Last night I watched the movie Into the Wild
The movie is based on the book and is a story about Christopher McCandless, a graduate of Emory University. Upon graduation, Chris decided to give his $24,000.00 he had in his savings account to charity and venture off into on his own journey. He gave up all of his material possessions in hopes of finding freedom from the society we live in.
His overall goal was to one day make it to Alaska because it is the true land of the wild. On his journey to Alaska, he makes his way through the United States and spends time in Arizona, South Dakota, and California just to name a few.
He had various ways of coming up with some money to eat, including working on a farm and at a Burger King. He met a lot of interesting people along the way, including a couple with an RV that Chris lived with for a while.
Overall, I thought it was a great movie that really showed how life can be lived in so many different ways. Their are different paths to take in life and none of them are right or wrong.
My Take
I feel that I would like to do something similar to this, but not in as intense of way as Chris did. I would not go as far as to burn up all my credit cards, my social security card, and light my last few dollars on fire.
I would rather travel with my savings and credit cards as a backup fund if something went wrong. I am not looking to get into the wild like Chris was either. But more or less just trying to get out of the rat race of corporate America. I think working various temp jobs would be something I would enjoy because I would never be tied down to living in one place.
I do not mind sleeping in a tent, but I would prefer sleeping in my car or in hostels. Hostels are still relatively cheap and open you up to meeting a lot of people. I did not like the fact that Chris was so isolated in the movie. I am more of a people person looking to meet as many wise and knowledgeable people as I can in my lifetime.
And there is no way that I could leave my computer behind because I would like to keep writing in my blog as my journey through life unfolds. I would definitely stay in touch with my family and friends instead of disappearing like he did in the movie.
The movie really did get me to thinking and I am positive something big is going to happen in the next few months depending on when I get everything sorted out. So please stick around as Life of Justin is surely going to get a lot more entertaining (Not that it isn’t already;)).
PS. Check back tomorrow, I have a movie idea I want to pitch 
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6 Responses to this post.
It’s quite a movie…the soundtrack by Eddie Vedder is perfect for the movie too.
When you start really looking into the Chris McCandless story you being to realize what he really did was commit suicide. He went into the wilderness of ALASKA unprepared and didn’t take simple items like a map, which he left in the truck he hitched a ride from to get into the wilderness. Just a map could have saved his life and shown him there was a bridge across the river a few miles from his campsite (oh, and he goes into the wilderness to live in a BUS?).
It’s a great story about getting away from everything but when you do so you have to respect mother nature or else it hits you hard.
Btw, there’s a website (cant remember the name) that hooks up travelers with people willing to offer a couch to crash on, might be something useful for you.
I watched the movie recently as well. It made me think a lot about life and how I want to live it the best I can. I know what you mean about the “rat race” and how worthless it is. I wish you well with whatever you decide to do.
I remember hearing about this story with the release of this movie last year, but had since forgotten about it. Thanks for the review; now I can’t wait to go rent this one.
I’m still an undergrad, but I really can’t stand the thought of the rat race that is the norm in this country. I want to live life, not slog through it. I know I wouldn’t go as far as Chris did, but a long road trip to see America might one day be in order!
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Lindsay
McCandless’s story is tragic, but then so many people have benefited from hearing it… a couple of years of hitchhiking and camping made a story that now challenges thousands (millions?) of people to reexamine their lives