SHARING

[happyambi83]

My name's H.Ha, from Vietnam.
I just watched the movie recently and somehow it changed my life and my thinking.

I live in a city where you can find the hustle and bustle all the time. At one point in my life, I wanted to leave all that behind and did what I really want to do in life such as traveling far, experiencing adventures, and living alone. I was just successful in traveling to China and Malaysia for some time...

However, work, job, my old & weak parents then took me back whenever I had such a thinking. The laughter of my 2 cousins brightened me up for a while.

Now I am 28, 've got a stable but boring job. I've also got married and we are looking to having babies in the upcoming years.

Since marriage, I have been obsessed by the feeling to earn and save more and money for the future, to buy properties and afford a comfortable life. I have worked hard and lead a rather dull life.

I found myself not having freedom any longer: money, work, relationships, family... are always something I can't avoid in this society.

I turns to books and films at night to inspire me and help me to balance life.
After watching "In to the wild " 3 nights ago, I now realize that it has set me free... free from the obsession of caring about too much money and the things of civilized life.

I think now that I am - I should be happy with my present life. Money is something ephemeral and luxurious that now I no longer chase after.

Happy life - to me - is one that you are content with. But in order to be content with it, you sometimes need to do something meaningful and useful. Don't care much about richness, money or things like that.

I'll watch the film again and again to remind me of this.

[denbo]

The movie is happy beacause of the adventures of a young man and tragic because of the out come. I wish we can all celebrate the adventure of this man and our own adventures..... Denbo

[denbo]

I am not so surprised that so many people are checking into the Bus that was in the movie. I myself was at the Bus, but it was many years before Chris was there. Feeling the rapture of nature myself and a big fan of the "Hemmingway's adventures of a young man mentality" I went to Alaska in seach of the "White Noise" reality of standing out in the arms of Mother Nature so she could hold me there. I found out about the Bus by asking in stores and bars about local sites of interest and the bus was mentioned in a bar. I arranged to meet the owner of the (land) bus and paid him so I could stay there at a later date. The movie about Chris was chilling as I recalled my own trip to the bus and the desolate, thrilling commune with nature. I also saw "Call Of The Wild" about Chris. Chris's story brings to mind Alexander The Great's world travels and how Chris's story is scaled down in magnitude from that. Alexander The Great vs. Alexander Sewper Tramp. You can tell Chris was a great reader because he treasured his books as he traveled and buried them under his bridge home so he could retrieve them later instead of getting more copies.

I too have best wishes for the preservation of the bus and it's contents now that it has superceded a mere point of travel interest into a icon/relic/shrine from the movie industry and daily life, much like Zabriskie Point. By the way..... What is the point of Zabriskie point? Any way.... to any one who reads this..... please take care if you travel out in the wilderness, be prepared and be respectful. Also a kind thought goes out to the McCandless Family on their tragic loss. I remember the sequence of news blurbs as they searched for Chris and the final note when they found him at the Bus and stark realization I had been there. Chris had found out about the hitch hikers/tramping circuit too and now I am thinking the "Bus" will become a part of that "Tramping Lore".

Good luck to all in your travels! Denbo.