so many peoples lives and so many people came into his, he left marks on other peoples lives and they left marks on his. Once two humans interact on the level that Chris did with most people I feel like they have given a tiny piece of themselves to each other, a piece that will stay with that other person forever. Human beings are meant to interact, they are meant to become connected. We can’t be a lone tree, we are all trees whose roots are intertwined, but strong. We may seem like we stand alone but there are still those roots, keeping us standing,it’s how we have adapted, it’s how we survive.