Dear All

[GoNorth]

I don't really understand why you want to write your own travel story in a McCandless-forum instead of opening an own site for it (with mentioning the link here for people who are interested), as you already said that you do NOT want to copy McCandless or so (would not be wise anyway).

However wish you a nice travel and that you find what you are searching for!

[Litgirl]

Long Travler:
I too am from Erie, PA! I just recently saw the movie "Into The Wild" on Showtime(even though my husbands copy of the movie has been here for a year), and just finished the book today. If you have the adventure spirit living within you, take advantage of it while you can. If you wait too long, life gets in the way. I too long for a simpler time. It's just like a tol a friend of mine the other day, The meaning of life does not involve going to the bar, or trying to "hook up." There is a beautiful world out there, and I can wait to someday see it! I was unable to quench my adventure spirit at a young age because I had a daughter when I was 18. My dream is to buy a camper so that my husband, my daughter and I can travel as a family to the obscure areas of our country. Our favorite weekends are the ones that we spend at our family camp. There we recieve no cell phone service, and can focus on our family and nature!
Good luck on your trip, and I look forward to hearing about your adventures! Please keep me posted! Also, try to visit that "Slab City" I'm curious if it's as neat as they portrayed it in the book & movie!

Good Luck

Litgirl

[Long Travler]

Ah, a fellow Erieite!

Thank you for your kind words!

[Mr Verdant Green]

Long Travler:

I had been drafting a response to your 1/26/2010 4:16 pm post. Your trip this weekend sounds fun. That’s great there’s a place like that nearby. Let us know how it goes. I also think keeping a log is a good idea both for yourself and for the rest of us. GoNorth has a good idea to set up a blog or website separate from this forum. There are many ways to do that. I prefer weebly.com, but there are many others. A good example of a travelblog is one by Dan Grecy (sp?) at http://www.dangrec.com.

As for my last post on this thread, I don’t mean to second-guess your plans. I’m just curious. Do what’s right for you.

Personally if I were to travel alone away all other people I would look into bringing some kind of communication device. Maybe it wouldn’t be feasible. Wouldn’t it be ironic if getting a satellite phone for solo travel required signing a long-term contract and having a permanent billing address? There’s also a chance it still wouldn’t work. Whether I brought a phone or not, I would tell someone I would try to keep in contact with someone I trusted wherever feasible and if I were to travel away from people I would tell the person: “I’ll be within (X number of miles) of (place) for around (length of time).” But do what’s right for you.

I’m not sure if Christopher McCandless would have brought a satellite phone if given a choice. Did he even have a choice back then? 1992 was a while ago, not longeafter you were born and the world has changed a lot. There was no widespread use of the World Wide Web for people to stay in touch, find like (and different)-minded individuals, and participate in forums like this. Would Christopher McCandless have participated “online” or rejected it as part of “society”? We’ll never know, of course. Much of his journey seemed to be about severing ties, testing himself, soul-cleansing. But he still kept in touch with people he met along the way. Do what’s right for you.

What I personally find interesting is that when I was your age I was a high school senior in Juneau, AK and I couldn’t wait to get out of Alaska and experience “real life” in what we called “Down South” or “The Lower 48” and what I now call the Contiguous US or CONUS. I’ve since experienced it and continue to do so. I’ve learned a lot, met some great people, but things haven’t always turned out as expected. Now when I go somewhere new or do something new, I prepare for potential worse case scenarios, but I still keep an open mind and try to experience it for what it is and not what I expect it to be. But do what’s right for you.

As for places to visit in the West, there are literally tens of thousands. I’ve heard that there are great National parks in Utah such as Arches National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park. I’ve also heard good things about Banff National Park in British Columbia, Canada.

Here are some places I’ve actually visited and enjoyed:

Joshua Tree National Park (Riverside County, California). Great for hiking, rock climbing, views, scenary.
Las Vegas Springs Preserve (Las Vegas, Nevada) I always enjoyed going to Las Vegas and the Springs Preserve is a nice break from the flashy hotels and casinos on the strip. The preserve has museums, gardens, walking trails, model structures for sustainability, and a great café.

Warm Springs Indian Reservation (north central Oregon). Scenary, hiking, and nice people with rich culture.

Rockaway Beach (Oregon Coast) also Twin Rocks beach. Beaches in Oregon are cooler than in Southern California but they also lack the crowds and excess development. Lots of surf, sand, hiking and views of rocks. There’re also near the Tillamook Cheese Factory that gives free samples.

Olympic Peninsula (Washington State). Lots of hiking, views of the water, beaches, and quaint little seaside towns.

Portland, Oregon. Has all the sophistication of a big city but it’s very close to natural beauty. It’s along two rivers and has great public transportation. Visit Powell’s Bookstore, an institution.

Tracy Arm Cruise (Juneau, Alaska) Small vessel cruises out of Juneau to the Tracy Arm Inlet where there are spectacular glaciers, harbor seals, icebergs. Friendly crew and fellow passengers.

Mt. Roberts Tram (Juneau, Alaska) Takes passengers up 1/3 of Mt. Roberts with spectacular views. Hikers can then hike the remaining 2/3 of the way up. Great views of the other mountains, islands, water.

Chilkoot Trail (Starts outside Skagway, Alaska) The trail goes from outside Skagway to Lake Bennett in Canada. It takes about 3-4 days to hike and there are camp sites along the way. Part of it involves hiking up a small peak that’s right at the border with Canada where there’s a customs station. Incredible scenery. There are usually other friendly hikers. Once completed, it’s just a train ride back to Skagway.

I could just go on and on. I’ll send you more as I think of them. If you set up a separate site I’ll post there instead of here.

[Long Travler]

Mr Verdant Green,

Thanks for your kind words, advice, and suggestions on places to visit! I will definitely look into creating my own website/blog. I am not into the whole website thing, but I will sure give it a try! And for your information I have decided to bring some kind of communication, most likely a decent satellite phone. Even though I am preparing for the big trip carefully, I am not going on this adventure to know what's going to happen. I made a statement on another post about this before, I believe, but just like McCandless believed, an adventure where you know the outcome is not an adventure at all. I want to experience the unexpected. I want to live in the edge and I want to see some things that I will remember for the rest of my life!

And for my little trip this weekend, I am leaving sometime tomorrow morning and I'm goin' deep into the woods and find a nice, isolated spot. If I'm correct, I don't think they even allow camping in Asbury Woods, but they won't take the time to search the whole place. I know some pretty amazing places in there that no one would know!

Happy Traveling!

Sam

[Long Travler]

Hey all, I'm back!

Nothing really happened while I was out. Just kind of, well camped by myself. It was nice though, 'cause I had time to myself and just had time to think. I did manage to almost catch a rabbit with a snare, but when I approached all failed somehow and the rabbit got away, but it didn't matter, I had plenty of food on me. I was practicing how to build a snare, which is telling me I need more practice

So, again, I'm not familiar with making websites, and I do not know which website building site to use. Does anyone have suggestions?

[strangeframe]

In 1989-1990 I was traveling like Christopher. Hitchhiking from San Diego to Canada to Idaho and beyond. Lived in the wilderness in B.C. Had to rescue a friend when he found out he was allergic to bees for the first time when we were hiking more than 30 miles from the nearest phone. He would have died. Living that close to someone who almost dies you find truth. You see limits.

Before that I traveled into the South Pacific. Lived in the rainforest for a short bit in Fiji and climbed a volcano alone in Samoa without a map or compass. Never did that again. Lessons learned.

My advice as you set upon your journey is remember that 'Happiness is truer when shared' and 'learn from your elders'. Not necessarily your parents, but your not the first person to set on this kind of journey, eh?

People who have lived in the wilderness or are homesteading have a huge amount of knowledge that you can only learn by living with them. You can find homesteaders on http://www.wwoof.org/ There are probably other ways too, but wwoofing is a great way of learning to live with the land. I say 'with the land' because if you try to live off the land, the land will off you!

When I was in Canada homesteading, I slept with two coyotes and a wolf the families that lived nearby had as pets. They kept me company when I went hiking and would hang with me near my hammock while watching the weather unfold. These critters even keep the bears away when I had to take a sh*t in the middle of the night!

I've read Chris' tale and seen the movie and couldn't help think why he starved and then I remembered that I had a wealth of knowledge that he didn't get.

Long Traveler, get the knowledge.

Interesting to note that I'm a filmmaker like you.

What I learned in my travels was patience. The kind of patience that the modern world doesn't seem to have anymore. In recent years that has helped me with my homestead here in Hawaii, my career as an animator, and bringing up my boys.

View from my living room:


Link to my movie:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/strange-frame/182133437902

Good luck on your journey. May you find the piece of truth that carries you to your dream life.

[Long Travler]

Hey,

Thanks for sharing your experiences and all the information. I will take it into consideration.

Happy Travels!

[NickJames]

Long Traveler:
I wish you luck on your travels. I too have the same dream of leaving this horrible society we people have created for ourselves. We rely too much on our cell phones, TV's, fast food restaurants, and money. In this world, within this society, you literally cannot survive without money, it sickens me how materialistic we are becoming. I have been on several trips myself, kayaking, and hiking through particualr canadian territories. I do know what it is like to live free from society, and i cannot remember a time where i was happier. I did have a few luxuries when i went, but i think it dumb to go out in the wild as chris did, although i understand and respect the reasons why he did it. I think he just took his hatred for materials a little too far, considering it caused his death.
Just remember long traveler that the nights can get very lonely out in the wild, you must plan days ahead of time what you are going to eat, or you might end up having nothing. Winters are cold and very unforgiving, the life of a wonderer is not easy.
I am 22 years old, and plan to go north into Canada, maybe the Yukon territory, I don't really know, i want to see where life will take me. I am inspired by Chris's story and by what he did, but i think it smart to be prepared for anything, i don't need a fancy GPS, or any technological tool to survive, but i don't want to make it harder on myself than living in the wild will already be. Trust me, the life is not easy. the days are long, and the nights are longer, but there is nothing more Beautiful than looking up at the night sky, no where near civilization, and being able to see every star in the sky, no humm of cars buzzing by, no glow of the city lights, just the sounds of the trees blowing in the wind.
I wish you luck on your travels, maybe we will be able to share stories in the future.
All the best
Nicholas James

[josh]

northern idaho is a beautiful place. anywhere around here would make for an amazing trip. if you ever make it up here contact me for i am also planning such a journey.